Countering the Unethical reporting. Distortion of facts by Talibanized Media

[Irfan Baloch]

• Using Faluja footage and faluja victims and claiming they were Lal Masjid victims of army operation
• Omitting the video and still footage of gas masked occupants of Lal masjid armed with assault rifles
• Blocking out and burying the news of the unprovoked killing of a solder from Pakistan rangers by the Lal masjid occupants
• Claiming that the “charred” bodies of the occupants of lal masjid smelt of attar and roses
• Claiming that white phosphorous was bombarded on the mosque.
• Claiming that over 1000 women and children were killed. By soldiers
• Claiming that the entire operation was conducted by shia soldiers who killed all sunni soldiers who refused to take part in the operation.
• Some of the journalists pushed the Musharraf government for the operation and later changed their sides.

Recently I saw one of such “analyst” (Orya Maqbool Jan) who is once again spreading disinformation and no one in the program confronted his claim and what is he saying is absolutely false and malicious. He claims that Mirumshah has been carpet bombed.. either he doesn’t know the meaning or difference of an airstrike and strategic bombing or he doesn’t care and wants to spread it for the violent & anti-military response from public.

Its time ISPR starts regular media briefings and military and civilian authorities use their powers to block and ban all media outlets that are spreading rumours and malicious disinformation that has helped the terrorists tremendously.
The general public already suffers from selective memory and collective amnesia about who their biggest killer is and this constant misinformation by an organised media disinformation and distortion is only going to make this so called “national unity” and “resolve” a distant dream.


@Icarus @FaujHistorian @Armstrong @Secur @BATMAN @LoveIcon @Aeronaut @fatman17 and all other respected members please contribute in order to make a unified voice against the malicious reporting and spreading of disinformation by pro taliban media and wake up our military and civilian authorities to gag such outlets that will work against any state response to the TTP.

 

[Icarus]

• Using Faluja footage and faluja victims and claiming they were Lal Masjid victims of army operation
• Omitting the video and still footage of gas masked occupants of Lal masjid armed with assault rifles
• Blocking out and burying the news of the unprovoked killing of a solder from Pakistan rangers by the Lal masjid occupants
• Claiming that the “charred” bodies of the occupants of lal masjid smelt of attar and roses
• Claiming that white phosphorous was bombarded on the mosque.
• Claiming that over 1000 women and children were killed. By soldiers
• Claiming that the entire operation was conducted by shia soldiers who killed all sunni soldiers who refused to take part in the operation.
• Some of the journalists pushed the Musharraf government for the operation and later changed their sides.

Recently I saw one of such “analyst” (Orya Maqbool Jan) who is once again spreading disinformation and no one in the program confronted his claim and what is he saying is absolutely false and malicious. He claims that Mirumshah has been carpet bombed.. either he doesn’t know the meaning or difference of an airstrike and strategic bombing or he doesn’t care and wants to spread it for the violent & anti-military response from public.

Its time ISPR starts regular media briefings and military and civilian authorities use their powers to block and ban all media outlets that are spreading rumours and malicious disinformation that has helped the terrorists tremendously.
The general public already suffers from selective memory and collective amnesia about who their biggest killer is and this constant misinformation by an organised media disinformation and distortion is only going to make this so called “national unity” and “resolve” a distant dream.


@Icarus @FaujHistorian @Armstrong @Secur @BATMAN @LoveIcon @Aeronaut @fatman17 and all other respected members please contribute in order to make a unified voice against the malicious reporting and spreading of disinformation by pro taliban media and wake up our military and civilian authorities to gag such outlets that will work against any state response to the TTP.

It is a game of vested interests my friend. It pays to be anti-state these days, and I'm not saying that figuratively. It literally pays and our people in their new found right to information believe that taking the military's word for it is too passe.

