Pakistani News Media - A Growing Cancer Which Needs To Be Cured (Solutions)

[Indus Priest King]

Something needs to be done to crack down on this industry of thugs and blackmailers. Over the past 15 years, we've seen the news media in Pakistan grow from simply delivering the news to making the news...in what these yobs call "Infotainment", a term first used by that cancer called Geo TV. They started this ridiculous trend of playing music during news stories and having fair skinned women with no journalism experience or education whatsoever scream the news to us all day.

Since Musharraf liberalized the media in the early 2000s, the news industry have evolved into an utter and complete gong show and this trend is only getting worse. I'm going to identity several problems which I've noticed and provide my opinion on how to solve them...your feedback and suggestions are welcomed.

PEMRA's Unprofessional Attitude & Lack of Common Sense
What does PEMRA even do? The whole idea behind regulating the media is to protect Pakistan's interests. This doesn't mean curbing free speech, but rather making sure each channel does what it says it wants to do and that it doesn't harm national interests or the national media industry. Also, the lack of educational channels is disturbing. Just how many news channels do we actually need?

"Infotainment"
This nonsense should be outright banned. If you're a TV channel that wants to deliver the news, then deliver the news. If you're a TV channel that wants to entertain, then entertain. Don't conflate the two together - this is the responsibility of PEMRA to separate the two so news doesn't become a joke...this means not handing out licenses to every village idiot who walks into your office. They're handing out licenses like candy to every tom, dick and harry, then what does anybody expect? Under what pretext is Gourmet Bakery allowed to start a TV channel, and that too called "GNN"? Where are the regulations? Where is the quality control? It seems like if you write PEMRA a big cheque, you can get away with anything. I should apply for an Islamic **** channel...guaranteed if I write them a nice cheque, it'll be allowed.

Foreign Collaborations/Partnerships
This is a disturbing trend - until now I'm only aware of the Express Tribune openly admitting they are in a partnership with the International Herald Tribune, which is part of the New York Times. Firstly, PEMRA should force any news media publication to publicly state they are in collaboration with foreign media. Dawn News is suspected of being in partnership with the Washington Post - Hameed Haroon should be forced to state this publicly. If it were up to me, any news publication that has any ties with any foreign newspapers (in particular Pentagon funded propaganda machines like the New York Times or Washington Post) should have no right to operate in Pakistan.

Dual Two Faced Nature Pitting Conservatives & Liberals Against One Another
Another disturbing trend I've noticed in how certain media groups have both Urdu and English publications, with the Urdu publications catering to the right wing and the English publications catering to the left wing. Express Group does this beautifully...it's almost ironic how these brain dead Anglo Pakistan gated community living mummy daddy bloggers on the Express Tribune complain about extremism and conservative elements in society, when the newspaper they write for has an Urdu wing that essentially caters to the very people they're against! The irony here is unmistakable - Orya Maqbool Jan wrote for Express Urdu did he not, while I distinctly remember during that same period an Express Tribune Blogger complaining about Orya Maqbool Jan. It seems like they like fanning the flames, so they can profit off it. This should be called out has hypocrisy! At least Dawn is consistent with its so-called "liberal bias", which I call American foreign policy influenced bias.

Lack of Actual Journalists
People in Pakistan have sorely confused a "journalist" with a "newsreader" (also known as newscasters)...these are NOT the same. Journalism is an actual career, with an actual degree. People are taught how to investigate incidents, how to avoid bias, how to be impartial etc. Ask yourselves, how many of these personalities on TV actually have a journalism degree or some experience working in the news industry? Simply screaming over others and playing music in the background while you talk doesn't make you a journalist.

Obsession With Fair Skinned Women News Readers
Just sickens me how every news channel essentially tries to hire the most fairest looking THOT they can find to read the news. Forget the fact if they even have the calibre or voice to be a newscaster, if she looks pale and fair...good enough. Some of these low budget channels end up hiring some really retarded makeup artists, who apply inches of makeup on these women. They look less like newsreaders and more like clowns to be honest.

