TV THOUGHTS: The overpowering Supreme Court theme; Live coverage of daring crime; Passion for the World Cup 2007
Since the 9th of March 2007,which will be a day always remembered with sadness in the years to come, the television channels have focused on Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and on the decision to make him "non functional". Since the 9th of March there is no other subject that has been more important than this theme.
The live coverage and the hours of telecast on this theme have changed our lives in many ways. The first hearing, and in camera, was held on Tuesday, 13th March and the next date has been fixed as 16th March, 2007 and when these lines are read on 17th March (Saturday) it is impossible to imagine what kind of scenario will be prevailing in the land.
There is a variety of options and dimensions to this case which have been discussed with candour on the channels, all the channels. For several reasons, including those of space, one would prefer to refer to a few news reports on this subject, and the first one relates to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which has "viewed with serious concern the spate of news items, comments, views and statements appearing in the print and electronic media since the reference to the council of the case of Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry which is a highly sensitive constitutional and legal matter."
The Council members have also noted that "leaders of various political parties, senior government functionaries, members of the legal fraternity and bar councils have been both directly and indirectly voicing their views on the subject, which was subjudice".
The same day (13th March) there was a news report, which said that a full bench of the Lahore High Court had accepted the unconditional apology of Geo TV Network and discharged the contempt proceedings against the channel which were initiated following a segment of a television programme, "Gumnaam" in which a Lahore High Court clerk was shown receiving bribe.
Then there was on that day another story in the newspapers, which had the following headline on the front page: LHC moved to cancel licences of private TV channels. And in this it was said "Justice Hamid Ali Shah of the LHC on Monday sought reply from the PEMRA over the operations of two private TV channels." The court issued this directive while taking up a petition filed by a Lahore lawyer Mohammed Arshad who has said that the respondents were "telecasting derogatory information about current national issues especially in relation to the reference filed by President Pervez Musharraf against Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. And he was further quoted as saying that almost all the private TV channels were trying to outpace each other in maligning the Army and the judiciary which are the two highly placed and esteemed institutions of our homeland."
Then on the same day the Dawn carried a front-page story which said that "two private TV channels remained off air for sometime on Monday after getting a warning from the government's Media Regulatory Authority for showing pictures of police baton - charge on protesting lawyers in Lahore against the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry". The two TV channels were Aaj TV and Geo News both channels went off the air simultaneously (reported Dawn) and the transmission resumed after several minutes, it was PEMRA in Sindh, which contacted the two channels and told them not to telecast the scenes of police action against the lawyers in Lahore.
And one more news item from the Daily Times, which was based on the interview of advocate Naeem Bokhari by journalist Mazhar Abbas and which was telecast by the HUM TV on Sunday night, stated that: Advocate Naeem Bokhari, who has been widely criticised by lawyers for levelling allegations against the incumbent Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in an open letter, said on Sunday that he had no regrets and that "I own every word of my letter."
In an interview with HUM TV Bokhari said Chaudhry's "arrogance and disrespect for lawyers" had angered him and added that "this is my actual charge against Chaudhry, I have no idea that my letter provided reason for President General Pervez Musharraf to file a reference against Chaudhry." I saw this interview and felt that Mazhar Abbas did an excellent job.
It is difficult to know at this stage how many TV channels are devoting time to the coverage of crime in Pakistani society. But the fact remains that crime, in particular street crime, is causing concern to citizens across the country. And TV channels are beginning to shift their attention to this vital theme. I am not convinced that they are doing justice to the way crime is being reported. One hopes that the quality of the coverage will improve with time.
Having said this I would like to mention that on Sunday afternoon, when all that one wanted to know what were the latest developments on the subject of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry having met seasoned politician Air Marshal Asghar Khan (Retd), the Aryone World went out of its way to break the news that an armed dacoity was underway in phase-II of the Defence Housing Authority in Karachi. And to enhance the impact of this news was the fact that its reporter was apparently providing valuable information from the site. It was dramatic, and scary too. A TV channel was reporting a crime, almost while it was unfolding itself. What next? Quite obviously the viewer anywhere in the city would be interested, and the vicarious experience could be terrifying, to some extent.
As a viewer, while the subject of the Supreme Court Chief Justice was of paramount interest, a crime being reported live, and that too from an upper class residential area like the Defence Housing Authority was also of high interest.
So as I switched channels, I am sure that other viewers of this channel must have done the same thing. But quite amazingly there was no word about the crime story thereafter, and I presume that there must have been a follow-up that I missed out on. That's the thing about TV news, especially with the growing variety of private TV channels.
I did look for this particular news story on some of the other channels that focus on Karachi, but gave up. The gripping interest of what Air Marshal Asghar Khan (Retd) was saying simply swept my interest in another direction. And Pakistani channels appeared to be a state of shock about the "non functional Chief Justice".
