Media and government

Only a liberal policy can help it flourish

In any sovereign country, the Media is one of the most important pillars of the state besides the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary… With the exception of very few countries in the world it is however not allowed to play its role in the nation building activities since it is denied the freedom that it deserves in order to make positive contribution in this area. In most countries the media is subjected to curbs, sanctions and obstacles to ensure that only the policy of the sitting government is propagated and its performance eulogised. The basic concept of the media contributing towards nation building activities is violated and it is used to indoctrinate the masses, propagate the government’s point of view and elongate the span of rule of the authoritarian regime.

In the first few years after independence, the media in Pakistan was not only free but also acted with a sense of responsibility to ensure that the fruits of the freedom were equitably distributed amongst all the citizens of Pakistan irrespective of cast, creed or position. However, with the passage of time Pakistan also joined the crowd and did not remain an exception from the general trend in the world as successive civil and military governments began to use the media to their own advantage. In the garb of designing ‘a code of conduct’ for the media they sought to provide loopholes so as to exploit them for channelizing it to propagate only the government’s points of view. Some newspapers (very few) continued to defy this government’s policy and follow an independent as well as nationalistic course of action but generally most of the other newspapers fell in line with the government’s requirements and were duly exploited (and also rewarded by different means) by the successive governments till late as well.

The television and radio were obviously used as state organs totally under control and acting according to the directives of the always sitting governments. Only some print media, to include selected newspapers and periodicals, showed some signs of independence and followed the long-term objective of nationalistic point of view, which they practiced and preached despite all the hurdles and drawbacks of doing so.

When the present regime came into power, it was generally expected that new curbs and sanctions would be placed on the media which would operate under the directives of the authoritarian government and would be exploited as usually done by previous governments. However, it came as a very pleasant surprise when the government declared that it would follow a liberal policy in respect of the media, ensuring its freedom and encouraging expansion. No less than the Prime Minister himself declared during his address on forms an integral part of the statehood in this era of information. “I have great regard and respect for the media. I trust it to play a positive and constructive role. I am a firm believer in the freedom of the press and am even considering to liberalise the policy on the establishment of private television and radio channels”. This became the direction to be taken by the government in regard to the policy pertaining to media, and all actions taken by the government that followed especially the present government headed by the Prime Minister as well have shown that the policy was followed in letter and spirit.

Today in current scenario, there are 45 private television channels and 104 private radio stations operating freely in the country. Many new newspapers and periodicals have started operations during this time period and continue to follow an independent policy criticizing the government where necessary and supporting it where its actions are considered positive. This is evident from the free expression of points of view by both the supporters and opponents of the government and can be judged from the style and substance of discussions, talk shows, seminars, debates, lectures, articles and parodies being presented on the electronic and print media. It is fervently hoped that despite some irritants and temporary distractions the understanding developed between the government and the media will be maintained and the freedom of media will be ensured .It is also hoped and we pray that it so happens that combined with their national spirit as well as sense of responsibilities the media will be allowed to play its due role in the building of national opinion and contributing towards the long term objectives of freedom, independence, prosperity and nation building, inshallah.