The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST)’s Department of Media Sciences organised a colloquium titled `Television in Pakistan’ on Saturday.
The experts at the event discussed the history, the present state and the future of the television in the country.
Dr Framji Minwalla, the head of the department, started the discussion on how the media shapes and is shaped by practitioners and viewers.
Renowned media personality, Rahat Kazmi, presented the keynote address. He was of the opinion that the media rarely creates a social change.
The Khoosat family, including Irfan, Sarmad and Kanwal, shared their experiences, speaking about the different challenges they have faced while writing, directing, and producing television dramas.
Sarmad and Kanwal discussed as to how social issues depicted in their work reflected the present day society.
Shireen Pasha presented a history of Pakistani film leading up to the inception of television, and described both technological and political limitations confronted by television writers and directors.
Senior journalist Ghazi Salahuddin also expressed his views on the occasion.
Other participants included Aslam Azhar (via video link from Islamabad), Ayesha Tammy Haq, Dr Seemi Naghmana Tahir, Mahtab Rashdi, and Haider Waheed.
Four consecutive sessions were also part of the conference and each one was followed by a question-and-answer period where audience members had an opportunity to interact with the panelists.
About 200 participants attended the event, including corporate delegates, civil society representatives, students from various universities, and the SZABIST staff and faculty.