Reported by: Anza CRWE Newswire Middle East correspondent.
The word media comes from a Latin word medium, it refers to the radio, television and newspapers as a means of mass communication.
Since independence there have been four major news agencies in Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Pakistan Press International (PPI), United Press of Pakistan (UPP) and National News Agency (NNA). A number of smaller news agencies have also come into being like Independent News Pakistan (INP), South Asian News Agency (SANA), Online News International (ONI) and World News Agency (WNA).
From the early 21st century most of the print media is privately owned but the government controls a major newspaper publisher, National Trust Pakistan and one of the two major news agencies in Pakistan, Associated Press of Pakistan. The press in Pakistan is generally publishing freely and without any restrictions, however journalist placed self enforced restrictions on them owing to government and societal pressure. Most of the publication in the print media in Pakistan is done in English and Urdu language however papers in 9 other local dialects are also found in the country.
Electronic media is not just Television and Radio anymore, choice of channels available through Internet and focus on enticing the core consumer is the major achievement of this type of media. Print has limited shelf life and making the consumer glued with a sequence of moving images is much more interesting than still pictures.
Print media was the only free source of information in Pakistan before 21st century, from 2002 onwards private TV channels started to grow like frogs in a rainy season. From GEO to ARYONEWORLD to AAJ, everyone is having a race about the same stories and news with different faces but almost similar angles. An editor of a leading newspaper in Pakistan, Maulana Chiragh Hasan Hasrat, once said that people should not take journalists too seriously because what they write in the morning, they use to wrap fish in the evening.
It is true that media freedom in Pakistan has been earned by a hard struggle for 5 decades and this struggle may continue to keep this freedom intact in the years to come. However such hype has been created by this newly found freedom that the responsibility factor has been over looked.
This unrestrained media beast has been let loose in our society however up till now the journalists are trying to make it their moral obligation to exercise self censorship. No one is safe from its wrath whether it is a politician, sports person or a bureaucrat.
There are different views about media accountability, some fear that if media is placed under some kind of restriction it will take away its freedom and it will not be able to provide the common man with true information which has become a trait of current times. However people on the other side of the spectrum are afraid of its growth to such proportions that it would be impossible to restrain it. In case of such an extreme the common man will only be able to hear that version of the story, which the media wants him to hear.
The advocates for the freedom of media propose to have alternative media run entirely by the government, instead of restraining the free media. However this approach is not working in Pakistan, since the government media can not compete with the private channels and like in all countries where the government can control the media it is gradually losing its credibility.
At this point of time, an ordinary Pakistani can only hope, for media to keep its freedom but induce self regulations, a code of conduct and internal accountability to take the always potential problem of the media growing out of proportion without any sense of responsibility which could wreak havoc in the society.
A glorious future for Pakistani media is prophesized, it is an important agent of change and it is hoped that this change works for the betterment of the society.
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