Pak Tea House » Entries tagged with "Media"
Media, get your facts straight!
By BB : It was the morning of March 3, 2009. Nine a.m. to be exact. Slivers of information had begun trickling in. The Sri Lanka cricket team – on their way to play the second Test against Pakistan – had come under attack. Bullets were zipping back and forth across Liberty market. Back in the newsroom, phones were buzzing in synchrony. Producers were menacing reporters to make sense of the happenings on the ground. A pandemonium had erupted. Nothing was clear. Assumptions and heresy had been mashed with facts. How many militants were engaged with the police? Any casualties? Who were these militants? A litany of answered questions sat heavy in the newsroom. A few minutes later, the content head ambled in. An emergency meeting was in session. Producers from every department scrambled inside … Read entire article »
Filed under: Media, Uncategorized
The Indefensible Silence of Media over the Sickening Slaughter of Qudoos
By Rashid Zafar: Every time I gripped my pen to write about the most sickening murder, imagery of deceased Master Abdul Qudoos would incapacitate my fingers to paralysis and my senses to numbness. I, too, am considerably cognizant of my disability to meet with the requisites of this very sore subject. The spokesman of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – who is not deemed a reliable enough source by a bunch of human rights activists-cum-journalists – reported; “… today, a well-known and respected Ahmadi, Mr Master Abdul Qudoos Ahmad (43), died succumbing to brutal police torture in Rabwah. Few months ago MuhammadYousuf a stamp (deed) paper seller from Nusrat Abad was murdered and police on the basis of suspicion illegally arrested Master Abdul Qudoos. Police made him subject to inhuman life threatening torture, which resulted … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Mayagate and its aftermath
by Aysha Raja Last weekend saw the widespread condemnation and sustained social media campaign against Maya Khan culminate with the firing of the contentious host from Samaa TV. I would proudly have claimed it a blow against the increasingly oppressive bhaigarat brigade, had the word “blow” not dredged up some disturbing imagery of it’s own. Dissent, in the wake of the unfortunate episode of Subah Saverey Maya kay Sath, swamped the interwebs in all shapes and forms … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
The Lavish Wedding in Dubai…
Jang group is the largest media group in the country and in recent times its power has only increased. Its electronic arm, GEO TV, is one of the most influential television stations in Pakistan and is known to promote populist narratives according to which politicians are corrupt and operate with no accountability. Lifestyles of politicians is often targeted and any “exuberance” is projected as complete insensitivity to the plight of the suffering poor of the country. … Read entire article »
Extinguished hope
By Ahsan Kureshi A friend, who shares my ‘liberal’ perspective on almost all things, inquired why I was surprised on what had happened. ‘Shouldn’t we be used to all this?’ His question got me thinking. Are we actually so drowned in the wetsand of fanaticism that the call of an auction of the ‘Holy weapon of Qadri’ was not even a head-turner? Are we bent upon staying fearful and oblivious to all that we deem as absurd? Is a debate on the said topic too much to ask for? Too volatile of a question with a ‘playing-with-a-knife’ consequence? Indeed and sadly yes; atleast, that’s what it seems. What saddens me today the most is the biases of the pioneers of the ‘freedom-of-speech’ manifesto, the media. The morning newspaper (5th Jan) that greeted me today, … Read entire article »
Filed under: liberal Pakistan, Media, Opinion, Terrorism
Pakistani Media: Misinformation and manipulation
The purpose of the media is an easy one to understand. The dissemination of factual information on issue relevant to the citizenry. This entails (or should entail) a research and effort to uncover the truth, as well as a responsibility to uphold principles of free speech, adequate voice (as absolute voice and impartiality is impossible) and a separation to some extent from the control of politics. Thus the media has always been imagined as a … Read entire article »
Filed under: journalism, Media, Opinion
HRK and Media hype
By Rai M. Azlan: If days can be remembered with the events that take place on that particular day than 27th July of 2011 can be the HRK day. Yes here with HRK I mean Hina Rabbani Khar, the Federal Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Why I feel that way about this day is the result of the observation. I woke up this morning and what first thing I saw in my twitter timeline was a tweet saying, “I just hope Hina Rabbani Khar return with something more diplomatically tangible than offers for bollywood flicks or Big Boss shows.” As I was not completely awake at that time, it took me some time to recall all the things that could have helped me in understanding the reason behind such tweet. The reason is that Pakistan’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Politics
Mukhtar mai Media and Misogyny
By Raza Rumi As if the showering of rose petals on Mumtaz Qadri and the release of a new Urdu book ‘Parwana-i-Shama-i-Risalat’ extolling him were not enough, Mukhtar Mai’s plight in today’s Pakistan is simply depressing. Within hours after the Supreme Court’s split verdict on her was announced, Pakistan once again appeared as a divided polity. The medieval minds in media and intelligentsia were quick to harp on the soundness of the Court’s verdict while those who were … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, violence
