Media in any country has a significant role to play in the country’s success. Either it could help the country achieve its objectives by highlighting the problems of its citizens or it could spoil everything by diverting the attention of people from important issues towards insignificant issues.
The role of Pakistani media has been in question for a long time. The first time media was given full freedom and independence was during the time of former President Pervez Musharraf. How would Mr Musharraf have known that the same media who he allowed to practice full freedom of expression would one day turn its back against him and propagate to remove him from power? Such is the power of media that it was able to remove a President from his post by propagating against him.
At times the Pakistani media just like media in other countries includes sensationalism in its news. The already frightened nation of the country gets even more frightened when bomb blasts are sensationalized by showing dead bodies of people. Everyone in the country has their own personal interests and so is the case for Pakistani media. The Pakistani media has no interest in the betterment of the country. They are just running a business and their aim is to maximize profits. They only show news or write news which would sell and would allow them to earn huge profits.
While with all the negatives Pakistani media has, although unintentional but it has actually done some wonders for the country. The most prominent and useful role media played was in freeing the judiciary and making it independent. It gave full coverage to the lawyers’ movement during the time of Mr Musharraf and it was largely the media’s efforts which allowed them to have their way which was in line with the interests of the country.
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The role of media also deserves appreciation for covering the natural disasters which have taken place in the country. When the disastrous earthquake hit the northern areas of the country in 2005, the Pakistani media did an amazing job by providing top coverage to the entire event and appealing to the people for help. They aired advertisement free television programs for hours in which they called various artists and celebrities from all over the country who appealed from the entire nation for contribution of funds. Same was the case when floods hit Pakistan in 2010. Many of the anchors along with their team visited the flood affected areas and highlighted the miserable condition of the people over there.
What governs Pakistan’s electronic media is a regulatory board name Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). This regulatory board has been a mere dummy in the country as it has very rarely put a stop to the negative role of media. It only performs the task of giving out licenses to various channels so that they can be aired on television.
The impact a country’s media could create calls for greater responsibility by newspaper and television owners. There are times when they should put their personal interests at the back of their mind and show or write things that could be beneficial for the country.