Let me confess that I often wonder about what I miss out on TV every week. I am sure there are errors of omission, which readers and viewers would describe as being blunders really. But as I have said earlier it is truly a mind boggling challenge to even think of trying to take even a bird eye's view of the television channels that we have available. Pakistan society has come a very long way from the days of a single channel black and white TV. Let me pause here for a while and contemplate.
Let us pontificate briefly about the fact that we now have a Pakistani news channel (Geo) which can show us a real life recording, exclusive at that, of how a prime minister in waiting survived a suicidal attack on his life during an election campaign. I am referring to the attack that was telecast, as it happened, last week and which makes us wonder about the strides that TV has taken in this society. I saw this recording not live on TV, but on a web site of the Geo Channel the next day (July 31) which again mirrors the fact of media expansion in this society. Neither technology nor the values that freedom of expression, and society's desire to know can be turned back. It makes you think where Pakistani society can go from here and where it will head. Again, pause here, and contemplate.
Contemplate the impact of this kind of TV monitoring of events on society, and in particular on the concept of good governance. On Wednesday night there was Views on News by Dr. Shahid Masood which was showing perhaps the same video clip (I don't know) raising questions of whether there was a security lapse when Shaukat Aziz went to that meeting in Attock. That incident has, of course, altered the course of electioneering for 18th August in a way. That's another point. This video raises the question of whether there was adequate security cover, and how could someone move about that freely so close to the VVIP, someone dangerous that is. A suicide bomber, at that.
Commenting on the video footage, the daily Dawn on Thursday (5th August) said that "the man believed to be the suicide bomber is seen loitering about and waiting next to a police van close to the minister's car. Another man is caught on the camera while establishing eye contact with the bomber. The video also shows at least two senior police officials standing nearby, with possibly a clear view of the unauthorized men roaming about near the minister's car. No one appears particularly worried about the presence of two men in such close proximity to the minister's car - perhaps because the attacker's, like the security personnel, were also in plain clothes, and hence indistinguishable."
News reports indicate (dated 4th August) that the video was reported to have been given to the National Crisis Management Cell, and now investigators were examining it from "different angles". Of course, there are interpretations being aired and one of them being that the "well built man who possibly had explosives wrapped round his body also had accomplices in the immediate vicinity of the black bullet proof Mercedez of Mr Aziz".
The ARY channel on Wednesday night had questioned: why did the suicide bomber want to attack a bullet proof car? The people, especially viewers wait impatiently on what are the findings based on the video footage.
And this time the Pakistan TV has called its Independence Day programmes as 'Salaam Pakistan', and says the news agency PPI that a 14-day national campaign was launched at the PTV headquarters on August 1. From what Federal Information Minister Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad has said the programmes would be especially targeted at the youngerer generation.
The PTV seeks to add colour to the Independence Day celebrations, and "inculcate new hope, inspiration, and enthusiasm among the youth". And the fortnight long 'Salaam Pakistan' campaign is scheduled to culminate into a lengthy live transmission beginning on 13th August ( a Friday) and continuing through Independence Day.
The Federal Information Minister told a news conference while launching the programme that the campaign 'Salaam Pakistan' is "a tribute to the glory of Pakistan" intended to celebrate both the country and the nation. He added that President Pervez Musharraf's idea of "enlightened moderation" would be projected throughout this Independence Day campaign. One of the features of the campaign would be evident from the fact that all anchors, and news readers would use "Salaam Pakistan" as their sign-off line in every bulletin, including Khabarnama.
The minister asked the PTV to "strive to project the philosophy that led to the creation of Pakistan", and indicated that these 'Salaam Pakistan' programmes would be telecast in other countries also, where Pakistanis reside, and the object of the exercise is to project our "national history and ideological approach". Happy educational viewing. I am looking forward to it all.
One only wishes that there weren't themes like terrorism, and Balochistan, and other such serious issues distracting the viewers from the full thrust of the Independence Day theme.
It is somewhat relevant to mention here that the point whether Pakistan's Independence Day needs to be celebrated on the 27th of Ramazan in keeping with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is alive, and I have seen an advertisement in newspapers announcing that the Geo channel is going to be focusing on this question in one of its programmes. There is a very strong public opinion on this 27th Ramazan theme and one of its outspoken protagonists was, Shaheed Hakim Mohammad Said, who infect made it a point to hold programmes to create public opinion on this point.
Perhaps this is where I can mention something I have been wanting to say for a long time: The trend of using large print media advertisements (Urdu and English) to announce or project/promote its prestigious programmes. There is some utility in this as viewers do find it difficult to keep track of the daily programming on so many channels, whose number is steadily growing, as per schedule. I find it useful myself, and recommend, too.