Screaming Culture
This one if the biggest complaint I have - what is this need to scream the news at us and repeat it several times over and over again within a span of 3 minutes? If you have ever noticed during breaking news events, the newsreaders literally SCREAM while mentioning "sub se pelay hum ne bataya hai". This is so unprofessional and clownish.

Look at how this professional news channel speaks calmly and clearly and then compare to to garbage like GEO and ARY and Samaa. There is no panic in the voices nor are they interested in rushing to say things first. I get a headache each time I watch these news channels in Pakistan. So jahil and unprofessional.

Breaking News Culture
This concept has lost all meaning in Pakistani news media.

Geo Breaking News: It's raining in Lahore
Geo Breaking News: The sun has come out in Lahore

Enough said.

Illiterate In Urdu
If you're an Urdu news channel, you should be hiring people who are fluent in Urdu...it shocks me how many of these pseudojournalist morons sitting at these channels feel the need to throw English into the mix.

Not "Nashnaal Assamblee" but Quami Assembly
Not "Soopreem Kart" but Adalat-e-Uzma
Not " Elekshuun" but intekhaabat

And that's just scratching the surface.
intekhaab

 

[Indus Priest King]

Another issue I have is the need to play depressing music during tragedies. What kind of BS is this? Are you a news channel or a god damn movie? It's so disrespectful to profit off others misery...often I come across stories of family deaths on these news channels, and they'll play some f**ing Titanic song in the background. Where in the world did they get this idea from?

Disgusting!

 

[Samlee]

Excellent Analysis

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Only people with very deep thinking can understand this.
Media is getting very very dangerous.
Seriously dangerous.
And social media usually follow the mainstream media.
It is getting cancerous.
You cannot directly control them or stop them, which is not even moral.
But there should be some ethics and code of conduct.

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

You are 100% correct. Something also needs to be done about Pakistani correspondents to foreign newspapers who further anti-Pakistan propaganda on the global state.

Even AlJazeera and TRT are guilty of this.

 

[RIP Pak LAW]

Under what pretext is Gourmet Bakery allowed to start a TV channel, and that too called "GNN"?

LOL now every leading news anchor is joining GNN just like in early days of BOL.

Hamid Mir ended his long association with Geo TV to join GNN and now Gharida Farooqi of Ajj Tv did the same.

 

[Zibago]

Another disturbing trend I've noticed in how certain media groups have both Urdu and English publications, with the Urdu publications catering to the right wing and the English publications catering to the left wing. Express Group does this beautifully...it's almost ironic how these brain dead Anglo Pakistan gated community living mummy daddy bloggers on the Express Tribune complain about extremism and conservative elements in society, when the newspaper they write for has an Urdu wing that essentially caters to the very people they're against! The irony here is unmistakable - Orya Maqbool Jan wrote for Express Urdu did he not, while I distinctly remember during that same period an Express Tribune Blogger complaining about Orya Maqbool Jan. It seems like they like fanning the flames, so they can profit off it. This should be called out has hypocrisy! At least Dawn is consistent with its so-called "liberal bias", which I call American foreign policy influenced bias.

This hypocrisy needs to be pointed out sell one type of manjan they are selling different type of manjans to different type of crowds
You have Oreo Jan baby throwing fits over Veet ad and in Express Tribune you have bloggers wanting Gay rights stop this hypocrisy

LOL now every leading news anchor is joining GNN just like in early days of BOL.

BOL as of now is in a very comfortable space in NAYA Pakistan expect the heavily sponsored tv channels of the past to be big losers

 

[RIP Pak LAW]

BOL as of now is in a very comfortable space in NAYA Pakistan expect the heavily sponsored tv channels of the past to be big losers

GEO is biased channel. Their current affairs are limited to anti-PTI talks only.

Btw who is behind GNN ? as per topic creater, its gourmet bakery group ? from where in the world they got so much resources to run a news channel ?

 

[Zibago]

Just sickens me how every news channel essentially tries to hire the most fairest looking THOT they can find to read the news. Forget the fact if they even have the calibre or voice to be a newscaster, if she looks pale and fair...good enough. Some of these low budget channels end up hiring some really retarded makeup artists, who apply inches of makeup on these women. They look less like newsreaders and more like clowns to be honest.

