Daily Times

With an increase in the number of electronic media houses, the TV channels have been facing a two-pronged challenge: how to attract more viewers to watch a program and how to keep the viewers glued to the screen. This challenge is shifted onto the shoulders of the anchors and the analysts that are always attached to the anchors, who try to grab the viewers’ attention through different shades of opinion.

One shade of opinion revolves around casting scathing criticism about everything happening in the country. Self-serving arguments are constructed with the claim to have a lasting impact but these arguments dissipate after a short period of time. Pessimistic and dismissive writers and analysts of this variety are to be found in all newspapers and TV channels. Examples from other countries are given to prove the failure of Pakistan without understanding that each country is bound by its own peculiar circumstances of geography, history and culture. The new trend in this shade of opinion is that a note book is held to the chest to read out statistics to prove the failure of any sitting government. The strength of the speaker lies in negativity. This kind of opinion maker symbolises cynicism and tries his best to prove that nothing positive is happening around.

The second shade of opinion banks on the medieval age. A popular columnist representing this shade of opinion often quotes various incidents from the Islamic medieval age (for instance, from the life and work of Caliph Haroon ur Rasheed and the interaction of the Muslims with the Europeans) that he claims can be replicated in this age. Interestingly, most of these narrated events are not found in authentic history books. Instead, these events are mostly known to that writer only. Even if they were found, they would be demanding an interpretation different from the one made by this writer. The strength of this shade of opinion lies not in the veracity of narration and the objectivity of interpretation but in not being negated or challenged by viewers. The mere absence of an opposing voice is considered the truth of a given narration and interpretation. The story does not rest here. This shade of opinion also eulogises the deeds of Arab Muslim commanders and incites the current army generals to repeat the same. The Pakistan army is duped into believing that it is the army of the medieval Islamic age and could achieve similar conquests. This shade of opinion is a great promoter of the concept of a Sipah Silar (commander-in-chief) but at a position superior to an elected prime minister.

In continuation of the same thought, this shade of opinion affects students when such speakers are invited to address young pliable minds about the “forgotten history” of the Muslims. The minds of the youth are turned against democracy in favour of military intervention. Moreover, this school of thought interprets the history of Pakistan in its unique way and promotes conspiracy theories.

Similarly there is also the trend of promoting the idea of an approaching Day of Judgement. When the graph of popularity of a particular anchor dips or any event of minor importance takes place in the Middle East, these types get into action. The viewers are roused with a comparative analysis made to project the strengths and weaknesses of prophecies made in different religions in different eras about the end of the world. The history of events leading to the day of judgement is traced and an effort is made to fit any current event into the narration as if a given event would lead to the end of the world. The strength of the speaker lies in instilling a kind of fear in the hearts of the viewers so that they kept on listening to the mysteries being unfold on the screen. This shade of opinion is also a strong believer in conspiracy theories and feels no qualm in promoting them.

The fourth shade of opinion sprouts from its ability to narrate imaginative stories and drawing moral conclusions from them to put society on the right path. This shade of opinion is characterised by author s that seem like writers of children’s books. Analysis is hardly found. Rather, more emphasis is put on creating suspense and then unfolding the suspense with a moral lesson that there was a king and his kingdom in which such and such events took place because of such and such moral reasons. The strength of this shade of opinion lies in creating a story context and drawing moral lessons which are otherwise mostly found incongruent with the present scientific age.

The electronic media has been encouraging these shades of opinion to attract the viewers so that commercial companies advertise their products in the breaks (and before and after TV talk shows) and consequently both the companies and the media outlets earn money. The question is this: what ideals are the TV talk shows trying to construct in our society through these discussions that are full of cynicism, biases and derision? Similarly, what is the sense in conducting the Operation Zarb-e-Azb when these shades of opinion are out to pollute young minds with unrealistic dreams, contrived realities, erroneous interpretations, fake incidents of history, and imaginary stories of occurrence? Does no one realise that Pakistan needs to be dragged into the scientific age the rest of the world world is passing through?

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com