Not surprisingly life in the Land of the Pure is a lot more muddled!

Many of the top journalists have been bought out by the State, using the office of the Press Information Department which is an arm of the Ministry of “Information”.

Many of their lesser known colleagues get away with low level blackmailing.

 

We have highlighted recently the land deals for Nazir Naji, Rauf Klasra and Mohammad Malick and the dangerous ideological affiliations (pro-Taliban) of superstars like Kamran Khan, Hamid Mir and Ansar Abbasiwho have since the Ch Iftikhar upheaval become the darlings of the couch-potato public through their TV appearances.

 

And there is the lovely Amir Liaquat who wows the ladies with his Alim Online, while everyone knows about him hoodwinking the public about his fake degrees.  The ignorance spread by such religious programs anchored by crooks becomes difficult to counter by the saner elements in society.

The Jang group is faithfully supported by the likes of Shaheen Sehbai and Imran Aslam and other editors who pretty much keep mum while the Jang group rolls in the millions from advertising revenue.

It is therefore important that those interested in fair reporting in Pakistan carefully consider the following survey report.  Note the names of Geo and Jang:

The National Corruption Perception Survey 2009 (NCPS 2009) indicates that the overall Corruption in 2002 has increased from Rs 45 Billion to Rs 195 Billion in 2009.

To the question “In your opinion has media played a positive role in combating corruption, 77% said yes.

Respondents ranking of four most viewed TV Channel are Geo, ARY, Express and Aaj.

Four News paper in readership ranking are Jang, Nawae Waqat, Dawn and Mashriq.

Mashriq.

 

WE WISH TO SET A CHALLENGE FOR JOURNALISTS AND MANAGEMENT OF ARY, EXPRESS AND AAJ AS WELL AS NAWAE WAKT, DAWN AND MASHRIQ TO DO INVESTIGATIVE STORIES ABOUT THE DARK SHEEP IN THEIR PROFESSION.

IT IS TOO EASY TO THROW DIRT ON OTHERS; ONLY WHEN JOURNALISTS CAN INVESTIGATE THEIR PEERS WILL THEY RESTORE THEIR TRUST WITH THE PUBLIC.

OUR HOPES FOCUS ON THE YOUNGER UNTAINTED LOT OF YOUNG REPORTERS AND JOURNALISTS TO EXPOSE THE ROT THROUGH BLOGS AND LISTS.

BECAUSE IT IS NEAR-IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE REGULAR MEDIA CHANNELS TO TAKE THIS UP.

WE ALSO APPEAL TO THE ETHICS COMMITTEE (OR EQUIVALENT) OF THE NATIONAL JOURNALISTS’ UNION TO PROBE THIS MATTER AND PUNISH THOSE WHO ARE GUILTY AND TO LAY DOWN GUIDELINES TO REDUCE THE CHANCES OF CORRUPTION IN THEIR MIDST.

If you agree with the above, please forward this message to your friends so that we jointly push for clean, trustworthy journalism in Pakistan.