Those spiteful talk shows

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 25 June 2012 |  Hassan Shehzad

The article examines how talk shows distort public perception following Raja Pervez Ashraf's election. It highlights the gap between media narratives and the realities of Pakistani politics.

Summary

ISLAMABAD: A flood of fury has been breaking bang on our TV screens since, nay slightly before the election of Raja Pervez Ashraf as the prime minister. Drowned in this ruckus is the golden principle: fact is precious and opinion is free, since what is free is being sold as what is precious.

Ragging, one in a comity of opinion writers thundered his family is leaving the country out of perceived shame the election of the prime minister caused. The sense of shame was so intense, he said he would tell people on foreign lands he grew out of a tree and was not born in Pakistan. Reason: Raja Pervez Ashraf is not presentable enough and is corrupt. Well, the whole political lot is corrupt.

Another joined in saying ‘can Pakistan survive?’ But now after the prime minister’s election, it could be rephrased as ‘should Pakistan survive?’ The talk show host did not stop short of egging the guests on with hysterical interruptions. Except for one or two, all talk shows are bitchy.

Our politicians, or at least those who were preferred to Raja as a PM candidate, take extra care to look presentable. They undergo expensive treatments to shed surplus fat, get properly dressed and even go for hair transplants if the need be. A dominant majority of the masses, however, failed to catch up with these personality trends. The politicians do not live the lives the media project them to be living.

They do not wear the looks the media associate with heroes but they are heroes in real life. Reality is poles far apart from the romance our media is feeding its viewers. If anything, it is causing a social disorder and dissonance. Is there no honor for a person who has won unanimous approval from people?

How can somebody call himself an opinion writer, devoted fully to exalt a public or civil servant when compared to representatives of the masses? Is there no sanctity for the ballot? Are you not promoting aristocracy and anarchy when you write off the politicians? There is a sea difference between criticism and libel.

Time and again, I have encountered the educated lot of the capital complaining how illiterate politicians could do legislation. Lifestyle at the Parliament Lodges has often been questioned because it has largely been occupied by villagers who our genteel class takes for vulgar. Their Urdu accent, hairstyle and overall personality are presented as outlandish.

Now is the time the media practitioners should learn to respect Pakistan. This ‘uncivilized’ lot that crowds the Parliament Lodges is Pakistan. The undergraduate and ‘corrupt’ representatives are Pakistan. And their rough lifestyle is Pakistani culture.

First, we must learn to own and respect ourselves and only then can we be justified in trying to reform and refine the system. (The writer is a senior journalist and a media researcher at the International Islamic University, Islamabad)