LDA fire: Victims not rich enough for your time?
It was our first day back at school after the election holidays. Everyone was anxious and impatient to share their stories. Amidst the rowdy crowd, my classmates and I sat in a laboratory and exchanged our political views on what had happened and what could have happened when we noticed something strange. One of my class fellows, Jehan* sat next to us unusually quite. She lived on campus and had gone home to cast her vote during the holidays. Her abnormally silent behaviour worried us, so we asked her what was bothering her. Upon our inquiring, she said that the ...
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The media trial
As soon as headlines make their way on air or the front page of a newspaper for a potentially ‘big case’, we become conspirators, the book of knowledge on morals and ethics, and the law. Of course, freedom of speech is a fundamental right no doubt, which is why we can leave our comments on blogs or news stories and have our way with posting anything we want on social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter. However, whether it is a clear-cut case or a complicated one, our biases nevertheless tend to creep in, and instead of helping out ...
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Elections in the capital
This year’s parliamentary elections have come and gone and, by all accounts, it is a victory for democracy, with the people of the country having elected their candidates by voting them into parliament. May 11 was a highly significant day for voters as this was the one day when they had the opportunity to elect or reject candidates through the power of votes, and that’s exactly what they did. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the turnout remained around 60 per cent which is a very positive sign as this was previously witnessed in the first general elections ...
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Exploiting social adverts to open up a world of possibilities
Social media advertising has gone places where no medium has ever gone before. With a wealth of personal data from social networks, marketers now bombard potential customers with content while they interact with their loved ones. The best part about it is that unlike billboards, organised events, TV and radio commercials, advertisers find out the response to their campaigns within a matter of hours, along with intimate details of the people responding to their initiative. Advertisements on social media, however, can have creative as well as malicious uses. The case of ‘love per click’: Picture this. Megan is a high achiever. She ...
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Boston Blasts: What happens when the news and social media get it wrong
In today’s highly competitive climate, it seems that the race to reach the finish line first for journalists is more important than how they get there, or if they are even running in the right direction. In Pakistan, as Zarrar Khuhro explains so eloquently in his column, watching news break on local TV channels is only a little less painful than stabbing yourself in the ears with a screwdriver. Here, media outlets that win the breaking news race, finish like sore winners, beating their chests bloody till their sternums are cracked open. “YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST! DID YOU HEAR THAT? ...
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Writing versus editing: What’s your pick?
As a writer and editor, I have a tough time deciphering what I like doing more: writing something from scratch, with my name under the headline, and the promise of a growing readership? Or ripping someone else’s work to shreds and rebuilding the story. Writing is like making a dish from scratch (not reporting, where you basically state facts): you choose the ingredients and the recipe. You are responsible for the end result. The credit is yours as is the criticism. But editing is like fixing somebody’s half-cooked dish. You can renovate it, rebuild it. You can add a ...
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When Pakistanis can love Indians and vice versa
The India-Pakistan conflict has spanned decades, keeping the news channels on tenterhooks with every turn of events. However, while years of struggling to keep each other at bay have taught the two political arch-rivals strategies to abate tension wherever possible, the media in both countries has largely refrained from employing any peacemaking tactics. Newsmakers on either side jump at the prospect of magnifying any hint of strain in relations. Harping on how evil the other side has proved to be one of the most effective methods of attracting new audiences. On either side, reports are one dimensional, biased and indifferent to the ...
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Do you know about the people of Tirah valley?
Have you ever heard of the valley of Tirah? This is not some valley in distant country in a faraway continent; it is located in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in the northwest of Pakistan. Recently, Tirah has fallen into the hands of the Taliban after a fierce couple of months of fighting. The main battle for control of Tirah was between the Ansarul Islam (AI) and the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) backed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The news of this fight has been covered extensively by some of the leading daily newspapers of Pakistan, but unfortunately, the mainstream news channels of Pakistan have completely ...
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Aapas Ka CM: Welcome Najam Sethi!
Much has been said on social and traditional media over Najam Sethi’s appointment as caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab. A number of people have welcomed his appointment while quite a few thought it was a bad idea – a journalist being appointed to a position of power would put a question mark on their integrity. I, for one, believe that Najam Sethi’s appointment as the caretaker chief minister Punjab is a great idea! He is a largely unbiased person who has time and time again proven his integrity as a journalist and a political analyst. He is on good terms with all political parties due ...
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‘Treat my daughter, or I will shoot you’
How many of us have been to a bomb blast site? It’s likely that you’ve been to one if you live in Pakistan, particularly Karachi, Quetta or Peshawar. Living in the aforementioned cities is like living on the forefront of one of many disjointed wars being waged in Pakistan. Carnage sites in these cities – those created by huge explosions or great accidents – are as devastating as you see on TV shows; and there are powerful stories that emerge. Like the hundreds of people who mourned the deaths of their daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, siblings and spouses in the Abbas Town blast, ...
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