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Role of media/Role of media in Pakistan/Role of media in democratic society London! Imagine the city of London, for a moment in your mind. What do you see? Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Bright red double dicker buses. Even if you've never been to London, you are aware of London; you know how does it look like not only this but you can imagine London of hundred years ago, lonely street thick Fog, clop clop of horses drawn carriages, suddenly a woman walking alone, seems to be in hurry and disappears in the fog. These images are vivid and true and as stated you've never been there. How do you know so much about London? The answer is simple you get these images from the media. You've read books about England London). You've seen pictures. You know who is Elizabeth H (though you happen not to know her personally) you have seen movies set in London. Thus we find that "Media is that means of communication by which information is disseminated to the public at large" What is The Media? The word media means different things depending on how it is used. Media is the plural form of the word medium. A medium is a method of communicating information, entertainment, or other messages. Television is one popular medium. Radio, the internet, and cell phones are all examples of commonly used media. The term mass media refers to methods of communicating with large numbers of people. A lot of media exists purely for entertainment, such as movies and television sitcoms. But when you hear the phrase the media, usually it is referring to the sources of our news and information about current events. Paying attention to the media is how we stay informed about whats going on in the world around us and what our government is doing. "Pen is mightier than Sword" - this old proverb seems to be true even in today's context as the media seems to gain strength in the modern society. Media includes mass media like TV, News channels, News papers, Radio, journals, magazines and most importantly internet and email. The sphere of influence of media is increasing day by day as the coverage of a small news article is very wide these days. And more importantly in this modern knowledge society, media plays the role of facilitator of development, disseminator of information, and being an agent of change. The Mass Media is a unique feature of modern society. Its development has accompanied an increase in the magnitude and complexity of societal actions and engagements, rapid social change, technological innovation, rising personal income and standard 'of life and the decline of some traditional forms. The mass media is used as,"an instrument", both more powerful and more flexible than anything in previous existence, for influencing people into certain modes of belief and understanding within society. In the 21st Century, media has become very powerful. It is the medium through which we get to know the happenings of the world. Media can remove the curtains to show the world the truth. Also media brings front the injustice done to people. However, there is a bad side to it too. For example, many media people conduct polls when given money. Today's media has lots of power that it can change a truth into a lie and a lie into a truth just it by a few impressive lines making it look the same as Malcolm X quotes.

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." The media reaches over a 100 million people a day. Due to its tremendous audience and the impact it has, the media has been able to change public opinion.The media's powerful influence can be seen through its portrayal of major events like the Vietnam War, The Spanish-American War, Watergate and several others.The media include newspapers, magazines, radio, and films, CD, internet, etc. The media communicates information to a large, sometimes global, audience. Near-constant exposure to media is a fundamental part of contemporary life but it is the TV that draws our attention the most as one of the primary socializing agent of today's society. Media is one aspect in life we depend on and as well become more and more dependent on it. We become to shape our opinion on it. Media affect how we learn about our world and how we relate to the world of politics because of the media politics connection. We base most of our knowledge on government news accounts not experience. We are dependent on the media for what we know and how we relate to the world of politics because of the media politics connection. We read or watch political debates followed by instant analysis and commentary by "experts". Politicians rely on media to communicate their message. Media is part of our routine relations with family and friends. They define our interaction with other people on a daily basis as a diversion, sources of conflict, or a unifying force. Media have an impact on society not only through the context of the message but also through the process. FACTORS BEHIND GROWTH OF MEDIA IN PAKISTAN Mass media is wholesaler of Media Communication. Pak inherited 05 radio channels on its birth. International Trend played important role in development of Mass Media in Pakistan. Initial decades of Pakistani Media's