Media’s role in Pakistan

Media’s role is very important nowadays. The media’s duty is to show the truth as it is, it should be careful while not playing into the hands of malicious propaganda. It should not always point out the negative aspects but positive things should also be highlighted with the same vigour. It would be against media’s ethics to not show everything important. But in doing so, they have to follow certain rules. How we live and behave is affected by media. For example, Indian media shows everything about its culture, traditions, their way of dressing etc and people here in Pakistan are adopting it. This is the real power of media. People are forgetting our own culture and our centuries old traditions.
Media shapes public’s behaviour about the important issues and plays vital role in highlighting certain issues. We can say that in Pakistan the responsibility of media is much more than any media in the world, because Pakistan needs a change. Media can be used to present the solution to the problems we are facing. In this way, journalists can deliver what the general public cannot in terms of real change. People think that by protesting they can get what they want but protests are not the only or a most suitable solution. But the media must not cross its limits. The government can directly or indirectly restrict the journalists to write, portray or show something but then the journalists would consider it an attack on the freedom of expression. This is why the media should have its own code of ethics to which it should always adhere to.
MALIHA FATIMA SAEED
Karachi