 

[Sugarcane]

Sir, You have highlighted very critical issue as in today's age, major portion of war is won through media not the guns, and i agree that ISPR is proved to be grossly incompetent on this front, they must wake up and smell coffee, they need to work day & night to counter and expose propaganda rather than fulfilling formality of doing occasional press releases, I don't think our corrupt & sell out parliamentarian and judiciary who can be blackmailed easily will ever go against media, nor they are gonna make PERMA an effective & independent institution.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

It is a game of vested interests my friend. It pays to be anti-state these days, and I'm not saying that figuratively. It literally pays and our people in their new found right to information believe that taking the military's word for it is too passe.

this is why I say, lets stop acting like Edhi trust and give a taster to these guys what our Muslim brothers in Turkey and Saudi Arabia have done to those who doubted the resolve of these respective states.

I know these people are handsomely paid to spill poison and lies against the military and the state .. so do to them what Gen Zia would have done to these people if taking example of Saudi Kingdom seems to extreme.

the lines are already drawn so you wont do any harm to your public image by shoving your DMC down the throats of these media operatives. class them enemies of state and spies and treat them as a spy is treated.


soldiers and officers from my family and friends are putting their lives on the lines and have died an anonymous death.

I now pray for the thundering sound from 111 Brigade and I wish and pray that no one manages to escape to France , Dobai, UK and India this time.

 

[Spring Onion]

• Using Faluja footage and faluja victims and claiming they were Lal Masjid victims of army operation
• Omitting the video and still footage of gas masked occupants of Lal masjid armed with assault rifles
• Blocking out and burying the news of the unprovoked killing of a solder from Pakistan rangers by the Lal masjid occupants
• Claiming that the “charred” bodies of the occupants of lal masjid smelt of attar and roses
• Claiming that white phosphorous was bombarded on the mosque.
• Claiming that over 1000 women and children were killed. By soldiers
• Claiming that the entire operation was conducted by shia soldiers who killed all sunni soldiers who refused to take part in the operation.
• Some of the journalists pushed the Musharraf government for the operation and later changed their sides.

Recently I saw one of such “analyst” (Orya Maqbool Jan) who is once again spreading disinformation and no one in the program confronted his claim and what is he saying is absolutely false and malicious. He claims that Mirumshah has been carpet bombed.. either he doesn’t know the meaning or difference of an airstrike and strategic bombing or he doesn’t care and wants to spread it for the violent & anti-military response from public.

Its time ISPR starts regular media briefings and military and civilian authorities use their powers to block and ban all media outlets that are spreading rumours and malicious disinformation that has helped the terrorists tremendously.
The general public already suffers from selective memory and collective amnesia about who their biggest killer is and this constant misinformation by an organised media disinformation and distortion is only going to make this so called “national unity” and “resolve” a distant dream.


@Icarus @FaujHistorian @Armstrong @Secur @BATMAN @LoveIcon @Aeronaut @fatman17 and all other respected members please contribute in order to make a unified voice against the malicious reporting and spreading of disinformation by pro taliban media and wake up our military and civilian authorities to gag such outlets that will work against any state response to the TTP.

First of all you must understand that Media is NOT pro-Taliban.

rather media is a greedy corporate sector that does not care if any report/ programme harms the state or people but it merely works according to own business.

As far as Orya Maqbool is concerned well some accuse him of an establishment man and now some are accusing him of anti-establishment.

So we must wait and try to dig the truth and should not base assumption on a single statement

 

[Developereo]

you wont do any harm to your public image by shoving your DMC down the throats of these media operatives. class them enemies of state and spies and treat them as a spy is treated.

Tread very carefully.

The worst thing you can do is to turn these media people into martyrs -- and they will be portrayed as martyrs by the rest of the media, possibly including foreign media.

 

[Icarus]

this is why I say, lets stop acting like Edhi trust and give a taster to these guys what our Muslim brothers in Turkey and Saudi Arabia have done to those who doubted the resolve of these respective states.