history have been dominated by PTV. Government was compelled to permit freedom of media with the passage of time. Liberalization of airway in India led to mushroom growth of TV channels In Kargil war India was able to sell its viewpoint to the world and cashed on its version while Pak suffered since it had only the state channel. There was an economic boom in telecom in Pakistan. Commercial nature of Media was discovered in the economic advantages related to it. Revenue generated by Media in 2002 was 2 billion and in 2007 this soared to Rs. 17 Billion. Moreover literacy rate / level grew in Pakistan and played a role in media development. Then arrival of cable operators / network and its growth held vision. Govt policies also played vital role, especially of President Musharraf. Javed Jabbar. Said "Media is more powerful then nuclear devices" he worked on PEMRA. The electronic media in Pakistan has made rapid progress. Only three or four decades ago, radio and state owned TV was considered to be the main sources of information. Today, we have more than 77 Satellite TV Channels, 2346 cable operators, 28 landing TV Channels from abroad like BBC, CNN, Sky, Star etc. and more than 129 FM Stations(on air and in some cases licences issued) including 46 Radio Channels. The investment this year is expected US$ 1.5 billion. Total investment in this sector is US$ 2.5 billion. The new jobs likely to be created are 150000. The indirect employment is 7 million. The advertisement market in 2008 was US$ 431 Million and in 2009 it was estimated as US$ 691 million. This growth has made available more knowledge and up to date information in all spheres of life

to the general public. Veteran dissident and intellectual Noam Chomsky stated in an interview which he repeated some of his well-known comments about the control of the media, he said: I spent three weeks in India and a week in Pakistan. A friend of mine here, (he was in London when he was interviewed) Iqbal Ahmed, told me that I would be surprised to find that the media in Pakistan is more open, free and vibrant than that in India. He added: In Pakistan, I listened to and read the media which go to a increasingly large part of the population. Apparently, the government, no matter how repressive it is, is willing to say to them that you have your fun; we are not going to bother you. So they dont interfere with it. Mass media is the major source of providing news and entertainment to the people who wants to know who is doing what and what is happening. Aristotle in his book "Poetics" has written that "Media is a means of catharsis and is must for normal living". The entertainment and news value of media has played very important role its development. However, electronic media enjoys larger scope over print media, since it has wider audience, is easily accessible and be understood by even illiterate people. The media provides wide range of entertainment / news according to interest of people of different age groups / liking / languages. Talk Shows Mania has brought more liberalization and has revolutionised the concept since erstwhile taboo issues are being discussed enhancing the awareness of people. The realization in the people and Government about the role of media in society / economic development is there. Indian soap operas have a large viewer ship and their popularity has attracted lots of commercials / advertisement. The commercial aspects attached to the media have contributed to its rapid development. The Infrastructure Development has taken place. Modern state of art studios /introduction of latest equipment / communication facilities like video conferencing, L fax, electronic data transfer, chat / mobiles, etc have brought in a r revolution and contributed immensely in the media development. The advertisement / commercials have brought big money to media market. The contents of programs are changing. The high economic stakes attached to the media have brought in Professionalism in all its related fields. Due open market, there is a scarcity of professional media men. The abundance of media outlets has on one hand has created lot of employment opportunities but on the other has posed challenges to the media men to excel in their fields. Jang Group has more than 50,000 employees; media persons are getting enhanced wages. Today we have number of highly professional and well-known media persons who are stalwarts of Pakistani Media and form its backbone. Dozens of other factors have played role in the development of Pakistani media. It has been a watching dog on actions of the state, people strengthened the media. Media has played important role in discussing un-touched subjects. It has helped harmonizing the nation on otherwise contentious issues. The competition among the channels is bringing in qualitative improvement in the content and other aspects of programs. MASS MEDIA IN PAKISTAN EFFECTS OF MEDIA 1. Level of Awareness. The level of awareness has increased. Media has contributed a lot in increasing the general knowledge, who is who and what is what, knowledge of current issues etc. The programmers having media discussions, current affairs, documentaries, etc have been instrumental in enhancing the common man's awareness.