Perhaps this is where it is appropriate to mention that a news business news and views channel has gone on air, from Lahore, and it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shujaat Husain on 4th August, in the Punjab capital at the Pearl Continental. It is intended to be a 24 hour business news channel, and reflects the awareness and the appetite there is for news related to the trade, commerce, and business sectors of this society. It would be interesting to see how this channel goes and what it its impact on the print media that deals primarily and /or regularly with this subject.
I was in Islamabad when the inauguration came and was able to see it for varying lengths of time on 3rd and 4th August, and found it engaging enough. That is all at this stage. I have not been able to see it on my TV in Karachi, and here comes in the strategic role and facilitating factor that the cable operators have to play. How this speciality TV will be made available easily is something that needs to be watched. Interestingly one of the programmes that I watched on 3rd August was about the network of the cable operators and the "illegalities" that were linked to this business. There is always an "illegal side" to everything that functions in this society, it seems. So with cable operators too, but here the impact on our traditional values, ethical in particular, is something that makes me particularly sensitive.
The impact of foreign TV channels including the Indian channels is an ongoing theme, with protagonists and antagonists somewhat pitted against each other. The question is: how does Pakistani society take to the future in a world of satellite and cable TV? Any way, there is news that the Pakistan government "was considering lifting a ban on Indian TV channels and a decision in this regard would be made soon. This was announced by Information Minister Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad, in Lahore during the week. It is said that the Indian culture secretary and Pakistani officials discussed the matter in New Delhi when they met.
Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed is reported to have said that" despite the ban, Pakistanis watched Indian TV channels in all big cities including Lahore".
I saw a six column headline in an English daily from Lahore on 2nd August which read thus: Musharraf finds TV spokespersons weak" and somehow it did not surprise me. Datelined Islamabad this is what the first paragraph said: "President General Musharraf's discontent with the quality of government representation in electronic media, particularly private TV channels, has made his secretariat direct the Prime Minister's secretariat to work with the Ministry of Information and broadcasting to streamline the procedures for selecting government spokespersons." I wonder what is the response of readers to this kind of a news story, and I wonder what TV viewers think of the government spokespersons when they see them on various TV channels, PTV in particular.
According to this news report the President's secretariat (public) has written a formal letter to the PM's secretariat on the subject of "streamlining the procedure of Government functionaries appearing on private media channels". It has emphasized that "success of various government policies and programmes largely depends on their effective dissemination to the masses. In this, TV talk shows provide an excellent opportunity to the government to make its policies heard and heard by a large section of society".
This letter further says that "it has been observed with much concern that senior government officials are reluctant to avail of such opportunities to highlight the government's point of view, and instead low level functionaries appear on these programmes." There is more on this.
So read on, dear reader. We are in the terrain of credibility or a lack of it, you decide.
So what has been indicated is that the Information Ministry and all concerned ministries and divisions nominate government functionaries to speak on government issues. It is also recommended that the Information ministry should coordinate and liaise between government and media channels. As a viewer one finds all this to be of significance, as it indicates obliquely what our TV channels could have in store for us in the future. Immediate future because the pace at which the media is impacting society is "furious" in one sense.
The news report (dated 2nd August) being referred to here says that the letter to cabinet division has said that "it is imperative to streamline the procedure by involving the Ministry of Information and all other ministries and divisions to nominate government functionaries to speak on important issues, as and when such occasions arise... The cabinet division is therefore requested to issue necessary instructions in this regard to all ministries and divisions for implementation." And the Information Ministry will act as the coordinating agency.
Viewers wait to see the result of this planned change.
One would like to at least mention here an interpretative story from AP that has appeared this week which talks about "private TV channels pushing new political and social boundaries" and the main references are to the role played by Geo and ARY in the last two years or so. The story talks of the way in which minds are being broadened and argues that this would never have been possible it there was only the state run PTV. It contends that "two private cable-television channels, one beamed into Pakistan from nearby UAE, and the other broadcasting in Pakistan have been pushing the boundaries, of TV programming since they went on air in 2002". There are actual examples cited of the kind of programmes and the nature of the social, political, and ethical, and religious themes, and questions that are debated, discussed and analysed, sometimes with bitterness and harshness, that were otherwise restricted to private, informal, off the record encounters, and conversations.
My dear reader, I have failed to talk about the pleasure of listening to some songs rendered by Munni Begum, Tina Sani, Masood Malik, a long time ago. This was that PTV Channel 3, which is a treat to watch at times when it opens its memory album. PTV's rich in that way.
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