Karachi: Politics hogs the most space and airtime in print and electronic media, respectively, while human rights and related issues are usually on the sidelines, according to the findings of a survey released by the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) on Tuesday.

The report, titled “Ethical Dimensions of Media Content in Pakistan” was launched with the collaboration of Open Society Foundations.

The researchers monitored news stories appearing in both print and electronic and categorised them into different themes out of which about 30 were related to politics, and 12 from them were chosen for analysis.

According to the report, in five newspapers during a period of 12 weeks selected for media analysis, 3,040 news items relating to politics appeared on television and in newspapers, 1,496 were on state institutions, 827 were on foreign policy, 665 were on terrorism, 601 were on violence, 406 on non-state institutions, 253 on corruption, 193 on crime, 158 on social justice, 151 on human rights and 149 news stories were on religion. The newspapers were Jang, Express, The News, Express Tribune and Business Recorder.

The survey called for directing the attention of the media on issues directly related to public interest, such as health, education, gender and environment.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, PPF’s secretary-general Owais Aslam Ali said news channels covered politics extensively while vital issues pertaining to human rights and social justice were deprived of due space and airtime.

He said while grading the news components on an ethical scale, six key components were identified. They were: accuracy, fairness, impartiality, balance, privacy and pluralism.

He said commercialisation of media was affecting news coverage and also needed to be checked. The report is also available online to act as a guidebook for media organisations and journalists, he added.

Asad Khalid Baig of Media Matters for Democracy said the report was compiled after monitoring the aired and published content of three media houses — Geo/Jang, Express and Aaj/Business Recorder groups. He explained that the content aired on television was monitored by Mishal while newspapers were monitored by the PPF.

Speaking on the occasion, senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said the code of ethics still needed to be internalised by the media fraternity. He said often times it were the owners of media houses who killed a story which was against their set interests.

Due to this, he said, the institution of editor had become weak and primetime news is now replaced by advertisements in the electronic media.

Another veteran journalist, Afia Salam, also seconded his views.

Faisal Aziz Khan, who is associated with Bol Television, also said ethical reporting had suffered due to commercialisation of media. News, he said, was now judged by the amount of revenue it was able to generate.

The News

The PM’s request should be taken seriously for the sake of a healthy state of mind and promotion of democracy in Pakistan.

The media houses have been asked to rationalise their role and see whether some elements were using the media for their extremist and undemocratic objectives. Nawaz also praised the role of media for promotion of democracy, right to freedom of speech and expression and restoration of judiciary. He praised journalists for rendering sacrifices and said he was confident that the media would play its role as a true fourth pillar of the state in the larger national interest.

Edmund Burke’s concept of media as the fourth pillar of state became very practical in Pakistan from 2002 and during last 12 years the media houses witnessed unprecedented growth and freedom in Pakistan.

Nawaz used phrase “some elements” for Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PTI) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, who remained successful in gaining momentum through live media coverage. Qadri’s campaigned spoke both Urdu and English languages to promote his agenda. While speaking English, Qadri, however, remained democratic, civilised and gave assurance that his struggle was peaceful because he wanted to show the civilised world his soft image.

However, while delivering his message in Urdu he talked about qasas (revenge), inciting his workers to kill Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and his cabinet members if he was killed. He threatened to kill those who would abandon the ‘revolution movement’. However, when the same report was published in newspapers, he retracted his statement and insisted that he was trying to say that if he or Imran Khan retreated they should be killed.

Qadri also successfully used his oratory skills and references from the holy Quran and sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to charge and motivate his workers, including women and children, during live media coverage. His party gained sympathy of the media after his 14 workers were killed during clashed with police in Model Town on June 17. No doubt freedom of speech has been misused by most of the media houses in Pakistan for their vested interests. Musical songs have become a routine in news bulletins, media code of conduct exists nowhere and the code of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is being violated by almost every TV channel.

In the past, Taliban terrorists also manipulated media for their vested interests and it has become a tool to promote hate speech.

The violation of media ethics and code of conduct reached its peak after a big media house pointed fingers squarely at the Inter-Services Intelligence director general in the wake of the brazen attack on TV journalist Hamid Mir.

To address the issue the president formed a committee headed by columnist-turned-politician Irfan Siddiqui. The committee engaged academics to formulate a code of conduct after reaching a consensus on the matter.

The ball is in media houses court as the PM has requested them to review their policy. This is the high time that the media shows a sense of responsibility and professionalism for the healthy growth of the society and the promotion of democracy in Pakistan.

Daily Times