Free and independent media is considered as the guarantee of success and prosperity of any state and that is why it is called the fourth pillar of the state.
The responsibility of media is to keep a close watch on economic, , , developmental industrial, defense foreign and interior affairs policies of the current government. An important role of the media is to criticize the non-developmental and anti-people policies of the government and force them to reconsider. The current govt has tried to implement some new media laws through a bill that has been approved by parliament. But the government is facing a very strong reaction and strong opposition to the newly implemented laws from the journalistic circles. Journalistic circles are describing it as killing freedom of expression.
It is not the first time, that the government of the days has tried to rein in the unbridled horse of the media and has not faced severe criticism and opposition, and this has been going on since 1962 when a non- elected government implemented a controversial law Pakistan Publication Ordinance (PPO) for the first time, which was actually a very bad form of censorship. Journalists not only strongly opposed the law but also suffered punishments and this game of cat and mouse started in 1962 which is continues today. It is still going on in one form or another till date. It has not happened that the government of the time has tried to amend the media laws, and the journalistic circles have accepted it. Why like this?
Today we will examine whether every succeeding government wants to control the media and that is why they introduce new laws or indeed any government sincerely regulates the media through new laws according to its policies. It tries to define ethics so that the media can present a positive image of the government’s efforts for public welfare projects over time to ensure the country’s development and prosperity. If it is intended to criticize, constructive criticism should be done within the realm of ethics so that the government can perform public service in a positive manner or, journalistic organizations and media owners want no one to hold them accountable, whatever they say should be accepted as truth and no law of any kind should be applied to them. What kind of war is this in which each side considers itself to be right and the other wrong. How will this war end?
History of Laws
Media laws in Pakistan were initiated by an unelected government in 1962. Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) was implemented by the unelected government to control journalistic circles and organizations opposed to the government, with the help of this law. The unelected government shut down many media houses that criticized and opposed its policies and governance, many stubborn journalists were punished, atrocities were committed and this game continued throughout the rule of that unelected government. It is very interesting that neither the unelected government retreated from its cruel practices, continued efforts to strangle the critical circles, nor did the journalistic circles and media houses give up the path of criticism and opposition. In the 80s, another un-elected, un-democratic government kept the market of oppression hot by making the PPO laws more severe and painful. Every critic’s pen was broken; every tongue was cut. Severe punishments were given in case of violation. They had to suffer the hardships of imprisonment in the Shahi Qila Lahore, the style of censorship on newspapers was completely dictatorial and, perhaps this was the time when both sides decided that in any case it was not in the national and public interest, we would always be against each other. This race of getting ahead of each other continues till today.
Almost every government that has been established in Pakistan, has always tried to keep the media under control. There is no power in the media’s tongue or pen to criticize, even if the criticism is positive and constructive. While on the other hand, journalists and media houses think that complete and bare freedom is their right, no law, no leadership or any moral in the world. The limit should not apply to them, and this is the reason why neither of the parties is willing to trust each other and move along. Both sides view each other with suspicion of every law that is enforced and every word that is written or spoken and unfortunately this journey of mistrust has started from an unelected and undemocratic era, and it continues till today.
The newly passed law
On May 16, 2024, the new government of Pakistan, whose tenure is only a few months old, has approved the law from the parliament. And it’s defined in the simple words all other related and unrelated persons of media are bound by a code of conduct that no one should insult anyone and should not falsely accuse anyone of any kind of blame, if he believes that the accusation is true, then he has his own rights. He should also be adequate evidence to prove the charge, otherwise six months imprisonment or a fine of Rupees one million has been proposed. However, it is necessary for the government to pass this bill in the senate, but despite all this, this bill can be challenged in the higher courts. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) have expressed serious concern over the said bill and rejected it completely. According to their point of view that this bill is tantamount to restricting the freedom of expression and the fear is also being expressed that it can be used against independent journalists, which is totally unacceptable. If the government does not clarify its position in this regard, the journalist community reserves the right to strongly protest against it.
