So Who Will Watch the Watchdog?
By Fahd
Husain
January 31,
2012
A pertinent
question indeed at a time when anchors want to be known more for their wardrobe
than for their library, and when hosts posing as journalists prance around
parks demanding to see Nikahnamas. The crisis that Pakistan’s broadcast
journalism is going through is deeper than it appears and certainly not
confined to one ratings-hungry anchor, or one revenue-thirsty channel.
At the
heart of this crisis lies a fundamental question, which at one time or the
other has been asked in almost all media markets across the world: “What is
journalism for?”
Trust a
pope to come up with an explanation. This is what John Paul II said in 2000:
“With its vast and direct influence on public opinion, journalism cannot be
guided by economic forces, profit, and special interest. It must instead be
felt as a mission in a certain sense sacred, carried out in the knowledge that
the powerful means of communication have been entrusted to you for the good of
all.”
The
operative part is the “good of all”. In essence then, journalists have a wider
responsibility to the citizenry at large, a responsibility which hinges on them
to uphold the sacred public trust by telling their readers/viewers the truth.
Truth itself may be open to many philosophical interpretations, but in the context
of journalism, it can simply mean protecting information from all external
agendas and saying it as it is.
These
agendas take many shapes and forms. Personal, political, and corporate, to name
a few. The first two are usually not hard to detect, and neither are they hard
to grapple with. Probably because mostly they come in shades of black or white.
It’s the corporate agendas that pose the biggest challenge. And especially so
in the Pakistani context. Here’s how: Pakistani channels are corporate entities,
just like most channels in the private sector the world over. No issues here.
Corporate entities exist to make profit. No issues here either. But here’s
where a traditional corporate entity and a media organisation should begin to
diverge.
This is exactly
why in traditional newsrooms there exists a firewall between the editorial and
marketing divisions. The corporate side of the media house has to look at the
balance sheet, but expecting the journalist to do the same is not only unfair,
it undercuts the very basis of journalistic principles. Proprietors who treat
their media business like any other business end up falling into this trap,
perhaps not realizing that a media house by its very nature has a social
responsibility within a democratic polity which far outweighs consideration
centred around dollars and cents. They fail to realise that journalists are not
like employees of other companies because they have an obligation and a
responsibility that overrides their employers’ immediate corporate interests.
By
fulfilling this responsibility, journalists can accumulate a “trust capital”,
or in other words, credibility. And credibility — if nurtured lovingly —
ultimately translates into financial gain for the proprietor and his news
organisation. After buying the Washington Post in 1933, Eugene Meyer laid down
a principle which stated: “In pursuit of the truth, the newspaper shall be
prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such a course be
necessary for the public good.”
Such an
approach frees the journalist from the burdens of corporate pressures, and
allows him to pursue professional excellence. This is what is expected from
him. But to do this requires a deep understanding of the philosophy of
journalism which is deeply woven into the fabric of a free and democratic
society. What are the chances that the likes of Maya Khan know such a
responsibility weighs down on their shoulders when they venture out with
cameras and DSNGs? What are the chances that proprietors of media houses are aware
of the sacred trust they have been bestowed upon when they get a license to
start a news channel? And what are the chances that journalists working in the
electronic media in Pakistan realise that their primary loyalty lies not with
their corporate organisations, but with the average citizen of Pakistan.
This here
is where the root cause of the media crisis lies. And to overcome it, we the
media will need to do more than just fire an anchor who prances around in
public parks demanding to see Nikahnamas.
The writer
is executive director special projects at ARY News and was previously director
news at Dunya TV (2010-11) and Express News (2006-2010)