Najam accepts, Talat declines

There is a lesson for all budding media persons in the way two of our senior colleagues responded to offers of temporary political jobs from across the fence. Najam Sethi of Aapas Ki Baat accepted the offer seemingly readily, while Talat Hussain of Live with Talat declined it seemingly as readily. Many of the new entrants must have felt elated at being members of a profession held in such high esteem by politicians in and out of power. Others must have wondered if the offers were a genuine acknowledgement of the two media persons’ ability to be politically impartial administrators during the brief election season or if it was just another way of attempting to buy off a couple of influential anchorpersons.

Many of the new entrants, on the other hand, must have also been intrigued by the two different — nay, opposite responses by the recipients of the offer. I, for one, was not surprised by either of the two responses. The two did exactly what I thought they would do. Najam is perhaps, a couple of years senior to Talat but both entered the profession after about a decade-and-a-half of my entry. So, I followed their careers in the media almost from the very beginning, at times from very close quarters. In fact, at one point in time, Talat and I worked in the same newspaper. I found both to be highly talented, academically sound and professionally exceptional. Both had more than a decade-long print media experience before they entered the electronic version. Talat soon matured into an excellent columnist and then blossomed into a high-grade anchorperson. On occasions, I have also seen him conducting high-quality media workshops for young journalists.

I came to know of the multidimensional qualities of Najam gradually as we developed a fraternal affinity for each other. Being the owner of a highly successful publishing house (Vanguard) and the owner-editor of an English-language weekly, The Friday Times, he was more of an entrepreneur when I first met him. In those days, he was a rarity as until then, perhaps, no foreign-educated person with a degree in economics had entered the media business. In part, he was a converted rebel with a cause as just after completing studies, he had joined the Baloch guerrilla warriors. He was, perhaps, at that impressionable age, a true disciple of Che Guevara. But then, this also reflected his political aspirations.

That he would accept the offer made jointly by the PPP, the PML-N, the PML-Q and the ANP is a matter seemingly inherent in the career goal in-built in the very route that Najam traversed to enter the media world. And his decision to be a caretaker once again, after having admitted that the first time (accountability minister in Mairaj Khalid’s interim cabinet of three months — 1996-97) was a mistake, underscores, like nothing else, his longings. On the other hand, Talat, I believe, knows that his forte is media and media alone, and also perhaps, knows that the level of integrity and credibility he has attained is the result of years of hard work, which, as I understand, he does not want to put on the line for a temporary job of no more than a month. And by the way, the constitution of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists defines a journalist as a person whose main source of income is journalism.

A media person without sources inside the decision-making community or among those who witness the process from very close quarters is like a man on the war front without weapons. It is the demand of the calling that one needs to cultivate people in high and low places in politics and power and also be exposed, knowingly or unknowingly, to manipulation by powers that be. Nevertheless, with sources in such high places, one can even turn into an influence-peddler, promoting his/her own interests. That is the reason why most successful media persons become highly vulnerable to attacks from detractors and are often, rightly or wrongly, accused of being on the take in kind or cash or even in terms of office.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2013.