Manufacturing reality: Airwaves belong to the people, says Jabbar
Media ignored Balochistan while covering LG polls: report.
Media ignored Balochistan while covering LG polls: report. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
It turned out to be a favourite subject for fifty odd participants at a local hotel here on Thursday who had gathered to discuss contents of a report entitled “Balochistan: media’s literal backyard”.
The report monitored select channels and newspapers of English, Urdu and Sindhi and other national languages on how they covered the local government elections in Balochistan. And in doing so, how far they adhered to the code of conduct for media given by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Airwaves belong to everyone. No one can claim monopoly over them. And citizens have a greater role to play in making media responsible. This was stated by Javed Jabbar, the former information minister, at the “Citizens’ Media Forum” organised by the Society for Alternative Media and Research (SAMAR).
The report quoting statistics said that Balochistan remained largely ignored by the mainstream media. And little coverage was given to the elections from citizens’ perspective. The major focus remained on Punjab and Sindh provinces and the uncertainty whether the elections will be held or not. The reason for that lopsided focus was because the “controversy sells well”, the report opined.
Inaugurating the forum, SAMAR Executive Director Mazhar Arif said that the “objective of the exercise was to bring in citizens’ perspective and mainstream it in the national discourse.” He added that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority was originally mandated to oversee the media role and ensure that the code of conduct is adhered to but “enforcement part of the code was weak and need to be strengthened.”
The discussion went from specific to general and audience criticized the media’s greed for crisis and wish for constant, in Arundhati Roy’s words, “crisis turnover”. They said in this race for ratings and competitions to be the first, the real issues are relegated to the back burner.
In case of Balochistan, the report said, a couple of channels aired results even before the closing time of voting.
The discussion most of the time drifted away from the contents of the reports and focused largely on the media‘s search for the juicy stories.
An audience member, Tariq Bhatti said in a capitalist society, one cannot lock away media and judge it from moral and ethical angle.
He questioned the cross media ownership that allows almost total control over the airwaves by a few individuals and groups or families.
Anchorperson Moeed Pirzada, responding to audience criticism said “Media has structural problems. Unless structural issues are resolved, merely concentrating on symptoms would not yield any results.”
Member National Assembly Marvi Memon the sole voice in favour of media in that hall said media should be given its due for highlighting the large number of children’s deaths in Tharparkar.
Development professional Fayyaz Baqir said media is largely digressing from its role. It’s primary responsibility is to raise questions. While what is observed that people who are supposed to ask questions spend more time on focusing the answers.
Jabbar said that he as information minister launched the first ever initiative named Citizens’ Media Commission of Pakistan in 1997. But he was disappointed to see that the elected government which came into power in 1997 did not take up that initiative.
It was then that “we realised that unless citizens come together, the media is going to stay the same.
“Citizens should hold the media bull by the horns and make it do what is in peoples’ interest,” he urged.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2014.
It turned out to be a favourite subject for fifty odd participants at a local hotel here on Thursday who had gathered to discuss contents of a report entitled “Balochistan: media’s literal backyard”.
The report monitored select channels and newspapers of English, Urdu and Sindhi and other national languages on how they covered the local government elections in Balochistan. And in doing so, how far they adhered to the code of conduct for media given by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Airwaves belong to everyone. No one can claim monopoly over them. And citizens have a greater role to play in making media responsible. This was stated by Javed Jabbar, the former information minister, at the “Citizens’ Media Forum” organised by the Society for Alternative Media and Research (SAMAR).
The report quoting statistics said that Balochistan remained largely ignored by the mainstream media. And little coverage was given to the elections from citizens’ perspective. The major focus remained on Punjab and Sindh provinces and the uncertainty whether the elections will be held or not. The reason for that lopsided focus was because the “controversy sells well”, the report opined.
Inaugurating the forum, SAMAR Executive Director Mazhar Arif said that the “objective of the exercise was to bring in citizens’ perspective and mainstream it in the national discourse.” He added that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority was originally mandated to oversee the media role and ensure that the code of conduct is adhered to but “enforcement part of the code was weak and need to be strengthened.”
The discussion went from specific to general and audience criticized the media’s greed for crisis and wish for constant, in Arundhati Roy’s words, “crisis turnover”. They said in this race for ratings and competitions to be the first, the real issues are relegated to the back burner.
In case of Balochistan, the report said, a couple of channels aired results even before the closing time of voting.
The discussion most of the time drifted away from the contents of the reports and focused largely on the media‘s search for the juicy stories.
An audience member, Tariq Bhatti said in a capitalist society, one cannot lock away media and judge it from moral and ethical angle.
He questioned the cross media ownership that allows almost total control over the airwaves by a few individuals and groups or families.
Anchorperson Moeed Pirzada, responding to audience criticism said “Media has structural problems. Unless structural issues are resolved, merely concentrating on symptoms would not yield any results.”
Member National Assembly Marvi Memon the sole voice in favour of media in that hall said media should be given its due for highlighting the large number of children’s deaths in Tharparkar.
Development professional Fayyaz Baqir said media is largely digressing from its role. It’s primary responsibility is to raise questions. While what is observed that people who are supposed to ask questions spend more time on focusing the answers.
Jabbar said that he as information minister launched the first ever initiative named Citizens’ Media Commission of Pakistan in 1997. But he was disappointed to see that the elected government which came into power in 1997 did not take up that initiative.
It was then that “we realised that unless citizens come together, the media is going to stay the same.
“Citizens should hold the media bull by the horns and make it do what is in peoples’ interest,” he urged.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2014.