Pakistani media
After the establishment of Pakistan, the authentic sources of news in Pakistan used to be newspapers and radio and during the movement of Pakistan these two sources has played a very wonderful and powerful role in Pakistan. Nowadays, newspapers, magazines, radio, television and social media are considered as important sources of news. However, electronic and social media have changed the entire system of journalism, but due to the lack of a proper check and balance, (anyone can disagree with this matter), but the thought-provoking thing is that if a news is published or on-air on the Pakistani media, in which journalistic responsibilities are not taken care of, no one is going to ask and if someone asks, then the journalism gets confused, but when the same news is broadcast on an international channel, questions are raised about its authenticity, while it has also been observed and confirmed reports that there are many channels that are irresponsible about the authenticity of the news in other countries, fines have been imposed for showing off. Private sector TV channels spend day and night in their ratings cycle hyping up an unconscious fear that is less news and more sensational. It is unfortunate that in talk shows, instead of discussing the real problems and discussing their solutions, they try to gain ratings by making the government and the opposition people have a futile debate, sometimes they give the parties a chance to fight each other. According to PEMRA, in 2002, private channels, which are almost all owned by the private sector, have become more independent and powerful, while quality journalism has given way to sensationalism.
Journalism Achievements
In spite of many shortcomings that can be overcome, journalists have also brought many such cases of corruption before the nation, on which journalistic circles can rightfully be proud. Journalists took the path of a self-imposed jihad against corruption and without caring about their lives brought the facts of corruption cases to the public, and perhaps due to some such reasons, Pakistan is not considered a safe country for journalists. Be it billions scam in steel mills or corruption in PIA, embezzlement in railways or Hajj corruption case, rental power project cases or business tycoon’s 190 million pounds case and many other such cases from which Journalists risked their lives to uncover the truth , because the Pakistani constitution fully guarantees freedom of expression and sometimes journalists take full advantage of Article 19 of Constitution of Pakistan 1973 and are successful in uncovering corruption cases.
Social media and Pakistan
Social media is one of the media platforms that exist in the whole world and especially in Pakistan. Social media is likely to, Facebook, Twitter X and YouTube are the fastest sources of news acquisition and delivery, but unfortunately social media is not yet bound by any law or ethical code. The media is a very effective source of countless lies and propaganda. Outright lies and misrepresentation are resorted to influence the government and other institutions. In social media, especially on YouTube, the market of disinformation against the government, opposition and institutions is hot around the clock to manipulate the public’s mind. If listening to v-logs which are full of disinformation, during that time it seems as if neither the government nor the opposition nor any constitutional body is doing its job properly in Pakistan. They tell countless lies in relation to be earning more views and dollars. It is a pity that many famous journalists are also in the race to earn dollars by creating their own channels on YouTube. They also do their own shows on some channel on a daily basis. It is beyond comprehension that there are such secrets or intellectual things that they cannot do sitting on their channel, and they have to resort to V-log on YouTube channel. Despite earning lakhs of rupees per month from the TV channel, the greed of dollars also turned journalists from anchors to V-loggers. However, it has to be decided whether they should be called journalists or anchors or V-loggers. The proliferation of channels on YouTube has blurred the distinction between journalists and V-loggers. Professional degree holders in the field of journalism should still be respected, and their professional approach should be appreciated. It is high time that we draw a line between professional and non-professional journalists. Every non-professional person is becoming a journalist by creating a channel on YouTube and holding a mic in hand and resorting to lies and misrepresentation to get more dollars and views to make his channel successful. He does not hesitate to throw anyone’s honor for the sake of achievement, because there is no one to ask him, there is no code of conduct, no law for him. It would not be wrong to compare v-loggers to unbridled camels.
Perhaps the government of the day has to legislate to solve some such issues on a permanent basis. The government’s position is in place, we should not doubt the intention of the government, but it is necessary to stop the unbridled camels of throwing honors and lies. Concerns of journalists are also very important in their place. However, now it is the time to set up the fourth pillar of the state in a strong and stable manner and for this it is necessary that both sit down and try to understand each other’s position. We can understand this with an example that if two parties are sitting facing each other and a number is written in front of them, according to one party it is six and according to the other party it is nine both of them are calling each other wrong but in fact both of them are right in their own place. On this occasion, the responsibility of a third party is to sit the two parties together at one place, then either of them sees six or nine. Something like this is going on between the government and the journalists at the moment. The positions of both sides are correct, but if a third party puts them in the same direction, the matter can be resolved and that third party can also be the Supreme Court of Pakistan. We believe that if this happens, it can herald the rise of a new sun of peace, love and prosperity for the country by the government and journalists. Hopefully, it will happen one day. However, the world is based on hope.