I know these people are handsomely paid to spill poison and lies against the military and the state .. so do to them what Gen Zia would have done to these people if taking example of Saudi Kingdom seems to extreme.

the lines are already drawn so you wont do any harm to your public image by shoving your DMC down the throats of these media operatives. class them enemies of state and spies and treat them as a spy is treated.


soldiers and officers from my family and friends are putting their lives on the lines and have died an anonymous death.

I now pray for the thundering sound from 111 Brigade and I wish and pray that no one manages to escape to France , Dobai, UK and India this time.

Damn us for the newly adopted non-confrontational approach, the high-ups don't want to intervene this time. Like I said, they are now convinced that the military can only intervene in so many many matters at the cost of its own image. They've now decided that we let people saw what they want, do what they want and hope that people themselves realize what's good for them.
Its not necessarily a popular policy but it is definitely one that the high-ups want us to trust and implement.
Apparently, they hope that people will learn to discern the truth from lies and that will take them into a new phase of self-understanding and responsibility.
I just hope they're right.

 

[Star Wars]

I have kept saying this for years, the west will try to divide Pakistan because of its association with China and allowing China to build the pipeline to Gwadar port ( which allows china to bypass the massive supply route through the Indian ocean and Malakka straights, increasing its energy security....

The Media both in India and Pakistan has been completely paid of by western interests and i don;t give a shit of someone calls me a conspiracy theorist ... but its all clear when you connect the dots ...

From the drone attacks , media reports on that ( to show Pakistan involvement and helplessness) and asking Pakistan to strike terror camps and when they finally do you again get media reports of (alleged carpet bombing) ...

This whole Media propaganda and mis information is to increase the divide b/w the people and the state indirectly giving H.R support to separatists/terrorists

 

[Irfan Baloch]

First of all you must understand that Media is NOT pro-Taliban.

rather media is a greedy corporate sector that does not care if any report/ programme harms the state or people but it merely works according to own business.

As far as Orya Maqbool is concerned well some accuse him of an establishment man and now some are accusing him of anti-establishment.

So we must wait and try to dig the truth and should not base assumption on a single statement

thanks for your post and your PoV
different way to look at it but we arrive at same conclusion

which is... deliberate misreporting and distortion in a way to make a sensational and controversial news for the sake of ratings and "funding" from disclosed and undisclosed sources.

corporate greed is indeed one factor, but some anchors have gone much beyond that. I wonder if you or other people recall a news reporter from one of such channels who during the time of TTP rule of Sawat visited the place where few SSG personnel were kept hostage and he even mocked them .. they are the same who were later executed by TTP. people on this board said that they saw his live footage and mocking while reporting back to his channel I am sorry I forgot the name but if we go back in archive then maybe dig out that thread.. the guy was latter captured by military when the operation commenced.


the things like accusing military of raping the females of red mosque and bombarding them with white phosphorus goes beyond media greed in my opinion. people who know a little about the area of effect of white phosphorus bomb know how untrue and unfounded such claims were but such is the power of this disinformation that the people next door to Red mosque also believed that although they should have been decimated in that so called white phosphorus cloud.

we all conveniently forgot, how tirelessly and patiently .. the "innocent" students of red mosque were led out and how the parents out where crying that they were shot at when they tried to retrieve their children. even their edited footage was used against the military and mixed which the charred bodies of Iraq claiming it was the job of Pakistani military.
in Jang paper one such sick columnist claimed that he knew some female students who were shot and discard in the canal nearby...

to me this is beyond corporate greed thats compliance and collaboration with the anti state entities

@Irfan Baloch - I have noticed that lately you are becoming fan of Zia instead of hating him.

just his effective methods of control. I also praise KSA, Turkey and China for the same reason. I dont agree with their ideologies necessarily. and sometimes I condemn and criticise KSA influence on our religious and sectarian organisations. I will take Gen Zia some other time.

you heard about the social contract on the recent talkshows ... the contract between the state and its subjects.. to provide it sanctuary, peace and security and defend its ideology and its boundaries with utmost resolve.. in Pakistan there is no such concept of that, for our democracy such thing is never registered. hence people have given up hope and fear for their lives and expect mercy from taliban.