Development Efforts of State. Media has assisted in development efforts of state .Programmers like "Parah Likha Punjab", "Coverage of Earthquake", have contributed in projecting efforts being made towards state development. 3. Development of Public Opinion. Media discussion / other programs highlight the issues, hold cross-discussions, and identify what are reasons / angles of different interest groups / people. Stances of different segments of society on key issues are brought out: it helps make / develop public opinion on different issues. 4. Helps in Educational Efforts. Media is also used by the state / society /organizations to promote educational activity. AIOU use media for education. 5. Supports Democracy. Media supports democracy by bringing out the democratic norms and inculcating the same in the general public / polity. Providing live coverage of parliament proceedings, activities of politicians, programs on democracies are few of the examples. 6. Support to Public Issues / Affairs. Media provides viewpoint of the public on public issues. Media has given voice to the public. Impact of Media on Pakistani Society Media is strengthening development in Pakistan. Media has supported Democracy. Media has highlighted Public issues. Media has given voice to neglected element of society. Media has become entertainment industry; it satisfies all segments, age groups of our society . CERTAIN NEGATIVE ROLE OF PAKISTANI MEDIA 1. Consumerism Our society is consuming all messages being spread by the Media. Media has made us a talking nation, the Mobile Mania-kids, ladies, youngsters all are just talking on the mobile phones. The effect of media is very strong with respect to advertisement on consumer products, instead of being producer media has made us consumer. 2. Moral Vacuum The dramas, programs etc shown on media glamorize everything they depict, this has created a moral vacuum and our younger generation is going away for our values (religious, social). 3. Westernization Western / Indian cultural invasion has taken place through media and is permeating Pakistan society. Our commercials are depicting western values and causing a loss of national identity. There are media talk shows on subjects including sex etc which otherwise are taboo in our society. 4. Not Developing National Image Our Media is blamed for not developing /projecting our national image. Our media at times uses Indian language; projects Indian Stars in our ads, etc, the threats posed to our values are immense and must be countered. Our country lacks a defined
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policy to promote national image through media. 5. False Values Pakistani Media is projecting false values in its programs, etc. The projection of family planning, love stories in dramas, hi-fi living styles / material depicted in dramas, etc. are not real and are not based on ground realities. (a) Media lacks compact programs to educate Pakistani nation. (b) Projected values on media are not congruent with our values / ground realities. It is actually projecting 'False Values'. (c) Programs / dramas shown are exaggerated beyond imagination. 6. Manifestation of Interests Media is negatively manipulating the interests of the people. People of Pakistan are yet not critical / educated enough to realise this manipulation / twisting of facts. There is a famous dictum that "a lie spoken 100 times becomes greater than a truth". 7. Exaggeration Pakistani media is also blamed for overwhelming negative Exaggeration. It glamorises issues, resorts to negative exaggeration of matters, newspaper headlines are depicting violence, etc all this demoralises the nation. At times news are given without authentication / confirmation. Unethical material /photographs / scenes are shown on our media promoting vulgarization. Media is Damaging basic fiber of our nation and has created a crisis of misidentification. 8. Dangers to Socialization We remain fixed to TV screens at the cost of socialization. We cut short our social activities just to watch some favorite programmes on TV. We are not undertaking socialization / giving time to our kids, parents, etc because we are glued to TV etc. This is developing a generation gap. We are giving more time to TV channels and less time to social activity and a sort of isolation is being developed. 9. Sensationalising / Creating Uncertainty Our media sensationalise the issues / accidents / incidents. When too much of information is available it creates confusion. Our media is broadcasting every type of information at times even compromising the accuracy and is creating uncertainty. 10. Overloaded with Information Pakistani Media is discussing so many of topics are actually bombarding the audience with information. Media has flooded us with information. a) This is psychologically not good for our scenes and disturbs our body functions. b) Media is stuffing our minds with all types of information and has converted us into 'generalist'. Media is misusing our energies. c) Media has become corporate; it possesses / uses lot of resources and has phenomenal business / financial benefits attached to it, accordingly it bombards the viewers with information. Different surveys are undertaken to find out various methods on how to attract the viewers / readers.Media Marketing has Converted us into recipient. Media is spending so much of money on efforts to attract / enhance its viewer ship. d) Commercials breaks are introduced at the peak points of programmes. Such commercials are very expensive Role of media

