New trend in media town?
Two, they say in the world of numbers, is a trend. And with two former presidents now boasting their own talk shows, this trend is turning out quite the talking-point in media town, even if both are employed by the same channel. Bol’s induction of Pervez Musharraf and Asif Zardari raises a few interesting questions. One, for example, what of those days not so long ago when tearing down the parent company behind the TV channel – for its fake degrees and offshore stashes – was all the rage in the news as well as parliament? Nobody gave them much headline space when the case later fizzled out, of course. Perhaps the former almost-outlaw, whom the state tried to bring down, is now scoring one by inducting former heads of state.
Two, what about that little thing called impartiality? Sure, news channels in our parts are hardly known for their neutrality, but they can always put up the greater-good face. But a former president doing a news/analysis show, in our setting, would be enough to redefine the term ‘political bias’. And three, the remuneration. Everybody in the business, especially lesser paid print journalists, know that the grass is greenest in electronic media, and anchors at the top of the totem pole have salaries somewhere in the stratosphere. How, then, will former rulers with zero journalism experience be paid in a media position? And what should be the blueprint going forward? So far this novelty has been a good ‘breaking news’ item. But if it does not quite click, it will leave egg on the face of not just the channel, but also two former strongmen.
