The business of freedom

Withdrawal seems to be kicking in, as the country seems to be getting over its ultra euphoric honeymoon with the ‘liberating’ possibilities of ‘free’ media. An obscure body called the Media Coordination Committee on Defence Planning has suddenly reconvened to formalise guidelines for local and international print/electronic media outlets. It seems the government is becoming increasingly paranoid about its flirtations with the liberal idea of a free press. And indeed it is important to question exactly how free media should be, and if freedom is in fact a possibility.

Leaving aside urban graffiti and twitter-chatter and considering only print, broadcast, and telecast, it becomes apparent that due to its nature this form of media has never really been free at all. The fact that big media requires big investment to build the big infrastructure immediately binds this form of media in a hydra-like web of capital relations interweaved with all sorts of political interests.

Big media is almost always either a business or strategic venture, and naturally the huge investment requires a huge pay off to make such an undertaking feasible. In that respect such operations are entirely dependent on either corporate sponsorship, government funding or a bit of both. On top of that, all this occurs within the confines of government regulation.

If my very own guerrilla radio station that plays rebellious rock and roll tunes out of my garage is likely to be busted by the government unless I cough up for a permit then isn’t the free media a bit of a farce?

True, we’ve gone all the way from a government-run television monopoly with strictly conservative media norms — the days of PTV anchors in starched dupattas — to an increasingly liberal, multi-polar media conglomerate with dozens of news and lifestyle channels airing highly sensationalised and largely horrific imagery 24/7 along with a bonus overdose of talk shows whose totality impeccably replicates the clamour of a vegetable market. But one must realise that this is only a move from ultra-conservatism to radical liberalism — a highly dangerous endeavour! The idea that liberalism equals freedom is also a very, very dangerous misconception.

It is a fact that our many-headed media has shot up a heavy dosage of liberalism in the mainline, but it also remains true, as always, that the infrastructure and the modes in which it operates have always remained under strict control. Perhaps everyone got a little too high off the euphoria of the liberal-media head-rush — peaking in the midst of Musharraf’s emergency — that we momentarily forgot the dire consequences of our actions. But not to worry, the government has snapped out of its delirium and has begun to take small cautionary measures to bring the rampant media back under the reins of power. We might consider ourselves lucky that the internet still presents a lucrative opportunity at liberation for the select few who can afford it, primarily because the government doesn’t have the resources to monitor cyberspace (not that it isn’t already salivating at the prospect). But that too would be a short lived affair. As the authorities begin to wise up, it seems freedom and liberalisation are no longer flavour of the month, the new buzzwords are control and regulation. It remains to be seen whether these will be abused as much as the concept of freedom.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2010.