 

[Sugarcane]

First of all you must understand that Media is NOT pro-Taliban.

rather media is a greedy corporate sector that does not care if any report/ programme harms the state or people but it merely works according to own business.

As far as Orya Maqbool is concerned well some accuse him of an establishment man and now some are accusing him of anti-establishment.

So we must wait and try to dig the truth and should not base assumption on a single statement

A famous journalists was spreading propaganda during sawat operation against army's claims about their progress that territory ahead from where he is standing is lost and not Pakistan anymore, Army is bombing and killing innocents and they are not touching any Taliban as they are afraid - excuse my language but It's not corporate greed, it's worse than even prostitutes who trade their bodies only.

 

[Spring Onion]

A famous journalists was spreading propaganda during sawat operation against army's claims about their progress that territory ahead from where he is standing is lost and not Pakistan anymore, Army is bombing and killing innocents and they are not touching any Taliban as they are afraid - excuse my language but It's not corporate greed, it's worse than even prostitutes who trade their bodies only.

that is what their corporate sector all about here

 

[Irfan Baloch]

some progams run by certain anhors are a health hazard in terms of increating the blood pressure and causing intense anxiety.

just saw Gerban Apna Apna

the pappu innocent anchor spent his entire energy on blaming army for unlawful detention and demanding that army should be disciplined
a female participant went as far as declaring the terrorists as shaheeds who died at the hands of the military
the third one with beard and horrid Urdu accent declared that the laws are effective and and special courts are working its only the fault of the army

and final one was Air Marshall Latif who was being interrupted, cornered and teased by the anchor . I dont disagree with the content and not even the questions posed by the Anchor but the intent was clearly malicious and even hostile. it was far from being neutral and unbiased. his entire energy seems to be based on putting the noose on the military for its reaction to the TTP that has murdered over 50K Pakistanis.

 

[Riseup]

thanks for your post and your PoV
different way to look at it but we arrive at same conclusion

which is... deliberate misreporting and distortion in a way to make a sensational and controversial news for the sake of ratings and "funding" from disclosed and undisclosed sources.

corporate greed is indeed one factor, but some anchors have gone much beyond that. I wonder if you or other people recall a news reporter from one of such channels who during the time of TTP rule of Sawat visited the place where few SSG personnel were kept hostage and he even mocked them .. they are the same who were later executed by TTP. people on this board said that they saw his live footage and mocking while reporting back to his channel I am sorry I forgot the name but if we go back in archive then maybe dig out that thread.. the guy was latter captured by military when the operation commenced.


the things like accusing military of raping the females of red mosque and bombarding them with white phosphorus goes beyond media greed in my opinion. people who know a little about the area of effect of white phosphorus bomb know how untrue and unfounded such claims were but such is the power of this disinformation that the people next door to Red mosque also believed that although they should have been decimated in that so called white phosphorus cloud.

we all conveniently forgot, how tirelessly and patiently .. the "innocent" students of red mosque were led out and how the parents out where crying that they were shot at when they tried to retrieve their children. even their edited footage was used against the military and mixed which the charred bodies of Iraq claiming it was the job of Pakistani military.
in Jang paper one such sick columnist claimed that he knew some female students who were shot and discard in the canal nearby...

to me this is beyond corporate greed thats compliance and collaboration with the anti state entities


just his effective methods of control. I also praise KSA, Turkey and China for the same reason. I dont agree with their ideologies necessarily. and sometimes I condemn and criticise KSA influence on our religious and sectarian organisations. I will take Gen Zia some other time.

you heard about the social contract on the recent talkshows ... the contract between the state and its subjects.. to provide it sanctuary, peace and security and defend its ideology and its boundaries with utmost resolve.. in Pakistan there is no such concept of that, for our democracy such thing is never registered. hence people have given up hope and fear for their lives and expect mercy from taliban.

