Daily Times

Journalism is not just news. It is a gift of the last century to us, to diversify our world, and its fast-changing realities. Journalism dives into the news, bringing to it why it happens, where it happens, and how so.

Before so many colleges and schools of journalism were established, the world relied on regular everyday folks, travellers, and even explorers, to bring an in-depth analysis into matters. They would shine a light on everything, from sports to politics, to ongoing conflicts. Never, would you see it become a profession until the era of tabloids? Up until then, it was dignified to some extent, but then the scandalisation and politicisation of everything worldwide made it into the word “tabloid,” it is today. But it is in fact, that further divide from Tabloids, and travelling, that crafted Journalism, in the modern world, what made it a search for the truth. Because that’s what we all are, right, searchers of the truth, storytellers of mythical truths, hidden in the shadows.

Today’s journalists are trained with other practising professionals. Schools like the NYU Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute, and the UNC’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, give an insight into pupils of their academic journeys, as well as their moral responsibilities. It is that morality that is a strong pillar of Journalism.

Journalism is a strong pillar of Democracy. It is a fight to bring transparency. Freedom of speech is essential to deliver this. Perusing this means, you put your life on the line to find the truth because nobody likes the truth, except the people. The people demand the truth, they deserve the truth.

Talking about one political celebrity for hours on end, and calling them lions and courageous tigers and whatnot. It’s absolutely uncalled for.

It is a symbol of hope for women. According to Statista, the number of female journalists killed in the past decade is north of 100. The number of jailed journalists is 250, and due to absent global leadership, this number is on the rise.

In Pakistan, however, one might argue journalism’s very wrong turn. In Pakistan, there is no news and NO Journalism. Only partisan politics and favouritism. That’s right, and that’s the ugly truth. There is constant hate spewing across networks, only conspiring against the other and how they are somehow “number 1,” and the best channel in the whole world. Various reasons need to be addressed here for this.

First of all, the opinionating of just the very simplest news story can be damaging. Blaming local governments for disasters, not in their control, is one of them. And as much as this pains me to say this, whenever I turn on the TV, I see a few people sitting in a lounge, whispering and sharing each other’s gossip. That’s what the news sounds like to me! Absolute torture! Talking about one political celebrity for hours on end, and calling them lions and courageous tigers and whatnot. It’s absolutely uncalled for.

The second reason would be the news availability structure. News is often arranged from relevance to non-relevance. Well, not anymore. Now, it is arranged from most crowd-attracting, and that to me is just completely contradictory to what it should be. First, you hear about a cricket match, then you hear about the thousands of people who lost their lives in an earthquake, then about why hours later.

We need to fix this. We are a country of great definition. We have to pass such sports non-sense and focus on the issues at hand. Yes, discuss sports, but at its time, with reasoning and evidence for your talk. Not just blabbering the next thing that comes on to your mind with zero research and zero experience.

We need those rare journalists, who make an effort to analyse our experiences, to come forward. We need the truth, we need reasons, and we need them now.

The writer is a freelance columnist.