Bol fiasco: Media cannot be judged by a single case, says Talat

Kal Tak host Javed Chaudhry says the media industry has seen many a turbulent time, but never like this one

KARACHI:

The whole media industry cannot be judged by a single case, TV anchor Talat Hussain said on Monday, while referring to the Axact and its media company Bol.

Speaking to The Express News show Kal Tak host Javed Chaudhry, he said that the media industry has seen many a turbulent time, but never like this one, when Axact scandal has raised questions on the accountability of the media.

Husain said that he had two meetings with Shoaib Sheikh on the latter’s insistence. “Shoaib said he wanted to launch a new news system and wanted my assistance,” Hussain said, adding that Shoaib offered him three-times the market rate salary. “He wanted to launch news channel that will have a show hosted by me, a newspaper and even a university to train journalists,” Hussain said.

After these meetings, Hussain said that he never met Azhar Abbas or Kamran Khan.

In September 2014, I sent an SMS to Azhar Abbas saying that I will not join Bol,” Hussain said.

He said that the Axact fiasco has tarnished media’s image, but this case should not be used to judge the whole industry. “We have never seen such a situation in the media before, if people working in Bol leave, people say look at them they have deserted, and if they continue working everyone says why are you still there,” he said.

Hussain said there could be some companies who might buy Bol’s set-up.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2015.