Liberating state media from government control
By M Ziauddin

Since the advent of the private sector in broadcast journalism, the link between its practitioners and the consumers of news and views (N&V) has become much more direct than the one that had existed for ages between print journalists and their readership. And most often, the link between the former set exists in real time. This almost revolutionary change in the relationship of the producers and consumers of N&V (thanks largely to fast-paced and continuing advancement in information and telecommunication technologies) has given rise to a number of professional and ethical issues. Many among the producers and consumers of N&V are taking their time in adjusting to the new realities and challenges. And it is becoming even more difficult for them to adjust to internet journalism which has obliterated even this see-through wall between the two. In this new equation, consumers have become producers, and producers, consumers. The generation of producers and consumers of N&V that grew up in the print and non-FM age tends to apply the professional and ethical standards of journalism of that age to what is called the ‘new journalism’ and naturally find it increasingly impossible not to be troubled by the result.

Not that this generation was not already troubled by the impact of Rupert Murdoch’s rules of journalism and his culture of news on a major part of Pakistani print journalism. Alex Halperin reviewing David Folkenflik’s book Murdoch’s World claimed that Rupert Murdoch’s media vehicles had soared on “a center-right populism” — punching up at elites, identifying targets of derision and trying to take them down mixed with lively diet of entertainment news and all kinds of coverage of sports, and treatment of politics often as sport — at times as blood sport. This, unfortunately, has over time become the mission statement of most of our print and broadcast tycoons.

Meanwhile, overall decline in educational standards in the country, steep rise in illiberal academic environment, stagnant rate of literacy and expanding network of madrassa system had dinned a totally reactionary mind-set among most of our producers and consumers of N&V.

It is the sum total of all this that is reflected today in the N&V part of our media. There is nothing wrong with the mirror. The trouble is with the face. The ugly look does trouble many producers and consumers of N&V but not the media tycoons because the face, no matter how ugly it is, rakes in big bucks for these tycoons and also serves as a powerful political clout in their hands. Any attempt by the government to regulate the N&V part of the media would either fail to take off because of a number of well- known reasons or end up re-chaining it — a counter-productive consequence. On the other hand, the industry does not seem to be mature enough to reach a consensus within on self-regulation.

In such a situation, the only option left is to bring about peer pressure on the private N&V media by liberating from government control the state’s media vehicles — Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and the Associated Press of Pakistan along with the government-controlled regulatory authorities — Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and Press Council of Pakistan (PCP). PTV probably has a reach of about 80 per cent and the PBC about 90 per cent which puts the two far ahead of the private channels and FMs in terms of reach. To make the peer pressure really effective and accord it a high moral ground, each of these bodies could be turned into statutory units headed by a Chief Operating Officers (COO) to be appointed on pure merit by respective boards of governors constituted, in turn, by a bipartisan parliamentary committee ensuring that the boards have representation from a cross section of population including academics, lawyers, doctors, civil society members, women and social scientists, etc. The COO would be accountable to his/her board of governors and the board of governors would be accountable to the bipartisan parliamentary committee. Each COO would function within the limits of a mission statement evolved in consultation with the board of governors and approved by the bipartisan parliamentary committee. For self-regulation all these three organisations would develop overall codes for ethical and professional conduct and strictly adhere to them. And freed from government control PEMRA and the PCP would automatically acquire a level of credibility needed by such organisations to enforce the law without being accused of acting at the behest of their political masters.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2013.