You can see Orya Maqbool Jan's arguments in following clip with Haroon Rashid, although Haroon exposed Orya but he was still insist on it

I also remember that when S. Waziristan Operation was going on a so called anti-establishment anchor person Hamid Mir belongs to geo was reporting live from S. Waziristan that army is bombarding on common tribes home and all terrorists are save in their hideouts and Pakistan losing this territory to terrorist.

Is it not we can do any kind of legislation to prevent such a kind of baseless propaganda on the media? Is it not any law to question such kind of so called free journalists about their poison that they are putting in the minds of people? Is it not any way to questioning the credentials of these journalists their so called source? And what after they have been proven liar after a time? I thing we need law and control to stop this bullshit like law for terrorists who caught read handed in operations and get easy bails from the courts.

 

[FaujHistorian]

• Using Faluja footage and faluja victims and claiming they were Lal Masjid victims of army operation
• Omitting the video and still footage of gas masked occupants of Lal masjid armed with assault rifles
• Blocking out and burying the news of the unprovoked killing of a solder from Pakistan rangers by the Lal masjid occupants
• Claiming that the “charred” bodies of the occupants of lal masjid smelt of attar and roses
• Claiming that white phosphorous was bombarded on the mosque.
• Claiming that over 1000 women and children were killed. By soldiers
• Claiming that the entire operation was conducted by shia soldiers who killed all sunni soldiers who refused to take part in the operation.
• Some of the journalists pushed the Musharraf government for the operation and later changed their sides.

Recently I saw one of such “analyst” (Orya Maqbool Jan) who is once again spreading disinformation and no one in the program confronted his claim and what is he saying is absolutely false and malicious. He claims that Mirumshah has been carpet bombed.. either he doesn’t know the meaning or difference of an airstrike and strategic bombing or he doesn’t care and wants to spread it for the violent & anti-military response from public.

Its time ISPR starts regular media briefings and military and civilian authorities use their powers to block and ban all media outlets that are spreading rumours and malicious disinformation that has helped the terrorists tremendously.
The general public already suffers from selective memory and collective amnesia about who their biggest killer is and this constant misinformation by an organised media disinformation and distortion is only going to make this so called “national unity” and “resolve” a distant dream.


@Icarus @FaujHistorian @Armstrong @Secur @BATMAN @LoveIcon @Aeronaut @fatman17 and all other respected members please contribute in order to make a unified voice against the malicious reporting and spreading of disinformation by pro taliban media and wake up our military and civilian authorities to gag such outlets that will work against any state response to the TTP.

Our educated elite believe in specific things about religion and economy.

For religion they believe in mixing state and religion,
For economy they belive in mixing state and marxism

Thus

the media panders to the educated elite

and puts down and denounces the state of Pakistan if it goes against Islamist ideals
the media also puts down and denounces the state of Pakistan if it goes against marxist ideals.


Thus our state and our army is unfortunately between the rock and the hard place.

 

[Solomon2]

I don't think South Asians value truth very highly. Personal or political agendas are more important: facts are presented - or even invented - only to reinforce these, while facts that don't support such agendas are ignored, shouted out, or unjustly denounced.

This is not an original observation. I accept as an authority on the subject centenarian historian Bernard Lewis. He's schooled historians worldwide for three generations and occasionally meets his "grandchildren" and mentions this characteristic in his autobiography Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian.

The casual dismissal of truth by Pakistanis is further reinforced by personal accounts like this one:

My experience as a youth ambassador made me more tolerant, understanding and mature. Ironically, even my perception of Islam enhanced while residing in a non-Islamic country. Earlier, I used to believe that bowing down to God five times a day had far greater value than telling the truth all the time. But now I understand that telling the truth is an act of worship.