Most arent naturally of that colour they apply heavy makeup to look that way

Btw who is behind GNN ? as per topic creater, its gourmet bakery group ? from where in the world they got so much resources to run a news channel ?

Well they are fairly wealthy i wouldnt be surprised if they managed to pull that off narrative wise GNN will try to be hacky neutral kind of like Dunya news where they kind of put everyone inside and go with the flow

GEO is biased channel. Their current affairs are limited to anti-PTI talks only.

They are going down big time their operational structure was based around government blackmail and spending they know pti can mow them down and is more than willing to end the gravy train plus the rating system will be modified
ARY is the biggest winner they were at no 1 in all categories except news now they are No 1 is news too

 

[313ghazi]

There should be a multi-pronged approach.

1. Tougher laws around the press. There should be no curbs on what can be said, but channels should be bound to prove they had no reasonable doubt that what they are reporting is true. This Fox news style BS should be curbed. Anyone breaching that should be fined heavily. They lie to make money, make them spend money for the lies, it will soon calm them down. There should be strong libel laws which allow individuals to sue for lies told about them.

2. Independent media self governance.. A professional standards body should be formed which should look to have journalists govern journalists and news orgs. This body should also look to protect journalists and help improve professional standards.

3. Pakistani version of the BBC. PTV, Pakistani state Radio, local state owned TV and radio channels, a state owned news website should be setup and be held to the highest professional standard. They should also follow the BBC model of being impartial, yet state owned. If PTV was not a govt mouthpiece with 60's era tech, more of us would be watching it. There should also be state sponsored print media in english and urdu. If the bar is set high and you have the impartiality to attract audiences, others will have to match your standard.

 

[python-000]

PM Imran Khan must control this bloody out of control free media witch is working for interests of our Enemies & they are the biggest blackmailer in Pakistan & non of them is neutral just like ARY supporting PPP & zardari league.

 

[python-000]

The solution is that first find the source of founding & find there out sited lords who controlling them & then grab them from there neck Pakistan must smashed the heads of these snacks...

 

[Yaseen1]

media must be audited to find who is funding them

 

[TMA]

Something needs to be done to crack down on this industry of thugs and blackmailers. Over the past 15 years, we've seen the news media in Pakistan grow from simply delivering the news to making the news...in what these yobs call "Infotainment", a term first used by that cancer called Geo TV. They started this ridiculous trend of playing music during news stories and having fair skinned women with no journalism experience or education whatsoever scream the news to us all day.

Since Musharraf liberalized the media in the early 2000s, the news industry have evolved into an utter and complete gong show and this trend is only getting worse. I'm going to identity several problems which I've noticed and provide my opinion on how to solve them...your feedback and suggestions are welcomed.

PEMRA's Unprofessional Attitude & Lack of Common Sense
What does PEMRA even do? The whole idea behind regulating the media is to protect Pakistan's interests. This doesn't mean curbing free speech, but rather making sure each channel does what it says it wants to do and that it doesn't harm national interests or the national media industry. Also, the lack of educational channels is disturbing. Just how many news channels do we actually need?

"Infotainment"
This nonsense should be outright banned. If you're a TV channel that wants to deliver the news, then deliver the news. If you're a TV channel that wants to entertain, then entertain. Don't conflate the two together - this is the responsibility of PEMRA to separate the two so news doesn't become a joke...this means not handing out licenses to every village idiot who walks into your office. They're handing out licenses like candy to every tom, dick and harry, then what does anybody expect? Under what pretext is Gourmet Bakery allowed to start a TV channel, and that too called "GNN"? Where are the regulations? Where is the quality control? It seems like if you write PEMRA a big cheque, you can get away with anything. I should apply for an Islamic **** channel...guaranteed if I write them a nice cheque, it'll be allowed.

Foreign Collaborations/Partnerships
This is a disturbing trend - until now I'm only aware of the Express Tribune openly admitting they are in a partnership with the International Herald Tribune, which is part of the New York Times. Firstly, PEMRA should force any news media publication to publicly state they are in collaboration with foreign media. Dawn News is suspected of being in partnership with the Washington Post - Hameed Haroon should be forced to state this publicly. If it were up to me, any news publication that has any ties with any foreign newspapers (in particular Pentagon funded propaganda machines like the New York Times or Washington Post) should have no right to operate in Pakistan.