The Media as Gatekeeper A gatekeeper stands guard at a gate and decides who gets to pass through and who doesnt. In its role as gatekeeper, the media decides which stories and issues are important enough to receive public attentionand which arent. As a citizen, it is important for you to realize there are many serious events and issues you will never hear about on the evening news. Each news outlet has its own criteria for deciding which stories get through the gate and into the public eye. To understand why, you need to understand two things: the media is a business, and the media is almost always biased. Media act as Biased Biased means favoring one view over another. As a human being, it is impossible to be completely unbiased even if you try. The media is made up of human beings; therefore, even when media outlets try to be unbiased, theyre not always successful. Bias may cause the media to open the gate to some stories instead of others or to report stories in a way that is weighted toward one side. There are many causes of bias. The Media as Agenda-Setter Because of its role as gatekeeper, the media is largely responsible for deciding what issues society discusses in the public sphere. That means the media also determines which issues are on the public agenda, which is the to-do list of issues the public agrees are a priority. An issue wont get on the public agenda unless it is being discussed in the public sphere, and it wont be discussed in the public sphere if nobody has heard about it. The Media as Watchdog A real watchdog stands as a guard and barks loudly to alert the owner if there is something wrong. In its role as watchdog, the media keeps watch on the government and others in power. It speaks out to alert the public if something happens that shouldnt. Local news stations often have a segment in which they investigate problems for people. Entire, hourlong news shows are devoted to exposs, which are stories designed to expose wrongdoing. Government officials who engage in bad behavior know they will be on every news show and newspaper in the country if they are caught. Although a watchdog will bark when there is something wrong, most of the time the watchdog just watches. Thanks to the media, we live in a world where we can turn on the television and watch our government in action at any given moment. The Medias Audience: You A watchdog doesnt do any good if nobody is paying attention. The public sphere and the public agenda both depend on the same thing the public, which is made up of people like you. If the media reported an event and nobody watched or responded, it would have no influence at all. In the same way, the public influences the media because the media cant function without peoples attention. How people respond to the medias reporting can affect which stories get through the gate CONCEPT APPLICABLE IN DEMOCRACY. The media constitute the backbone of democracy. The media is supplying the political information that voters base their decisions on. They identify problems in our society and serve as a medium for deliberation. They are also the watchdogs that we rely on for uncovering errors and wrongdoings by those who have power. It is therefore reasonable to require that the media perform to certain standards with respect to these functions, and our democratic society rests on the assumption that they do.

The role of the media is vital in generating a democratic culture that extends beyond the political system and becomes engrained in the public consciousness over time. It is through the media that people share their experience, learn and become aware. It is how a constructive political debate about options and policies develops. The media right is exercised in public and therefore has greater effect vis--vis what a person says privately. In order for the media to fulfill this function, it must guarantee its objectivity; the journalist should always be a neutral observer, unengaged with events but faithfully recording them. The following information will outline the key requisites necessary for a robust and balanced media industry and highlight some of the issues that are facing working journalists today. POWER OF MEDIA. There is no doubt that media is a powerful instrument, both, as a voice of public and the voice of Government. It plays a very complex role. The basic power of the media is to influence; it exerts influence, in order _ to create public opinion _ to mould public opinion _ to ensure an existing public opinion CREATION OF PUBLIC OPINION. Without giving any weightage to communism as an ideology. (to a person of capitalistic society) communism is perceived as an ironed wall area, behind which people are to work without consideration of their efforts and qualification. Where exists no enjoyment of life. Compare the same word with capitalism, free market constitutionalism, welfare state concept. One would vision a great deal of difference. Instead of iron curtain it is regarded as ground of velvety grass. Ask yourself another question. Who created this difference whence you're never been there? You have never lived in Russia or perhaps you have never met a Russian throughout your life to verify these views but you believe them, like you believe in a Gospel or some Holy revelations of God. This in fact is the creation of public opinion. MOULDING OF PUBLIC OPINION. Kashmir as generally known is a disputed territory. There exist two verdicts about this dispute. I.e. India and Pakistan. To India, Kashmir is its part. It has been decided by the constitutional assembly of the Indian held Kashmir and all is well. Whereas from the view point of Pakistan, it is a disputed territory and all is not well. India has deployed troops in the valley committing atrocities of Machiavellian nature. It is holding the people of Kashmir against their will. This is all happening through media. The government of Pakistan is trying to picture that India is violating human rights and in many respect Pakistan has been able to negate the Indian view poi it in front of the world community. Similar was the case when Adlaf Hitler created the "Big Lie" against the J .ws. He through massive use of media, molded the public opinion of the German people that Jews were planning to rule the world, the concept was repeated so often that Germans began to believe; thus thousands of Jews were slaughtered. Thus whether it is a disinformation or a truth, media can establish any one of these notions with equal strength and manifestation. ENSURING THE EXISTENCE OF PUBLIC OPINION.

