Bylines matter. More so when they read/sound alien -- that
is, foreign. Outsiders are thought to have the luxury of
being objective and able to afford resources required for
what it takes to produce true journalism. Their word is
authority, or at least it should be.
This 'should be' becomes
all the more urgent when you read whatever despatches
from Pakistan have of late appeared in various foreign
newspapers and magazines. Pentagon readying troops to
secure Pakistan's nuclear installations, Taliban roaming
freely in Quetta, thugs swarming streets in Karachi, bootleggers
and prostitutes hijacking Lahore's culture. Gems of objective
reporting and a sound judgement backed up by facts. Or
are they?
Whatever is the case, the
fact is that they find many takers both inside Pakistan
and outside of it. Doom mongers believe the 'perceptions'
that these stories create are the consequences of a 'media-targeting'
of Pakistan which in turn poses grave threat to Pakistan's
security and existence. "In this information disinformation
driven global order, the strategic threat to small and
developing states like Pakistan now lies in the build-up
of perceptions; what reality may underlie the perceptions
is of little consequence," writes analyst Moeed Pirzada
in an Internet article ominously titled as Western Media's
War on Pakistan.
Writing under an equally
dreadful title, Facing a Media World War, former information
and media development minister Javed Jabbar writes: "The
anti-Pakistan media world war has a direct impact on our
national security. It questions our capacity to exist
as a responsible state..."
Grave observations except
for the fact that they exaggerate the influence that media
have. And, therefore, ask for a response equally targeted
and run through a well-oiled mechanism like the one operating
in the newsrooms of western newspapers. "...a Pakistani
response to the media world war has to be urgent, multiplistic,
collective and bold in concept, operations and finances,"
suggests Javed Jabbar. Making a case for a 'special operation
group' for the purpose, he argues that money spent on
the initiative should be seen as "investment rather
than as expenditure".
Obviously an over-reaction
and a misplaced one as well because it assumes too much.
First, it thinks that media dictates the policies of the
states representing what Moeed Pirzada calls 'cross-Atlantic
societies'. Secondly, it supposes that everybody believes
what media says or writes.
Thankfully both the assumptions
are only half valid, if they are valid at all. Media most
of the time and all over the world follow instead of leading
the government. Newspaper stories differ from horoscope
columns in that the former write about 'what has already
happened' or 'what is happening' rather than 'what would
happen' which is the domain of the latter. Journalists
are not oracle and when they try to sound as one they
are least likely to be taken seriously.
And accuracy is what journalists
have successfully learnt to sacrifice at the altar of
crisp expression and catchy phrases. What sells is an
interesting word not a dull reality. Modern newspaper
reporting, at its best, has become an attempt to test
the limits of that edifying axiom that journalism is literature
produced in hurry. At its worst is putting together words
which mean nothing and convey nothing but sound nice.
The more sophisticated
the media machine that prints these stories, the truer
these observations. And greater the danger of journalists
operating as writers in haste if they work for foreign
publications. Errors of omission and commission -- which
sadly are many and mostly of very serious nature -- are
least to be worried about if the story is carried by a
prestigious international weekly or reputed American daily.
Nobody is bothered about the fact that a slight twisting
of the fact, however interesting to read, can lead many
astray in their analyses. In the absence of a real effort
to dig deep for finding out the reality, stereotypes get
perpetuated and facile observations pass off as profound
judgements.
These errors highlight
one dangerous trend especially in foreign media: A tendency
to write without first knowing the subject thoroughly.
What results is a trivial, weak analysis couched in posh
phraseology. Which again emphasizes the fact anybody relying
too much on media reports can do it only on their own
peril.
There are many unsuspecting
souls in the 'local' scene who are ready to expose themselves
to this peril created by the foreign media. And not all
of them are gullible ordinary citizens of Pakistan. Quite
a lot of journalists look for inspiration where in fact
there is none -- towards foreign publications. Showing
blind faith in the standards these publications claim
to have been espousing, these local media people are tricked
into believing whatever appears in cold print on the pages
of a Washington Post or a Time. No wonder they proudly
tout their identity when and if they get a stringership
for any of these papers. This pride becomes all the more
gross when the news organisation concerned is not as big
as the New York Times or as highbrow as The Economist.
The real danger in letting
foreign media operate freely does not lie in threats to
national security but in the deterioration of professional
standards. In an atmosphere when laws and socio-political
pressures are applicable to local media and foreign media
is free from all such considerations, it is needed the
most that the foreigners act professionally under restrains
posed by the requirements of an objective and competent
journalism.
When it does not happen,
and sadly most of the time it does not, a distorted version
of reality is created which offends the locals and repels
the foreigners. Foreigners "who visit Pakistan for
the first time are always pleasantly surprised to discover
that our country is a far more hospitable and harmonious
place to be in than what they had been led to believe
by media coverage in their country," says Javed Jabbar.
If reading is believing,
then the number of foreigners visiting Pakistan is likely
to remain low, no matter how much the Pakistani reality
differs from its perception created by 'foreign' media.