Pakistan: A transitional polity
By Raza Rumi Pakistan’s existentialist crisis is no longer a strictly Pakistani issue. Its potential repercussions have emerged as a cornerstone of global debates on regional stability and international concerns on terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The clichés on Pakistan’s disintegration and meltdown have also been done to death in the international media and policy brigades across the world. Perhaps, what the world has not yet fully comprehended is that Pakistan is essentially a transitional country where the old order is crumbling, giving way to a newer society that is grappling with geostrategic compulsions, domestic violence and a post-colonial state which refuses to realign its structures and priorities to a ‘new’ Pakistan. To begin with, never in Pakistan’s history have so many women been active in the public spheres: from higher education to … Read entire article »
Politicians and Media: Fostering McCarthyism
By Saad Hafiz There are a lot of lessons to be drawn from the political and media experiences of the United States, but the most relevant one is this: there can be a dangerous alliance between politicians and media using the same pulpit to promote hatred and intolerance with lasting effects. In the early 1950′s, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist crusades, aided by a pliant media, destroyed lives and fostered a climate of fear and hostility in American Society. The Governing Class’ use of the media to spread fear is prevalent in American history, most recently in the run up to the war in Iraq. The “Red Menace” and “WMD” bogies trumpeted by Senator McCarthy and the Bush administration assisted by a section of the media confirmed that: “the great masses of the … Read entire article »
Pathetic Role of the Media
Written By: Riaz Ali Toori “Pathetic Role of the Media” Historically, Judiciary, Legislature and Executive were considered as the three main organs of a state. With great advancement in the field of print and electronic media, the world has become a global village in which the Media has emerged as the fourth and powerful pillar of any government. Perhaps it has proved to be more powerful than all the other three pillars as it has directly influenced the ideas and thoughts of people from villages to towns and towns to cities. It has benumbed the edifice of norms and culture as well, wielding direct sway on the public and assuming the role of the fourth pillar of a society. Third world countries have also been hit by the revolution of but it seems … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Philosophical Musings on Salman Taseer’s death in Pakistan
By Shaireen Rasheed Will the real Moderate Muslim Please Stand Up: Making Sense of Salmaan Taseers’s Assassination? I think we all are trying to grapple and come to terms with the latest tragedy surrounding the assassination of Salmaan Taseer. The response in the media and civil society has been overwhelming. Liberalism is a word that is being used as our last resort to combat ‘extremism’. In trying to understand the big picture I wonder if to quote Kelly Oliver regarding the war on terror, “we are taking the theater of war globally,” (Oliver, 2007). War is everywhere and at once. The space and time of this war has become infinite because the enemy is infinite. Furthermore perpetuating a systemic ideology that further divides the Us vs. Them mentality. By pitting the extremists … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
An Open letter to Sharmila Farooqui and Irresponsible Media (GEO)
By: Sana Saleem For those who are unaware, here is a little background on the case, from the Tribune: “Twenty-something K and her acquaintance S, in her mid-30s, were driving in a blue Suzuki Alto on Khayaban-e-Qasim in DHA when three to four men in a car rammed into them from the back. The small car dived into a ditch, the women were dragged from the car, abducted and K was gang raped while S was beaten. They … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism
Unpacking the governance debate
Raza Rumi If the intent of the unregulated media and a recalcitrant establishment is to dismiss the government to achieve better governance then this is at best a delusional goal Recent weeks have witnessed a supercilious debate on how the current government’s misgovernance is a potent reason to boot it out. Governance is about decisions, resources and management of public affairs. The sad reality is that Pakistan’s media now controls and spins the public discourse on these issues. The popular media never wanted this government to begin with. Since 2007, it sided with the ‘clean’ and morally correct lawyers’ movement that presented an alternative to the corrupt politicians and shunned the 2008 election. First, it vilified Benazir Bhutto for making a deal … Read entire article »
The Zardari Pinata
D. Asghar’s latest post for PTH: Lately in many discussions, about various events which have unfolded in Pakistan, it appears that Pakistanis in or outside Pakistan, find only one person responsible, its President Asif Ali Zardari. To clarify, I reside in the US, have no affiliation with him or PPP. As a teenager, when I was in Pakistan, I admired ZAB, but according to my analysis, the ideals of PPP died along with ZAB on the ill fated day of, April 04, 1979. Even late BB, failed to impress me as she made some huge blunders, and used ZAB’s name to advance her political career. There is no denying of this fact, that till this day PPP, uses ZAB and now BB as well to tap into the vote banks. It is the sheer charisma of ZAB, … Read entire article »
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