Nuclear energy has been a bone of discord since its discovery. The horrendous memories of the dropping of atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still fresh.. Yet the countries of the world are still pursuing the dangerous goals. What is the role of media? Though we all know that Nuclear energy is imperative for Pakistan in order to eliminate the Indian threat, yet side by side we also realize that a nuclear proliferation is dangerous. The power of media is being utilized to create this notion. The recent nuclear proliferation dilemma of North Korea is one of such example. Thus media is ensuring the existence of this notion that nuclear nonproliferation is imperative for the existence of this world or else the world may go to pieces. MEDIA FUNCTION AND POWER IN PAKISTAN. Media, as all over the world, is considered as a powerful component of the society. It plays various functions like education and elimination of evil in the society. The History of media, as the History of Pakistan, consists of less than half a century but even in this small span of time, the media in Pakistan has achieved considerable status. The society of Pakistan is bilingual i.e. English and Urdu and the media functions in both of them. MAJOR FUNCTIONS WHICH THE MEDIA IS PERFORMING IN PAKISTAN. Watch Dog. Among the major functions, media acts as watch dog of public interests. It points out the political anarchy prevailing in the society and defines and suggests the ways to eliminate them. It is important to point out that about half a decade ago media had nothing but the political news and as said by Fulbright a scholar of journalism, "Pakistani, newspapers are full of political news, which covers the considerable amount of a newspaper". It gives comprehensive accounts of the government's doing and by dint of different opinion, writers analyse the situation in a critical manner. The problem lies between electronic and published media. The electronic media is under the control of Government and as a result it does not reflect the voice of public but the voice of government whereas the publishing media is comparatively free since 1988, after the elimination of Marshal Law, reflects a more of public opinion, though there are certain government owned and party owned newspapers. THROWING OF THE CLOAK OF COLONIALISM. Another major contribution which the media is making in Pakistan in throwing off the cloak of colonialism and reviving the spirit of Islamic and Pakistani culture. Pakistan is moving toward modernism and the media is improving the ties of local and customary culture with the modern emerging values. The society of Pakistan is blessed with the western values. 1 media is playing vital role in keeping the local culture alive. REFORMATIVE ZEAL. Recently the reformative notions are beginning to take hold in order to eliminate the evil. Today we find that media is pin-pointing the evils present in the society. Even on the electronic media, talk-shows and Dramas, carries a definitive message while pointing out the evils of political, social and economic nature. Entertainment and worldly Information. Apart from its major functions, it also entertains the people. Books magazines and newspapers all carry the notions of entertainment. In electronic media, the display of dramas and talk-shows are for entraining purposes, apart from message carrying, as well.

The media also functions to provide us of local and International information and their subsequent effects on Pakistan. A message from the President of United States informs of the standing of Pakistan in the world community. FREEDOM OF PRESS MEDIA. Politically speaking, Pakistan is yet to become a true democratic society. There has been a major upheaval. For most of the History, Pakistan has been ruled by Military Dictators or Civilians Dictators. As stated in the authoritarian theory such system wants compliance. Thus Press and Publication Ordinance, 1963 consisted of several black laws. Where publisher has to deposit too much security which used to be forfeited. There were provisions like not to publish the proceedings of National or Provincial assembly. A newspaper was bound to publish the press note issued by any Government agency in full and without change and the government was to determine whether certain publication is for public good or not. These black laws were eliminated by the new Ordinance, Registrations of Press and Publications Ordinance 1988. It is important to note that the press and publishing agencies have become relatively free after the Promulgation of 1988 Ordinance. In addition it is exerti ng considerable influence on the electronic media as well. Use of media in everyday life Media is everywhere. It has become a part to our daily life. The media plays a dominant role in the learning process. Its impact is vast in shaping the life of an individual. Media has the potential to shape personalities, change the way we perceive and understand the world and our immediate reality. Though we know that all good things have both good and bad affects, likewise media too have some positive and negative effects. Moreover, it is fact that large number of people depend on the internet to collect information, read news, and listen to music and download movies, play games and also for work. Newspapers, Radio, Television and the Internet all form part of the media and are important in imparting education . Media, offers culture, sports, information, entertainment, current affairs and education. Sometimes the impact of media is very high. It happens gradually as children see and hear certain messages repeatedly. Some of the devastating advertisements include. Fighting and unnecessary quarrel, cigarettes and alcohol being shown as the symbol of heroism, style and attractive, but not deadly and unhealthy. Moreover, violation of laws is shown as a means to gain justice and sexual action with no negative results, such as disease and unintended pregnancy. In recent years, the impact of media on teaching and learning has increased tremendously. Television, radio and computers are gradually entering classrooms and changing the way of learning. With the onset of new technologies and the emerging trends in the global economy, the present-day education is changing. Therefore, there is a need to change ourselves with the emerging wave of technology. The first and foremost effect of media is definitely the accumulation of general Knowledge, different dialects and cultures. Television boosts the social awareness of a child to a great extent. Sports channels develop the logical mindset of a child. Cartoon channels keep the children happy. News channels increase the vocabulary of the children and inform them about the positive and negative impacts on the society. It

