Media responsibility and freedom
MARIAM ALI BAIG: How seriously do academics take the media in Pakistan?
AYESHA JALAL: Scepticism is inculcated in academics. We are trained to corroborate and investigate how we read every newspaper and web portal; an academic will seek various sources to corroborate information. Having said this, I think the general view of the Pakistani media is that there are embedded journalists on a variety of issues and that we are not getting enough news on these matters. There is a sense of orchestrated or managed news rather than the real story. The media in Pakistan is in the process of evolving from the clutches of advisories it receives to finding its own ground, and this takes self confidence. The media has become so used to either being embedded or given press advisories, it isn’t easy. There is advocacy rather than simple reportage. Having said this there are news groups where the ‘how, where and when’ is still important.
MAB: Is the media projecting a coherent picture of events in Pakistan?
AJ: There is a lot of speculation and very little news. The media’s biggest problem is that it is reporting opinions and not news, and going back to reporting the news is very, very important. An intelligent academic has to cut through layers and layers in order to decide what seems plausible; after listening to the news media, one is left with some highlights, but one is not satisfied that one has actually got something. I don’t want opinions, I want news, and the news content in newspapers has reduced considerably. We have suspended the dissemination of information thanks to military dictatorships and started publishing opinions. Half the content in a newspaper is about who said this or that or the other. I don’t think we are discussing the issues that are the most relevant. We are lost in talking about would be, or existing, palace intrigues and this becomes very boring. There is an increasing disconnect between the politics that we are so obsessed with, be it the executive-judicial tussle, the legislative… and while these are important pieces of information, the real issue is what is happening to the people of this country.
The streak of investigative journalism is no longer there and there are very few investigative journalists left. Of course, officials are going to give a certain line, but the media needs to put two and two together and draw out the larger story.
MAB: What do you think is preventing the media from reporting hard news?
AJ: The streak of investigative journalism is no longer there and there are very few investigative journalists left. Of course, officials are going to give a certain line, but the media needs to put two and two together and draw out the larger story. A lot of areas need to be strengthened for the media to be able to fully capitalise on the opportunities it has seized in the last 10 to 15 years – the media has not always been free and this is a major change. It is this media that will play a role in making democracy not only about voting but also about accountability. The media needs to capitalise on the opportunities it has been given. Nobody gives you rights, you have to snatch them and the same goes for the media. The more the credibility of the media erodes, the more its rights will be curtailed. It is in the interest of the media to place itself on a higher ground. It needs to become a major element in civil society and play its part in conjunction with other groups; this is what will protect the media. I don’t think this (media freedom) is now a reversible process.
MAB: Has the proliferation of commercial TV ‘dumbed’ down the quality of content and can anything be done to redress the balance?
AJ: The media is more concerned about ratings than about the substantive quality of its information, and I refer to the TV channels in the main. The inherent meaningfulness of something is of lesser significance because ratings are now more important. There is a need to develop a more coherent and implementable set of ethical norms. Most talk shows are just sensationalising the news; there is no perspective, far less balance. Fortunately, academics don’t have to be popular but the media does, and this is where the problem lies, and the question that has to be addressed is: ‘Where do you draw the line between sacrificing honesty in reporting in order to score a rating point here or there?’. Another problem is that the media is preaching to the converted, people will watch a programme because they like who and what they are watching. The circulation of ideas, which is the media’s responsibility, is not happening.
MAB: Can the media play a role in bridging the education gap?
AJ: The media needs to do a lot more educational programmes. There is a lot more interest in entertainment; in Pakistan people need entertainment and I am all for it. However, there need to be more educational channels because the future of education is through the media. I am teaching a course on Islam on the Indian Ocean Rim through a simultaneous video link between Tufts University and LUMS (Lahore School of Management Sciences). We use all kinds of digital tools to bring the two classrooms together. The media has a very important role here; we are in an educational bind and the media has to step forward. I would like to see the industry make this a viable enterprise and it can happen; there are ways to do this and make it commercially viable.
MAB: In terms of books, is enough quality material published to sustain serious academic research?
AJ: The quality is not good and not always at the international level, although there can be the occasional surprisingly good book. Exceptions are there, but overall the quality is not good enough.
My biggest angst is that Pakistan has failed to institutionalise. I think journalists and media houses should work towards establishing a process whereby those working in the media are better qualified to cover what they are supposed to, as well as being more professional and more responsible, and this will make that freedom more meaningful and sustainable as well.
MAB: Isn’t this a failure on the part of the people who do the research rather than the publishers?
AJ: Both. However, and this is a global phenomenon, publishers today are more interested in marketing. Some of the good research is not published because a good researcher wants to generate, not to disseminate, knowledge. Sometimes the better research is not published because the publishing house is interested in selling books; so it can be the most superlative research on a given topic, but if only five people are going to read it, they are not going to publish it. Interest in reading is diminishing in Pakistan, so what can publishing houses do? What is remarkable is that the business remains profitable for some publishers. We need to develop the art of reading. As a country we have not invested in research; we have been more interested in adaptations of other people's work, and we have not been bad at that, but you need to generate your own knowledge and as a historian I have said this endlessly. You need to generate your own studies in order to project yourself. The problem with Pakistanis is that the world doesn’t understand them and they don’t understand themselves properly, so they cannot project themselves.
MAB: Do you think Mr Jinnah would have been tolerant of a free press?
AJ: I think so. But I think Mr Jinnah would have said that you have to be a responsible press, and responsibility means checking facts, not glamorising and sensationalising stuff. If freedom means the freedom to say whatever you like, I don’t think Mr Jinnah would have subscribed to that notion.
MAB: What would have been his assessment of Pakistan’s current media landscape? AJ: I think he would have been miserable. I think he would find some of the talk shows on television odious. As for newspapers, the English-language press is slightly better. The Urdu press in more connected but prone to excess. Overall, I think he would be unhappy, not with the freedom – but freedom has to be cultivated and finessed because it can evaporate. The media needs to organise itself. My biggest angst is that Pakistan has failed to institutionalise. I think journalists and media houses should work towards establishing a process whereby those working in the media are better qualified to cover what they are supposed to, as well as being more professional and more responsible, and this will make that freedom more meaningful and sustainable as well.
This interview was published in the March-April 2012 issue of Aurora