Daily Times

“It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.” Mark Twain certainly did not contemplate a Pakistani society when he wrote these words but they resonate with present day Pakistan.

When Molana Tariq Jameel, chose or perhaps unwittingly assumed the role to act as mirror to mainstream electronic media, he stirred quite a ruckus. His breaking away from the settled ‘prudence’ was never going to get a reception from anchors; with giant’s sized egos and with daft sense of overestimation of their influence on society. In fact, who would have thought, that in times, among other precious things in our country, preachers’ monopoly over righteousness would be disturbed by media anchors!

While it hard to conceal one’s contempt for the need to invite molanas to speak on every socio-political and economic issue – now even on pandemics; bigger debate, nonetheless, remains whether mainstream electronic media is impartial? Well, there is no straight forward answer to it. Because what is truth after all if not a perspective! But why have this debate, cry anchors, as it is ‘understood’ that media is always neutral, they sermonize.

Audiences today are conscious of the bent of different channels and make an informed choice of watching content on different channels; news or views – just like it is across the globe

Orwell’s satirical masterpiece, Animal Farm, is a captivating critique on the totalitarian regime of Soviet Union at the time. Well it turns out, his introduction to the Animal Farm which was ‘accidentally’ shelved for over thirty years was about “Literary Censorship in England”. He wrote, that there is a “general tacit agreement that ‘it wouldn’t do’ to mention that particular fact.” The tacit agreement imposes a “veiled censorship” based on “an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question,” and “anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness” even without “any official ban.” By simply raising the question on impartiality; Molana challenged the prevailing orthodoxy which the people, over the years, have been regimented to assume – always existed.

Molana has a massive fan base throughout the country. His lectures are keenly followed by people. Regardless of the merits of his social commentary, away from religion, our beloved anchors on elite media know, that his decree could hurt their social standing as well as credibility as journalists. So the missing piece isn’t neutrality; it is credibility of the mainstream elite media. Both are significant, except that credibility is far more important.

Molana’s obiter, so to speak, in his prayer for the country, could have been easily ignored – but there were also axes to grind and perhaps some scores to settle. Elite electronic media has been in the business of agenda setting in this country for nearly two decades now. They have set the framework in which everyone else – including politicians operate. In the recent past, this elite media has even actively pushed for regime change – and thus aspires to be become a vital political force besides political parties, establishment – and unique to Pakistan’s political milieu; the judiciary. A challenge to the mighty media, on their platform, from the most unlikely yet powerful of sources, who was once an alley, was unexpected for them and not part of an envisaged agenda. It was petty to see how different anchors, on different slots, went after the Molana afterwards. Media space was exploited for personal aggrandizement when discourse should have focused on public health in these times of pandemic. The entire episode has hurt our mainstream media.

There is no doubt that media has played a key role in shaping up the political culture in Pakistan; a country where political system was designed to exclude and where education was aggressively employed as a tool of subordination. But the country now has changed. By and large, the audiences do not necessarily get carried away with how elite media frames issues for them. They have realized most of the issues that concern them are not really raised nor addressed on the elite media. Rise of entertainment industry in the last five years in Pakistan is indicative of the dwindling stocks of information industry and changed interest of audiences. Media needs to catch up with this changed country who has grown overwhelmingly skeptical of its role.

Audiences today are conscious of the bent of different channels and make an informed choice of watching content on different channels; news or views – just like it is across the globe. Fox and CNN have their own fan base. There is no such thing as neutral media. And there is nothing wrong with being politically partial to certain ideology or political ideas so long as it is declared. This is where editorial policies in the electronic media must evolve. In the US, different media outlets formally endorse candidates across the political spectrum. With its present dispensation, our media, if it wishes to preserve and even gain some credibility needs to do just the same. Media will only be perceived as credible so long as its political endorsements or affiliations are declared.

The writer attended Berkeley and is a Barrister of Lincoln’s Inn