TV THOUGHTS: PTV wants ban on cigarette commercials lifted? overdoes glamour girls!

ARY analyses Gen Zia's C-130 plane crash, recollects the mystery. What is the way out for the Pakistan TV to face the challenge that it faces on the financial front? This is a question that the Pakistan TV bosses must be trying to answer, and more so bearing in mind that the number of channels is going to grow.
There is contained in this fact the seeds of multifaceted trouble, generally speaking. Where will the manpower for all these channels come from.? Are there that many professionals in the varied disciplines of the medium available? ?will there be a decline in the standards initially, ?It is going to be an interesting stage to watch in the near future. Some kind of a survival of the best and the fittest is going to be in operation.
Having said this brings one to take notice of the fact that there is a reported move being made to try and restore tobacco advertising on PTV's channels ,whose number is also going to grow in the future .Obviously one is disturbed at this reported move, which also contradicts the very strong meaningful anti smoking steps and measures that have been taken by the government itself ,including the Ministry of Health.
Strangely enough while medical circles have opposed the restoration of these advertisements that seek to promote cigarette smoking through glamour and the allure of female models, and adventurous men ,and public opinion is shocked at this possibility, the Federal Health Ministry has said nothing in the matter. No _expression of public opinion which is rather disappointing. On other such public issues the ministry has an opinion ,and tries to make its presence felt. This silence is surely unacceptable.
News reports indicate that the Pakistan Society of Chest Physicians ,Sindh, has expressed its concern over moves to relax restrictions on cigarette advertisements on PTV under the pretext of massive revenue loss to the state entity" .This Society has said that Pakistan which ratified the International Framework Convention on Tobacco control in June this year ,had also introduced a "No smoking Ordinance " last year, and that it now needed to be ensured that national and international commitments in this regard were "honoured in letter and spirit".
Opposing the lifting of the current ban on tobacco advertising, the Society took notice of the plea of the influential lobby of cigarette manufacturers and promoters to get the ban lifted from "6am to midnight" ,on PTV. It was further stated that international studies revealed that a ban on cigarette on electronic media had effected a20 per cent decline in smoking related diseases .This ban was imposed in the United States in the 1960s and in the UK in the 1980s. It was further pointed out(in a story circulated by the APP) that even in countries like Bangladesh and India, there is a strict ban on all public and private channels..
It was underlined that a particular tobacco company was spending about Rs 328 million and another such company was spending about Rs 295 million on advertising annually, and bear in mind the UNDP report which said that cigarette consumption in Pakistan per person/year was the highest in South Asia.
I would like to refer a news report that was published in this daily on 7th August which indicated that the PTV was going to earn over Rs3bn license fee through power bills .in this financial year. Karachi would generate Rs 180 million, it may be noted. Now it has been stated in this report that the collection would be six times higher than what the PTV itself or through its contractors used to collect in the past It has further been attributed to informed sources as having said that "if managed properly and if the marketing of PTV programmes and advertising time is done of purely commercial lines, it should earn more than Rs 6.5 billion in one year".
A leading English daily in an editorial comment titled "No way to rescue PTV" has termed as flimsy the argument that PTV needs to be helped out with its revenues ,in view of the licence fee to be collected with electricity bills ,country wide. .It is reported that the Senate's standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting has invited the Health Ministry to "inform it of the likely impact if the ads are resumed." The harm to public health, and to the young in particular ,whom the PTV seeks to target are so obvious that I am amazed that there should be any doubt in the matter..PTV needs to improve its editorial; policies, content, and introduce higher standards of professionalism so as be in financially good shape .A resort to tobacco advertising would amount to displaying a complete disregard to public health ,a subject that is often found in depressing, deplorable state.
There is another setback to PTV which is this :PTV's credibility would get further dented in the ethical domain if its lifts the ban and restores commercials that romanticise cigarette smoking. Think about this, someone.!
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The country's 57th Independence day was a major theme during the week ,hitting a high on the 14th of August, and all channels like Indus, ARY digital, ARYone, Geo and of course, Pakistan TV and its various channels focused on the theme. The PTV's package for the occasion was called "Salaam Pakistan" and it culminated with a live telecast of a special programme at which the President of Pakistan Gen Pervez Musharraf was the chief guest. This was telecast on Friday and carried on late into the night, and I was able to hear almost all of the President's speech. It was a significant message that the President underlined ,which now was the need to project the soft image of Pakistan through tourism, culture and sports, in the context of the world that exists today . The context he was referring to what that of terrorism. The special programme was called the "Grand Azadi show", and leading artistes from TV, cinema, and showbiz participated. Tausif Haider was the talkative compere, and he was perhaps overdone during the fortnight, for he also did the morning programme ,which included interviews. A change of interviewer and a better selection of people for those interviews would have made the Independence Day programmes profound and meaningful. Some of those selected for the morning interviews were Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed , Federal Information Minister, Naeem Bokhari, Atiqa Odho, Gia Ali, Kashmala Tariq, MNA, Fariha Parvez, Shamil Khan, Aqil Sajjad, an amazing person though visually impaired, and actress Durdana Butt. I would have preferred the show biz factor to be underplayed in the selection of some of the above names ,especially for an occasion like the country's Independence Day .In fact it is appropriate to observe here that PTV ,despite the competition that it faces from its growing number of competitors definitely needs to hold onto sobriety and balance ,and not lose the maturity and direction that it has acquired over time. Succumbing to glamour is the easiest option.