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increases the concentration and retention power of a child, which benefits their studies to a great extent. Negative effect on children There are also negative effects of media on children. There are many incidents where children try to imitate the super heroes and it result in death. Studies often get hampered and laps of concentration occur due to excessive watching on television. Social scientists say the media impacts our lives in four ways: agenda-setting, norms and culture, modeling and apathy. (1) The crux of agenda, setting is the idea that if the media ignores something, then it can't be news; conversely, if the media does not tell us how to think, but because the audience tends to absorb the agenda of the front page or the TV news show, the media, in a sense, tells us what to think about. If the media covers abortion, child abuse, Aids, Worldwide poverty, or war, then the audience tends to pay attention to these topics, and that's what they become concerned about or talk about. (2) Trough the media, particularly the entertainment media, we learn ways of behaving and standards of conduct. Because of television we are no longer isolated, in small communities, and we receive the same information; see the same shows and advertisements. One result of people being exposed to the same media is a tendency towards what is called homogenization of c ulture. People become more homogeneous in nature, more uniform in thought and action. (3) Modeling, people, particularly young children, learn behaviour by imitating others. We tend to model behavior seem on TV shows and in movies. We learn the following from watching TV styles of dealing with people, how much physical aggression is acceptable, and how to act on a meeting. One of the reasons Saturday morning cartoons have received so much criticism is that they often model violence, and studies have shown that children are influenced by those role models and their behavior. (4) Apathy, one of the most common criticisms of mass media is that people tends to replace participation with passive pseudo-experience. In other words, we tend to feel it is enough to know about a problem or issue instead of feeling obliged to do something about it. Apathy also results from the vast amounts of information available. How can we find time to become educated enough to understand a complex issue and take action? The media itself is somewhat at fault here, as it often fails to provide information on how people can get involved. The media needs to be more diligent in providing what is called mobilizing information on how to get involved or who to call. The UN Bureau chief for Inter Press Service (IPS) new agency, Thalif Deen, singled out the impact on media on human life. The impact the media can now have upon on our perceptions of other has reached an unprecedented scale Media is playing its positive role in strengthening a democratic institutions in Pakistan. It is true that media in ,Pakistan has got freedom in recent years. Many private channels were opened during Musharraf's regime and they got so much popularity among

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the masses that all restrictions and bon on media were failed to prove any positive result for the govt. Every government has tried their level best to curb media but now it is out of control and now media is in good position to defend itself. The success of long march to restore the Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was also made possible due to media role. Although media was banned to gave coverage to judiciary yet for the sake of their business and mass interest forced them to give it media coverage. The restoration of judiciary was the hallmark for media in particular and people in general. In the eye of War on Terror, media has also played an effective role to make a public opinion against the style of War on Terror which has caused a great loss of Pakistan in men and material. No other country has suffered so much as Pakistan. It shows Pakistan's seriousness to defeat terrorists. There is a strong public opinion against Drone attacks in Pakistan which is again thanks to media that it has created awareness to the people to express their opinion to save their sovereignty. Safety of the motherland lies first, we as the brave Pakistani nation should stand fast in the time of need and our media has a very very positive role to play. We have just survived a sever disintegration threat and a time when we really have to come together to join hands and work for safety, security, stability, for the political maturity, economic revolution; but what is media doing. Instead of highlighting the issues faced by a normal common man, they are busy covering the social meetings of political leaders. To some extent, media has played a powerful role in bringing the social awareness but still a lot has to be dining. In a time like this when things are just torn apart, when nation is divided in everything. Drone attacks or No Drone attacks, Operation is Swat, Wana, North and South Waziristan OR No Operation. Table Talks with the Taliban or No Table Talks; in a time like this the media really has to come and sit together and bring the best in them out to re-unite the split nation into one single unbreakable unit. Suggestions: The media as an institution and fourth estate is accountable to the public and responsible for its actions. Media practitioners should stop thinking they are above the law. Let the media introduce an internal scheme of checks and balances. Undoubtedly, this is an uphill task. Accountability of the media is not possible under the disputed regulatory regime. Media organizations and civil society should jointly constitute a commission for this task. The recent coming together of several leading TV channels to frame rules for terrorism coverage is a step in the right direction. This