Corruption stories

Too many to be silenced

PPP is making some noise although biased and mostly angled. That was long overdue. Its Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has written to Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to “stop media from maligning Bilawal House”. This call should have come from party cadres. When no one spoke, Bilawal himself took it upon him. “Bilawal House is not just a concrete structure of bricks and cement. It is revered as a spiritual power house to tens of thousands of jiyalas,” reads his letter.

“It is devastating for the souls of true jiyalas about banner headlines in the channels and the print media that someone in the Fishermen’s Cooperative Society was paying 70 per cent of his ill-gotten money to Bilawal House. Another detained official is quoted with 25 per cent. This is all done through the so-called ‘sources’. Truly professional journalists understand that any story quoting ‘sources’ is some kind of propaganda. In media-literate societies such stories are rubbished. In a country where dead bodies are recovered with torture marks on a daily basis, anybody under duress can own any words put into his mouth,” the letter added.

The letter also mentioned that similar media trial of the PPP leadership was also conducted during the Nawaz Sharif’s tenure in 1990s. “The PPP likes to request TV channels to stop the media trial of Bilawal House and let the courts decide all the matters on the merits of rule of law,” the letter concluded.

The letter was written in June last. Every word of it is a protest against media trial. The saga reminds me of the thesis I did in 2012 under the supervision of seasoned analyst Dr Mehdi Hasan, titled ‘Portrayal of the role of PPP and its policy of reconciliation for strengthening democracy in the print media of Pakistan (2008-2012)’. The findings were that the majority of youth were of the view that the media was somewhat biased against the portrayal of the PPP regarding its policies and strategies.

Freedom of speech does not give media the right to bash any party or government unreasonably; it can criticise certain moves of the government or parties though.

After 10 strenuous years of dictatorial government, Pakistan became a democracy in 2008. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was a major setback in the development of the dream for a democratic setup in the country.

Soon after the PPP came into power, the media gurus started its trial round the clock. Along the way, the PPP certainly committed errors which the media picked and aired overblown stories on them. But the PPP did several good things for the people of Pakistan which were never acknowledged and accepted the way they should have been.

Print and electronic media, being the most widely accepted sources of information in Pakistan, should deliver and dispense news and views to its people in the most unbiased and impartial manner. Sadly, that is not the case when it comes to the PPP. You may add its allies like MQM, ANP and JUI-F to that list as well.

The media made it its responsibility to criticise, ridicule and question every move of the PPP instead of remaining neutral.

Since the media has the power of shaping opinion and views of a common man, it is doing so in a negative manner. From 2008 to 2013, it propagated negativities about the government of PPP, spreading misgivings against the government. This was not only harmful for the government but it also tarnished the image of the print and electronic media of Pakistan as an impartial and an unbiased one.

The PPP, with its policy of reconciliation, hit big in the political scenario of Pakistan by gathering all the political parties of the country under the umbrella of democracy. But the media worked overtime to break their alliance. Until the PML-N turned its guns on the PPP, the media kept on creating hype on issues one after another. Every word of a judge during the hearing of any case against the government would be a lead story of all newspapers and TV channels. So many stories fell flat, so many predictions were never realised, but without any remorse the media carried on its mission.

Ideally, the media of the country should first and foremost focus on its social responsibility of being an impartial and objective entity whose main aim is to highlight both the successes and failures of the society.

Media is the most reliable sources of mass communication in Pakistan. Keeping this in mind, it is the social responsibility of the media to help people form unbiased opinion regarding the country, the government and its strategies. This is where the social responsibility theory applies.

The propaganda model also rightfully fits into this scenario as the media is needlessly propagating and disseminating against the Sindh government of PPP while not advertising and publicising enough of good policies of the government.

Coming back to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s letter to PEMRA, it will be naïve to have any hopes from the toothless authority to take any punitive action against the weapons of mass disinformation.

At the same time, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari should think why do corruption stories involving PPP sell like hot cakes? Why do people buy these stories? Why has the party never come up with a clear agenda to fight corruption in its party cadres and government ranks? Why do corruption charges keep on hovering over the Zardari family all the time?

Instead of writing to PEMRA, an authority that was never empowered by the PPP regime from 2008 to 2013, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari should start a battle against corruption in the Sindh government. A zero-tolerance policy towards corruption would be a first and foremost step towards the revival of the party.