One of the attractions on PTV was the showing of the feature film Jinnah, produced by Akbar Ahmed, with Jamil Dehlvi having done the screenplay and the direction. I am unsure of how many people were able to see the film, which I saw for the first time. I found the film strong and motivating, and Christopher Lee who played the role of the Quaid e Azam was impressive. I think there is need to show this film with an intermittent regularity for more people to see it.
The film Jinnah one recalls did take a long time to make, and there was so much of controversy that went with it, and there were so many people who doubted the possibility that such a film could be made, and others dissented about every decision that was being considered, pre production. Now that the film is here, let me suggest that it is worth seeing, and Pakistan's younger generations, so appropriately being focused upon on such national days and occasions would definitely find the movie engaging and educative.
Then on that day there was the a panel discussion in two parts on the theme of Vision 2004. One part was telecast in the morning ,and the second part in the evening. The participants in the programme were Imran Khan, Tariq Azeem, Kashmala Tariq, Dr Javed Iqbal and Iftikhar Gilani, and a noticeable feature was the candour with which Pakistani society was being analysed and dissected. I find this freedom that the PTV is able to demonstrate as very significant and perhaps it is an indicator of the awareness that is creeping in within the higher echelons of the PTV management. That if the PTV does not move with the levels of awareness that the viewer has ,the PTV will be unable to move with the times. Survival challenges lie ahead .
One of the other themes, besides national songs and motivational music was that of minorities who reside in this country,happily and willingly. This was a panel discussion anchored by Rahat Kazmi and the participants included Dr Ruth Pfau, S.B John and Jimmy Engineer. It had one of each of the religious minorities that live here ,and they all reflected the comfort and the convenience with which they reside in Pakistan.
Of course that was day when thoughts went out to the concept of Pakistan ,and one song that had a sort of emotional impact on me was a children's song ,and perhaps it is a very old one. It is sung by many children and its lyrics read something like this:
"Jug Jug Jiyey Mera Pyara Watan
Lab Pey Dua Hai Dil Mein Lagan"
I found my eyes moist as I heard the children sing this innocently .No idle tears, these.
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On Tuesday night after Khabarnama I saw over PTV a very interesting programme that was intended to be a tribute to the Oval Hero Fazal Mahmood ,and this was an occasion to go down memory lane .I was able to see famous cricket people of the past, Imtiaz Ahmad, Aleemuddin and Shujauddin ,among others, and hear them speak with nostalgia of the days when they played ,with emphasis on the details of the way in which Fazal Mahmood helped Pakistan beat England at the Oval.Also seated in the programme was the legendary Fazal Mahmood for whom the _expression that Pakistan had "Fazalled " England was used then .The producer was able to get hold of footage of Abdul Hafeez Kardar's interview relevant to that programme, which ended with that beautifully rendered Punjabi song by Noor Jehan for the armed forces :Aey Puttar Hattan Tey Naheen Milde ". I find this song almost haunting in its appeal, and its evokes a very strong feeling for the country. I cant resist mentioning another song that does that, its sung by Shaukat Ali and Shazia. Some of those old national songs evoke strange feelings now. Anyway to have used that Noor Jehan song for Fazal Mahmood was a very good idea.
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During this has also come and gone yet another death anniversary of the late President Shaheed Ziaul Haq on 17th August ,making one remember that C-130 crash in Bahawalpur which fact remains a mystery ever since it happened 1988, Sixteen years now and yet no clue as to what really happened ,and who are the guilty. PTV news reported the visit of Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain to the place where the late President is buried. ARYone in its Views on News had Dr Shahid Masood doing an investigative, analytical programme on two nights on the C 130 crash that killed so many VIPs and he highlighted the mystery that remains even now.
He ensured that viewers formed their own impression on who could the powers be, who could have motive behind eliminating President Ziaul Haq from the scene.
Then on ARY one ,in that current affairs programme Aamna Samna ,done by Talat Hussain(who was with PTV at one time when he moved from print media to electronic) there was an interview with Ejazul Haq ,now federal minister for Religious Affairs on the subject of his father, the late Ziaul Haq.
I am glad I was able to see it and it was so good to see him put the late President in such good perspective. Even Geo in its late night Current affairs programme Aaj,done by that investigative, daring Kamran Khan focused on the C130 crash and spoke to the ISI chief of that time,(1988)Lieutenant General(r) Hameed Gul who spoke of the way in which the probe into the crash was discouraged ,and in a variety of ways. I am writing with restraint.
But such programmes make you think of the ways in which we lived through our national tragedies, and how a range of questions that relate to our lives remain trapped in mystery. In silence. Even though the media speaks loud, there is a screaming, deafening silence that challenges our conscience .Individual and collective both.