“It is perfect. Blurred lines. It is when fact and fiction become indiscernible. Fantasy and reality fade into a colour of grey yarn and you become tangled up in it and cannot escape into the world of black and white you desperately need as proof of the reality of life itself.”
Scott Hildreth
In order to earn credibility in any profession, or any kind of undertaking, it is absolutely vital that one lives by its cardinal principles. That will not only elevate personal stature, but also the respect of the profession that one is associated with. But examples of such correctness are scarce, getting more so with time. This speaks of a monumental tragedy that stalks our times and all that we undertake in our pursuits.
Media, the claimant to being the fourth pillar of the state, has been under the scanner for a long time, and for good reasons, too. Principally, it pertains to gross dereliction of responsibility in handling matters which demand an exceptionally professional treatment. Unfortunately, personal likes and dislikes are allowed to distort and demonize the content by giving it an angle or slant that should be absent if reporting were conducted without violating the inherent professional parameters of journalism.
Then the profession has to be put in an orbit that would take it on course to espousing the qualities which are associated with professional journalism. It would be criminally inappropriate to let the culprits escape unscathed as they are bound to continue contaminating the pond, thus paving the way for others to fall into the pit
The problem does not end there. Quite often, situations are fashioned which have no relevance with the reality on ground. These are fabrications which serve the premeditated purpose of promoting one kind of narrative or the other which, in turn, is funded by one party or the other. In the recent past, a female journalist has indulged in a similar practice where she gave a free ride to her gravely infected imagination during the course of writing a column. All kind of journalistic aids including insinuations, innuendos, downright unsubstantiated allegations and suchlike other tools were employed to indulge in character assassination of the First Lady who has no role in politics. When the journalist was pressed for showing proof of her narrative, she tried to hide behind the veil of her profession, and being a female journalist at that!
This is not the first time this particular journalist has indulged in such a detestable practice. If one were to review her programmes and columns over the years, one can trace a definitive strand of viciously orchestrated propaganda. Almost always, her journalistic undertakings are found to be promoting a particular line of argument alone. This is never substantiated with any facts and the illusion thus created keeps generating false perceptions about the targeted party.
In a situation that she has now created, it is incumbent upon her to come forth with tangible evidence to support her vile allegations contained in her column under review (Bare Ghar Ki Kahani). No journalist anywhere, even in the democratic world, would be able to get away with such wicked parlance contrived for targeting a particular person. Also condemnable is her attempt to wear the apparel of journalism to hide her grave transgression. Such a venomous undertaking is neither condonable, nor it should be.
It is the responsibility of the journalist community to hold her to account. Unfortunately, some of them have also joined the chorus that it falls within the broad domain of ‘journalism’ and, therefore, the individual is not accountable. That is nothing better than crass blabber. Nobody has the right to indulge in character assassination of this kind and nobody should be allowed to get away without having to answer for the allegations that are alleged, or insinuated.
We had a similar incident in the UK recently where one Reham Khan had indulged in levelling baseless allegations against Zulfi Bokhari. When taken to the court, she not only ended up paying a hefty sum as fine, she also had to make a public apology to the person she had accused of wrongdoing. Why can’t people in Pakistan, journalists or no journalists, be also held accountable for false and fabricated allegations? Why doesn’t the journalist community ensure that this contemnor of the profession is held to account, which will not only discourage this wicked practice in the future, but also raise the stature of the profession?
My guess is that this would not happen as there are far too many journalists indulging in this nefarious trade and their unions will erringly feel duty bound to defend their crimes rather than have them exposed. But, then, it is also true that this vile practice cannot be allowed to continue unhindered as it damages far too many people through knitting false and contrived narratives about them. The law must take its course which should be made more stringent and effective so that those who transgress their professional limits are punished for their misdemeanours. They cannot be allowed to keep stalking their targeted victims. The law should ensure justice for the victim, not exonerate the offender.
I would strongly recommend that this may be made a test case to stimulate a drive to correct the grey areas. It cannot be that when others do a wrong, they should be punished, but when a ‘journalist’ indulges in doing a similar wrong, he or she is allowed to hide behind the veil of his or her profession. And if such a person takes the position of being a woman, she should not forget that the person she has accused without any substantiating evidence also happens to be a woman. No, she should not be provided an escape this time. She has indulged in this practice far too often in the past. This must end. Now is the time.
Journalism is a key profession in the country, more so in an evolving society where it should generate positivity and professionalism. But if it is held hostage by the likes of the female author of the column, it is bound to degenerate which, incidentally, it has with time. That makes the corrective task even more essential. First, this process of degeneration has to be stalled by naming and shaming the culprits who have rendered it so, a list which should carry the name of this female journalist in bold letters.
Then the profession has to be put in an orbit that would take it on course to espousing the qualities which are associated with professional journalism. It would be criminally inappropriate to let the culprits escape unscathed as they are bound to continue contaminating the pond, thus paving the way for others to fall into the pit.
The kind of journalism that is being practised in a debased form of what it actually should be. It stinks from a million miles away as do some of those who practice it. But there are also some in the profession, and I know them personally, who are ashamed of being part of this circus which has been hijacked by a bunch of criminals who have no values and who are in it only to sell their souls. They do so for a price. In the process, they defile the name of the entire profession.
I also know instances where, in spite of ample reason, the voice of the media remains muted. For example, has there ever been a critical comment broadcast from any television channel, or made into a news item about one Riaz Malik who once allegedly acknowledged having bribed the journalist community complete with description of gratifications, their value as well as means of transmittal to the alleged recipients? I did not see any initiative whereby the journalist community could have blunted these accusations. Instead, enquiries in this regard were met with stone deaf silence which continues to this day. This attitude does not render them angels. The opposite would be truer. The journalists named would be considered complicit as alleged.
Here is an opportunity for the journalist community. They should proceed forthwith in singling out the culprits among their ranks to cleanse the profession. It is time to learn and teach the art of sifting fact from fiction. The profession of journalism cannot be diminished owing to the vile conduct of some of its practitioners. It cannot be reduced to becoming an instrument to exact revenge from your political adversaries, that for a pound of flesh. In the event this practice continues, the future of the entire profession will be jeopardised beyond a prospect of remedy. It would also be completely stripped of the respect that is accorded to it, though grudgingly! A moment of reckoning beckons.
