Who tops Pakistan news on social media?
The need to be ‘social’ online is shaping up to be a new rat race for clicks, comments and user engagement among local news media outlets. With an estimated 20 million Pakistanis online and over six million on Facebook, the ability to convert these numbers into tangible, easy-to-measure consumers of news content is, even at this early stage, a new measure of success. Currently media groups are focused on growth and expansion of their user bases (via their sites or social media channels), experimenting with forms of content and content sharing mechanisms and for some, the first phases of trying to ...
Read Full PostWhat is the worst thing about Pakistan’s media?
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) deserves a pat on the back for its bold move towards greater transparency in their online complaints section – they’ve given the public access to the complaint log. To be frank, a pat on the back for Pemra and a cold shiver down one’s spine is unfortunately the order of the day. Let us delve into this treasure trove of the Pakistani complainant’s mindset. First of all, the top 10 list of offenders: No Name Complaints 1 Samaa TV 450 2 Geo News 147 3 Geo Ent 95 4 Express News 32 5 AAG / Geo Aur 26 6 ARY Digital 21 7 HUM TV 13 8 Dawn News 11 9 Dunya TV News 11 10 AAJ News 8 That is a total of over 800 complaints; again, an ...
Read Full PostPrint is dead, long live news
In case you missed the story, the media world is changing, and print news is dying. Given that I work in English print in a country where even the last English TV channel standing was forced to shut down, this should be a terrifying thought. I’m not the only one who is scared however – so is the New York Times (NYT). Watching Page One: Inside the New York Times, a documentary focusing on the NYT’s struggle to stay relevant and adapt to a rapidly changing media landscape is like a glimpse into ...
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Telefilm: The true story of Naseem Hameed
I applaud a tele-film “Bhaag Amina Bhaag!” which was recently aired on Geo Entertainment. The play is a tribute to Naseem Hameed, the Pakistani athlete who became the fastest woman in South Asia when she won a gold medal in a 100-metre event. Amina, played by Amna Sheikh, is not like any average teenage girl growing up in a low income area. She is bold, gutsy and naughty as hell. She grows up surrounded by boys – three brothers and her childhood friend and neighbor a handicapped boy – and gains all the traits of a tomboy. She is completely unaware ...
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The day I got fired from Dunya News
According to a BBC Urdu report, nearly 300 journalists have lost their jobs in 2010. Yesterday, my husband and I became a part of this statistic. Our contracts were terminated without warning and without notice and the reason given to us was that the company was being “restructured” and according to the new model our posts had been dissolved. While the financial crisis has led to constant downsizing, money is not the only reason for heartlessly firing trusted old employees. In most cases, simple structural changes spell disasters for middle tier staff. Of course, no one expects something like this to happen. ...
Read Full PostThe sky falls in Islamabad
A little later than 2:30 a.m. I am too sleepy to be coherent but am grumble randomly nonetheless. The hubby is watching Prince of Persia and barely bothers to nod at my chatter. When the bed starts shaking, both of us initially blame each other. But then, we see the lights swinging and realization strikes. An earthquake – and from the way it feels, a pretty severe one. The shock hardly lasts a couple of seconds but we rush outside. A couple of dogs bark, a cat cries, but all is quiet otherwise. No one else seems to be up at this late hour ...
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Pakistan’s ticking media bomb
It is rather disturbing to see television show anchors pretending to be political analysts. Their so-called analysis is usually hype-creating propaganda. Somehow, they have developed the notion that they are superior to politicians and their naive, idealistic ideas are the solution to Pakistan’s problems. They demean politicians to the extent that self-respecting political leaders have stopped appearing on guest panels. This in turn leads to the anchor of one television channel appearing as analysts on another channel as guests. Without any political background or knowledge, they go on harping about the future of Pakistan, not realising the consequences of ...
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Morning madness with the irresponsible
I have often thought about the relevance of morning shows in our lives. Why, despite their mindless talk, are these hosts on every other channel so popular? Why have I never heard them say anything intelligent? But no matter how much their chattering gets to me and no matter how I wish PEMRA could control their script and content, I make it a point to listen to them (Nadia Khan on Geo, Sana Tariq on Hum TV and Shaista Wahidi on ARY) for just a few minutes every day – sometimes hoping to hear them say something constructive or just to see their attempts at ...
Read Full PostGeo down, ARY down… government down?
A senior journalist and past colleague from Geo days woke me in the morning with the following SMS: Are you getting 2007 flashbacks? I promptly sat up, snapped open my laptop and began scanning local news websites to check what he was referring to. I got to The News and waited for my page to load. The page cannot be displayed I try Geo.tv. This webpage is not available. So it has finally happened. Democracy’s best revenge has turned on the media en force, blocking the Jang Group’s website, burning copies of their newspapers in the street, blocking their channels and taking out protests to ...
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Stop blaming the media
Look people, I know you’re upset about the Airblue plane crash – it was devastating – but that does not mean you should make this tragedy into a ‘hate the media’ game. The Geo graphic of the plane crash was crass, okay, accepted. And the fact that TV channels broadcast that there were 40 survivors was a huge mistake and it was terrible to see how quickly each channel just copied the news off each other without verification. But (and this is the important point) you have to let the media do its job! What would you prefer? A media which is free ...
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