Status of Pakistani mass media

Accountability begins at home

Generally speaking, mass media is a diversified media technology concept that is mostly intended to reach a large audience by mass communication tools. However, the technologies through which communications penetrate varies in its broadcasting format such as radio, recorded music, film, print media, cell phone, videos and television. While print media uses physical objects to address various issues of common interest, broadcasting media uses modern technological means to reach ordinary public and convey messages in shortest possible time. More recently, a relatively new trend through social media using interactive internet resources (Facebook, Tweet, Blogging, LinkedIn, Google, Skype) is gaining momentum and finding its space in society to communicate promptly either at national or international scale in real time.

By and large, mass media is further grouped into seven major classes and distinguished from its emergence as print media from the late 15^th century: Recording media (gramophone records, magnetic tapes, cassettes, centridges, CDs, DVDs) from the late 19^th century, Cinema from about 1900, Radio from about 1910, Television from about 1950, Internet from about 1990 and Mobile phones from about 1995. Here, each mass media has its own diversified content, possesses its own creative artists, artwork and technicians, and functions with its own business models that fit well to respective business interests or needs. Note that the fundamental phrase “the media” began to be used for the first time in the 1920s and where the notion of “mass media” was generally restricted to print media up until after the Second World War, when radio, television and video were introduced.

While mass media plays an integrating role in a society, it addresses three major issues to comply with various interests and objectives such as (i) Advocacy both for business and social concerns that may include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, religious and political communications, (ii) Entertainment, that takes into account performances of acting, music, sports, concerts and TV shows and finally (iii) Public service announcements and emergency alerts that can be used as a socio-political device to communicate propaganda to the public. Three main functions and practical socio-effects have been identified by Prof JR Finnegan Jr (PhD Mass Communication) by mass media of our age such as The Knowledge Gap, Agenda Setting and Cultivation of Perception.

Influential impact of the knowledge gap relates to the factors that projecting content is appealing and the amount of information accessible through the channels is desirable and the amount of social conflict and diversity embedded in the society. Agenda setting is basically related to the human weakness of people, how they are influenced about issues due to very selective nature of the mass media that filters out issues for ordinary public consumption. Cultivation of perceptions links the extent to which the media exposure projects, shapes and polishes audience perceptions over limited periods of time. Here television is a common experimental supporting tool where a prolonged exposure to TV affects the thinking perception skill of subjective issues to the extent that viewers start believing in it and find it justifiable.

So far, mass media has played a significant role in shaping public perceptions on a variety of critical issues, both through information propagation that is available in selected timeslots and through the interpretations they would like to place upon this information so as to achieve specific objectives. Furthermore, mass media has been acknowledged as a supporting weapon tool in shaping modern culture, by selecting and portraying a particular set of beliefs, values, and traditions in order to bring a selective change in life, as just reality. Simple to say, by portraying a certain interpretation of reality, they shape the reality to be more in line with that interpretation of particular interest.

Moreover, mass media has also been successful in advocating a crucial role in the spread of civil unrest activities such as anti-government demonstrations, riots, and general strikes. Here, the use of radio, internet and television receivers has made the socio-unrest influential among cities not only at national scale but also expanded over geographically global level. All in all, international media in rather more developed countries reflects the cultural contents on one side, restrains itself within the national bounds and in full compliance with the state policies, simultaneously following the freedom of expression as a basic ingredient. With these parameters in mind, let us touch now the status of mass media in Pakistan.

Since 2000, Pakistani mass media has become a very powerful and independent communicative tool guiding our society. Currently, a sea of Pakistani TV channels is composed of a total of 89 TV channels broadcasting nationwide to selective audience of their choice. Pakistani media reflects expanded multi-ethnic and multi linguistic dynamic landscape where it enjoys relative freedom of expression up to some extent on one side. On the other side, it is run by popular minority elite in close association with politically biased and unprofessional mafias.

