- Especially in the newsroom
There is no denying that the public is diverse. On a daily basis, an average person may find himself surrounded by people with various, but limited, schools of thought, but as a journalist, I often find myself being exposed to all forms of thinking.
Take the news for instance — which I consume in vast amounts from different channels and platforms — where you find multiple, shifting agendas being propagated. However, the two most common you’ll note are conservative and liberal, and this is where the majority of the public divides as well. The major issue is that there is a no midway when it comes to tackling the issue when it comes to receiving all sorts of news on a daily basis.
A stark contrast is noted in the inflow of news in the country, which involves people with completely different mindsets: on one side you have people with a conservative mindset and on the other there are those who are more liberal in their thinking. Though this is something that everybody is consciously aware of, but as you go deeper into the matter, you realise that tolerance levels are dangerously low.
More so, it is widely believed that people from the liberal community are ignorant and appear to live in their own little bubble. However, the difference can be attributed to the social classes that exist within the said community, as most of the times the upper class is completely unaware of how the lower working class lives.
Ironically, the two communities are also threatened by each other’s existence.
On one extreme, there are those who give in to the threats and mullah preaching, who in the name of religion suppress everyone and on the other side of the equilibrium we have the liberals who live in a world of their own and are unaffected by the mullah oppression.
In the case of the conservatives, the mindset is that of 1918, despite living in 2018, while the liberals are as modern as they can get.
Having said that, as a lifestyle journalist, who spends the better part of her day in the newsroom, I am bombarded with all sorts of news, on all sorts of topics, from around the country, making it difficult to absorb and respond to the conflicting energies.
For example, at one point the news of Christian woman on death row for blasphemy since 2010, for which the apex court has reserved its decision will come in and at the same time, there is news of say a certain fashion show that is being held in the city, where a set number of designers have spent money in making sure the collection they are showcasing leaves a mark on the audience.
On the matter of Aasia Bibi, the problem is that there is little one can do because no matter what the court decides, things are going to blow up. In the instance that the court rules in favour of Aasia Bibi, the mullahs have threatened to kill officials from the high-up, whereas, if they rule against, the supporters are going to take their case to the streets. It is often in such instances that one believes that freedom is scary.
At this juncture, people who might have said that Pakistan is progressing as a country are giving in to the threats by these mullahs and those who claim to be ‘liberals’ and want to change things around are also threatened by these mullahs, who are basically controlling everything.
When it comes to the other side of the equilibrium, like the example of a fashion show, things are rather different as we have all non-conservative approaches stacked here. Yes, they are threatened by the very mindset of the mullahs in the country, and sometimes their own, but somehow they choose to ignore it, rather pretend to be unaffected. This part of the community is rather ‘free’ to live life the way they want. Thus, in this case, it can be said that too much freedom can rob us off of our empathy.
Moreover, because the two communities are threatened by each other’s existence, they still have a long way to go before they can learn to co-exist.
As someone who is sandwiched between the two, you tend to find a midway where you keep an open mind about things as well as change knowing the difference between right and wrong.
However, sometimes there is no halfway because you want to stick to your set of ideology, without being questioned about it and hence you let go of that ‘conflicting energy’.
Therefore, for common man it is difficult to find a balance between the two extremes, even if it aligns with our beliefs, we should always consider other points of view as well and engage in constructive conversations which help to bridge differences by fostering understanding rather than simply demeaning the other person.