move may help purge the elements abusing the power of the media in violation of the public mandate. The aim of media activism should be to strengthen the weak and vulnerable segments of society. It is they who need our support, activism is not merely reporting but it involves deep passion and research. While covering a big story, especially in the war zones, the human sides of a conflict are often ignored by the general media. Here media activism can play its true role in reminding the world of the miseries and sufferings of the ignored segments of society. In the same context the NRO has made even the highest office of the country questionable. In such an environment it is the honest and straight-forwarded media which can make some difference by acting as a pressure group and the recent action of the government amounts to treason. First and foremost, media must help in stabilizing the national institutions and national socio-economic, political and administrative structure by pointing out the flow and

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appreciating any rod work done by the Government or State institutions and organizations in private sector. Serving the country honestly and sincerely must be projected. The need to strengthen our socio-cultural and ideological foundations was never as great as it is today. There is cultural invasion from the West and Indian TV channels and Cable TV networks. Our values are being attacked and are in danger. Media must build our confidence and faith in our values. We as viewer should mend ourselves, so that we may not be carried away with the media hype. We should know when t o stop viewing the repeated hysterics. Media going through a turbulent transition, with a new found liberties. It is hoped they will settle to a saner posture in due course. It must create a pride in our glorious past, our culture and our way of living. Pakistan is the seventh atomic power in the world and the only Muslim country, which has achieved this status. This is a matter of great pride and prestige. We have mat beautiful normative and social value structure, which needs to be preserved, promoted and strengthened. Media must help sustain confidence in our national institutions such as parliament, armed forces and our social structure. Erosion of such confidence in our institutional set-up can be dangerous. All problems and issues such as relating to functioning of our institutional framework have to be explained effectively to the people so that they develop a positive opinion and attitude. At present, we are living in a world, which is moving too fast. And in the ensuing din and noise masses must be helped by the mass media to see things clearly so that they are not misled. The prime objective of media must be national stability in all its dimensions. A social and political climate needs to be created in which people could engagethemselves in positive and healthy activities and could contribute to the overall national development. The feelings of despondency, frustration and deviant tendencies need to be neutralized. Only an effective media can do this. This also places far greater responsibility on the shoulders of those running its affairs. The nature of their functions is such that all those involved in the process including reporters, analysts, anchors, editorial staff and the management is required to make difficult choice every day. It is essential for their credibility that they remain visibly impartial, evenhanded and demand from the passions of the moment. A system of journalistic accountability, both internal and external, is in place on the news side, which leads to more responsible reporting and editing. The sudden boom in the media has led to severe shortages of trained manpower, so that people can be appointed to positions that require more journalistic experience than they really have. The print and broadcast media must make every effort to ensure that their coverage is factual, balanced and informed. Live pictures must be responsibly broadcast. Conclusion:Pakistani media deserve better marks as far as providing entertainment and information is concerned. Live coverage of International events, and of games that are a craze in Pakistan, like cricket, hockey and football, provide a healthy relief to the viewers from the grinding stresses of life. Glamorous world of fashion and movies has also been adequately covered. The Pakistani print media has become significantly pictorial and the quality of pictures has also improved considerably but major focus is still on portraying females. TV too has been jazzed up since the private channels have been allowed to telecast its programs. The entertainment that private channels provide is much more liberal and flashier than PTV, which too is trying to catch. Pakistans media outlets are full of vibrant and talented

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journalists. Pakistans news organizations increasingly provide a constructive channel for debate and dissent. These media organizations also have businesses and contribute to the economic growth of the country. The only criticism that can be done on the media in the field of entertainment is that it has not shown native genius in innovation. It is aping the Indian model of entertainment high heels and lower necks. The media can improve its performance in the three aspects of its role in the society and can play it more effectively and more successfully. It will not be a wrong notion to add that Media has acquired the shape of "Fourth organ of the state". The media, in fact, has broken away from the politics and at least in principal has established itself as an independent and imperative organ of any society. Independent of all institutions, including the State, political parties and pressure groups. The media has become eyes and ears of public which could not see for it or indeed talk to it. In the world ruled by interest and regulated by science public faded into a spectator. Watching thing happening around, media has provided them an opportunity to interact their voice and say in this complex structure.
Lets weave a world Where future will not Pelt on us Puzzling questions But Instead gift us wings To fly high In the sky Of Alpine Aspirations Of Alpine Aspirations!

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