Like other national departments, Pakistani mass media is on the brink of national demise on many fronts. Whether we talk on professional competence or code of conduct or selection of content or functionality behavior against national interests or national values, Pakistani mass media is justified on these violated critical issues and goes boundless. Some TV channels are funded by foreign vested interests and give an impression that these channels are the only savior of promoting your cultural values and political national interests in Pakistan. Simultaneously, few TV channels are too sympathetic with selective political parties and business elite. Keep in mind that this is the only country in the world where few private TV channels (and their anchors) have a strategic policy to malign, degrade and bring down the importance of our national military and people in uniform at their best.

Previously, a gunman in Islamabad “holding Islamabad as hostage for few hours” found himself at the epicenter of a mass media circus and then many TV channels presented this drama as a golden lasting opportunity and this thriller was directly covered by many TV channels. Many still believe that off-camera activity might have resulted in easily persuading him to lay down his arms in rather short period of time.

The role of TV anchors and their professional competence is extremely critical and needs to be checked since these personalities directly connect the mass media to the people at large. Many of these desperately lack professional presentational skills, and violate the code of conduct while appearing on live TV shows. For example, they consume most of the time by themselves, asking either lengthy questions or inducing their own judgment on special topic and leave little time behind for guests who have been invited to speak that special topic. Similarly, they openly laugh, make fun and use Punjabi abusive slangs (or make jokes) on live TV shows broadcasted in Urdu language. With selected content in mind, anchors are seen pre-decided to press hard selected guests on special topics, supportive to few other personalities and give them freehand in the TV shows.

A TV talk show is normally held for a limited period of time (say about 40 min) and three to five guests in average are routinely invited plus one or two are further included through phone calls. This loses the spirit of presenting objective discussion with too many guests, unlimited amount of questions and with too little answers in very short period of time. Regrettable to say that few anchors have sectarian bias mindset and use very harsh language against religious scholars that do not belong to their sect. Moreover few analysts/anchors also present very aggressive attitude witnessed through their body language against religious scholars when they appear on TV shows only because they themselves belong to the minority social class which is not acceptable to our Muslim society.

Anchors quite often choose and invite personalities with two extreme mindsets and induce impulsive ingredients in the talk show in such a way that allows and provokes guests to fight rather than talk objectively. This is considered one key methodology to enhance the rating of a TV show. All in all, a total of about 20-30 personalities (religious and political) are repeatedly visible and routinely invited to TV shows and neglecting vast majority of true professional experts serving for this nation in different fields either in universities or in other research institutes. On the other side, few young political guests lack academic skill and use harsh and aggressive language against their political opponents in live TV talk shows. This should be monitored and checked by the mass media.

TV media is further hijacked by very selective feudal and business political elite which is visible frequently on different TV channels and give their opinion on strategic national and international issues when they haven’t gone through any learning process themselves and desperately lack necessary academic abilities and information. Note that any person can be an expert to give objective opinion in one field (religion/economics/science/political science/sociology/energy/medicine) but not on many topics that have not been even touched by him. Whatever your topic on a specific day is about, few very selective political guests are repeatedly invited. How is it possible that an MNA/MPA is eligible to speak on current national and international issues when he himself is a part of a problem and simultaneously shed light on possible solutions when anchors already know that he is fraudulent personality judged through his historical image and has repeatedly been lying to the nation? The same argument applies to a few cricket personalities who have been proved by the national and international court of justice of their possible involvement in cricket corruption. Why are such personalities projected again as national heroes on TV shows?

Note that mass media information reflects a deep impact on society by and large and should be instrumental in creating the popularly accepted social norms in society where the most critical obligation of mass media is not only to act as the true custodian of facts and figures but also expose the hidden truths embedded in society. Thus, the role and objectives of mass media, and their associated anchors in Pakistan is now increasingly becoming questionable.

Unfortunately, there is no single university or academic organisation in the country to produce skilled human capital for mass media in Pakistani market. While TV anchors need professional skills and training, they should also be flexible to the choice of guests in their TV shows. Here, unbiased professional experts of various fields should be invited in their TV shows for debating and exploiting different topics. So, there is an urgent need to filter out our mass media first from invited political thieves who are not only a part of the problem in Pakistan but also present a barrier to our socio-economic growth and development. Like independent judiciary in any civilised country, mass media should behave and function independently and of course free from all political pressure.