On the point of crime being reported on the TV channels there is every reason to have one's mind wondering about the many faces of crime (even lawlessness) in this society, and how the electronic media can play a positive and far reaching role in this. Let me underline that a part of me was very pleased that a media channel wanted to highlight how daring criminals have become here; on the other hand it also could be used to argue that such crime coverage could create an unwanted and avoidable scare in the community. There are two sides to the coin in this case too.
The Cricket World Cup 2007 has begun, and arguably in the prevailing national, regional and international environment, it is the biggest event that will bring cheer to millions around the globe - until the 28th of April (next month) when hopefully the exciting final will be played between two toughest teams on a Saturday at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. And while transistor sets will be taking a great deal of the media load, it is the TV channels that will enable the creation of that cricket fantasy, frenzy and fever in the cricketing and non-cricketing crowds who will, in varying degrees, go insane in their love and passion for the sport. Life may stop, and work will stall.
That cricket is decidedly more an industry than a sport will conveniently be forgotten, and the innocence of a sporting contest, and the naivette of belief that it is all fair play all the time, and that sports and politics don't mix, will emerge as articles of faith.
The most cynical around us, will bet their lives that the fight between the bat and the ball, is genuine-and vested interest free! Trust me, a feast of many kinds has begun, and I would like to believe that the concept of TV channels zeroing in on cricket for such an occasion, and for six weeks is unquestionably an excellent cementing force of families. In a sense, homes come alive, and the young and old share. The divisive nature of politics gets derailed, and the bonding power of this sport (or for that any other?) enriches the community. No other sport is played for the length of time that cricket is.
I have got carried away with the thought of World Cup 2007 on the TV channels, and hope that the tradition of power failures will not ruin most of it. I cannot imagine a trouble free time as far as the KESC goes. For that matter I would like to believe even if the Pakistan team performance were to disappoint, or be lack lustre, it would not diminish much the wildness of the passion that has been set in motion. Not for cricket the ides of March?
Having said all this one needs to underline from an AFP story, datelined Trelawny (Jamaica) which said that the World Cup "the first to be held in the Caribbean was opened here on Sunday in a three hour, two million dollar ceremony." And to date the event had recorded a cost of 400 million dollars to stage. "It was Sir Garfield Sobers, arguably the greatest player the game has ever known, declared the 16 team, 49 day 51 match tournament open." While the TV channels telecast live this ceremony a Reuters report from Jamaica said that the World Cup opened with a colourful but "low key ceremony". Over 2000 singers, dancers, and performers including several of the Caribbean's top reggae and dancehall performers, participated in the opening at the new stadium close to Montego Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica.
And what is the impact of the World Cup on the sale of TV sets in various cities and towns across the country, there appear to be mixed reports. There are reports that suggest that the sale of TV sets has been on the lower side. A primary reason for this are the prices of the TV sets, especially those with the bigger screens. There is the obvious price factor that is holding consumers back, who are already being restricted in their purchasing power, caused by an all round escalation in prices, with food items taking away a neat big bite out of people's domestic budgets. But there is another opinion, which contends that smaller TV sets, which will be used in markets, shops and offices, will see a sudden quick rise in sales in the days ahead. It is being hoped that like the sales of TV sets in the previous World Cup tournaments this time also sales will pick up as the days go by.
But once again those who were keeping their fingers crossed are going to further stay rooted in that skeptical state of mind as far as the Pakistani team goes. With the national team having lost the first match against the West Indies rather comprehensively on the very first day of the World Cup on 13th March with viewers staying up late to watch the game on Tuesday night, there is an obvious disappointment. I saw bitter, angry comments from some viewers on the Aryone World on having lost the match, who said that with the state of cricket in Pakistan being so mismanaged by the Pakistan Cricket Board with its adhocism, it was not surprising that the cricketers were also failing to deliver.
But then regardless of the outcome of the matches it seems that viewers are bound to watch as many matches as possible.
And on TV. Therefore, advertisers are quoted, as saying that viewership will rise several times over. And one newspaper has carried a detailed story of how the advertising industry in Pakistan has become busy, obviously implying that it is making money kind of gold rush? It has been observed in this report that "the volume and scope of advertising industry has increased multifold with the emergence of TV channels."
A spokesman of the Pakistan Advertisers Society has been quoted as saying "the World Cup 2007 has surged the revenue of advertising agencies by three times as compared to the last year. If the industry at an average makes Rs 20 million profit per annum it would be netting Rs 60 million in the world cup year". And one Chief Executive of an Islamabad based advertising agency has been quoted as saying that "the business activities had started almost six months back to cover this event which included planning, designing, film shooting, and other management and marketing activity with media coordination."
I do intend to talk about the World Cup 2007 cricket that we will see on the TV channels, in the next five weeks, and there will be plenty to write home about. The cricket commentators, the cricket experts, the cricket commercials, the cricket politics, the cricket glamour, and the cricket ambience finally - and how it will contrast to what is happening elsewhere in the country, in the region, and in the world - which is engaged in a war against terrorism.
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