Emerging trends: Rethinking media’s role

Various academics and media persons discussed emerging trends in Pakistani media at a one-day seminar on Tuesday arranged by The Institute of Strategic Studies (ISSI). The focus of the discussion was the impact of new media trends on society and foreign or security policy.

Former Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, the seminar’s chief guest, lamented the “lack of objectivity” in most of the content produced by the media.

He also discussed the divisions within the media between pro-democracy, anti-democracy, pro-military and jihadi segments.

Earlier, ISSI Director General Tanvir Ahmed Khan talked about the “Facebook generation” and its technological devices and tools for mass communication. He said “social media” had necessitated a complete rethinking of traditional media roles.

Ammara Durrani, Strategic Communications Specialist of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, raised the question of whether the media had assumed the role of a “game-changer” in the development of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Syed Talat Hussain of Dawn News put forth the argument that the media could only present a viewpoint but was not in a position to form public opinions.

Discussing the media’s impact on security and foreign policy, senior journalist Zahid Hussain, contended that one of the major problems in print media was its division into English and Urdu.

English newspapers cover issues related to foreign and security policy while there are hardly any such issues available for the Urdu newspaper reader’s perusal.

Presenting her paper on the evolution of social media in Pakistan, Dr Hiba Tohid from Karachi held the the opinion that Facebook itself was not a revolution, but a means of “globalising”. However, she conceded that anything was possible when everyone was connected.

The final discussant, Heart File Executive Director Dr Sania Nishtar, observed that the organisation of the seminar by ISSI was in itself a sign of growing realization that a State’s security means more than only dealing with territorial threats.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2011.