Dual Two Faced Nature Pitting Conservatives & Liberals Against One Another
Another disturbing trend I've noticed in how certain media groups have both Urdu and English publications, with the Urdu publications catering to the right wing and the English publications catering to the left wing. Express Group does this beautifully...it's almost ironic how these brain dead Anglo Pakistan gated community living mummy daddy bloggers on the Express Tribune complain about extremism and conservative elements in society, when the newspaper they write for has an Urdu wing that essentially caters to the very people they're against! The irony here is unmistakable - Orya Maqbool Jan wrote for Express Urdu did he not, while I distinctly remember during that same period an Express Tribune Blogger complaining about Orya Maqbool Jan. It seems like they like fanning the flames, so they can profit off it. This should be called out has hypocrisy! At least Dawn is consistent with its so-called "liberal bias", which I call American foreign policy influenced bias.

Lack of Actual Journalists
People in Pakistan have sorely confused a "journalist" with a "newsreader" (also known as newscasters)...these are NOT the same. Journalism is an actual career, with an actual degree. People are taught how to investigate incidents, how to avoid bias, how to be impartial etc. Ask yourselves, how many of these personalities on TV actually have a journalism degree or some experience working in the news industry? Simply screaming over others and playing music in the background while you talk doesn't make you a journalist.

Obsession With Fair Skinned Women News Readers
Just sickens me how every news channel essentially tries to hire the most fairest looking THOT they can find to read the news. Forget the fact if they even have the calibre or voice to be a newscaster, if she looks pale and fair...good enough. Some of these low budget channels end up hiring some really retarded makeup artists, who apply inches of makeup on these women. They look less like newsreaders and more like clowns to be honest.

Screaming Culture
This one if the biggest complaint I have - what is this need to scream the news at us and repeat it several times over and over again within a span of 3 minutes? If you have ever noticed during breaking news events, the newsreaders literally SCREAM while mentioning "sub se pelay hum ne bataya hai". This is so unprofessional and clownish.

Look at how this professional news channel speaks calmly and clearly and then compare to to garbage like GEO and ARY and Samaa. There is no panic in the voices nor are they interested in rushing to say things first. I get a headache each time I watch these news channels in Pakistan. So jahil and unprofessional.

Breaking News Culture
This concept has lost all meaning in Pakistani news media.

Geo Breaking News: It's raining in Lahore
Geo Breaking News: The sun has come out in Lahore

Enough said.

Illiterate In Urdu
If you're an Urdu news channel, you should be hiring people who are fluent in Urdu...it shocks me how many of these pseudojournalist morons sitting at these channels feel the need to throw English into the mix.

Not "Nashnaal Assamblee" but Quami Assembly
Not "Soopreem Kart" but Adalat-e-Uzma
Not " Elekshuun" but intekhaabat

And that's just scratching the surface.
intekhaab

They ought to be referred as terrorists...media terrorists...part of the asymmetric war on Pakistan....

 

[TMA]

There should be a multi-pronged approach.

1. Tougher laws around the press. There should be no curbs on what can be said, but channels should be bound to prove they had no reasonable doubt that what they are reporting is true. This Fox news style BS should be curbed. Anyone breaching that should be fined heavily. They lie to make money, make them spend money for the lies, it will soon calm them down. There should be strong libel laws which allow individuals to sue for lies told about them.

2. Independent media self governance.. A professional standards body should be formed which should look to have journalists govern journalists and news orgs. This body should also look to protect journalists and help improve professional standards.

3. Pakistani version of the BBC. PTV, Pakistani state Radio, local state owned TV and radio channels, a state owned news website should be setup and be held to the highest professional standard. They should also follow the BBC model of being impartial, yet state owned. If PTV was not a govt mouthpiece with 60's era tech, more of us would be watching it. There should also be state sponsored print media in english and urdu. If the bar is set high and you have the impartiality to attract audiences, others will have to match your standard.

BBC ain't impartial they are just bloody good at portraying that image but I get your point