Speakers lament lack of professionalism, corruption in media

Efforts under way to suppress media, claims journalist

KARACHI: Television channels in Pakistan emerged prematurely. Most of the journalists in Pakistan are untrained and there is a dearth of professionalism in the media industry.

These views were expressed by Dr Jaffer Ahmed, former director of the Pakistan Study Centre at Karachi University (KU), while speaking at a seminar, titled 'Media and General Elections 2018, organised at KU's mass communication department.

Media is the fourth pillar of state, said Dr Ahmed. While criticising the media for its unprofessionalism, he also lauded it for extensively covering the elections.

Elections were covered by the media with several angles, said the scholar. He added that graphs and stories on election trends helped people understand political scenario.



Dr Ahmed opined that media also brought up discrepancies in our democratic set-up. Media reports highlighted that ancestral politics is still dominating in at least 40 constituencies of Punjab, he said.

According to Dr Ahmed, clash of institutions was a major theme that was discussed in the media before the elections. Dr Ahmed was of the view that clash of institutions would help shape public opinion and enable the historical process to continue.

He also highlighted the role of social media in present era. Whatever electronic media is censoring, social media is showing, he said.

Dr Ahmed went on to say that the institutions that were creating hindrance in access to information were going against the constitution because the constitution guaranteed right to information. He added the people needed to defend their right to information.

Journalist Mazhar Abbas said journalism should not be used for creating chaos in society. Previously, people used to join the field of journalism because they were passionate about it but now, they were only entering the field to earn money, he added.

According to Abbas, the invisible forces, which earlier used to force media to self-censorship, were now trying to cause financial losses to media organisations. He lamented that many channels were paying salaries to journalists two to three months late.



The reason behind targeting two major media groups is to completely suppress the media, Abbas said. He decried that no journalist protested when the Inter-Services Public Relations director-general showed profiles of 35 journalists and criticised them.

Journalist Wusatullah Khan was of the view that in every elections, a new form of rigging is introduced which triggers protests. The recent elections were not general elections but they were generals' elections, he said.

Dr Badar Soomro, Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan and Seemi Naghmana Tahir also addressed the seminar.