TV THOUGHTS: General election, media cost please? Cowasjee's candour, Nadia Khan's laughter

I write this column on Wednesday (27th February) and much should change when it appears in print on 1st March 2008 (Saturday). This column can begin with Aitzaz Ahsan, or Asif Ali Zardari or Mian Nawaz Sharif, or any of the major political parties or President Pervez Musharraf or US Senator Joe Biden for what they have said during the week or in recent days on TV channels after the elections.
The role of television channels, the private and independent ones, has been wonderful and even inspiring in the last one year in particular. We are in March 2008, and since March last year the political education, awareness and mood that have come from the TV channels alone is something that needs to be appreciated.
For the purposes of this column one would regard it necessary to underline the contribution of the lawyers movement and how fortunate have been the TV viewers that the channels have kept them informed of the historic struggle of the lawyers in Pakistan for the restoration of democracy, the end of military rule, the erosion of our sovereignty, the restoration of the judiciary, and the various problems that frustrate the daily lives of the common people.
The TV screen has tried successfully to update the people on the ambience of a changing Pakistan. And in all this, there is a trace of optimism in the air. The vote against dictatorship has been striking and overwhelming.
The subject of government formation, at the federal and the provincial level, show of strength by political parties, the restoration of the Supreme Court chief justice and 60 other judges, and the 1973 constitution in its pre November shape, the resignation or otherwise of President Musharraf - or the renaming of the NWFP as Pakhtoonkhwa, are some of the larger issues that private TV channels, (as also world media) are concerned with. The world is focused on Pakistan, as perhaps never before. If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow, says Joe Biden.
In the last week there have been many media conferences that have shown Asif Ali Zardari, and Mian Nawaz Sharif and other politicians making policy statements and there has been breaking news of the suicide attack on Surgeon General of the Pakistan Army Lieutenant General Mushtaq Baig and others who died on Monday in Rawalpindi. And there have been recurring panel discussions on Geo, Aaj TV, Dawn News, Aryone World, Indus News, Waqt TV, Din, KTN, Hum TV, CNBC, Business Plus, News One to mention a few on what lies ahead.
I would like to mention the powerful interview of Aitzaz Ahsan that was telecast some days ago, as well as the forceful manner in which he addressed (shown live?) lawyers and other activists when he went to cast his vote in Lahore. It is inspiring to hear him, and he speaks intelligently and from the heart.
In that interview he gave details of how his daughter who works in Davos, (with the World Economic Forum) was called by President Musharraf, who he spoke against Aitzaz Ahsan, calling him an agitator and conspirator, and how corrupt the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had been. There were other details on this point, all of which made us wonder about how this country is governed.
But most Pakistanis do not wonder at all when they watch the details on TV of how the Nilofar Bakhtiar led forward bloc of the PML Q is moving out of the fold of the King's Party.
GENERAL ELECTIONS, MEDIA COST, PLEASE?
What have the political parties spent on the print and electronic media for the 18th February 2008 elections? For all the TV commercials that TV viewers saw on the various channels, and in plenty, questions did come to mind about the resources that the parties and leaders were spending on the electoral exercise. Will the details of what was spent under the media head be disclosed to the public in course of time?
A news report (Dawn) said that " the PML-Q had started its campaign when it was in power, even before the announcement of the original schedule for the election, (January 8th) which was postponed to 18th February."
A Dawn report on 17th February 2008, under the headline "Millions spent on the media" has interesting information and opinions on this subject. It begins by saying, "The election 2008 is different from the other polls held in the past because the print and electronic media have overshadowed other means of electioneering this time."
It has been further stated that "although there are no authentic figures available, about the election expenditure, the amount has run into millions of rupees. The media cells of all political parties, refused to divulge the figures saying that they would be able to disclose them after the polls."
The report underlines that efforts were made to quantify the expenditure, but they did not succeed as nobody - political parties, TV channels, newspapers and the advertising agencies - was ready to disclose the amount".
It has been reported that the Centre for Civic Education Pakistan, in a claim, stated that the PML-Q spent over Rs 175 million on TV advertisements for 105 hours over the past three months. And that this coverage was more than the time bought by all the political parties combined."
In this report it was also stated that "the PTV has been accused of focusing on parties that support President Pervez Musharraf and the caretaker federal government. Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) has alleged in a recent story that that the president and his allies were the subject of about 85 percent of political reports, interviews and analyses."
That makes it easy to understand why TV viewers have preferred the independent TV channels even when they have been under official curbs and pressure tactics. On this subject one considers it pertinent to state that the curbs put on the private TV channels by the Pemra and other organisations have evoked sustained resentment and criticism from across the country, and abroad. Even ordinary people have understood the meaning and the significance of the official curbs that the media have been subjected to, along with the crisis that the judiciary has been subjected to, for almost a year now. (it began in March 2007).
The PTV has however denied the allegations that were levelled against it saying that "it has clubbed the coverage of the caretaker government and the PML-Q and that the activities of the state functionaries did not fall in the category of election campaigns".
The economics of advertisements on the electronic media as indicated in this report are very revealing. There were four political parties advertising on TV, on 15 TV channels, with 30 minutes average time consumed by each on one channel in a day. PML-Q advertised on 120 days, PPP on 40 days, PML-N on 20 days and MQM on 15 days. The average rate per minute of airtime cost is Rs 20,000.
Therefore, it has been estimated that based on the data above, budget of political campaigning on media very day, the cost would be about Rs 9 million. One is tempted to ask in lighter vein: when is the next general election? I am all for the media!! And its growth, freedom and prosperity.
BOLTA PAKISTAN BACK - HAMID MIR TOO:
Anchor person Syed Talat Hussain in his live show (Aaj TV) on Tuesday night said towards the conclusion of yet another excellent discussion that it was not easy to adjust to a one hour allocation for the programme having done it for two hours each time in the absence of Bolta Pakistan. Now that Nusrat Javed and Mushtaq Minhas are back (since the last few days) Live with Talat is of an hour's duration.
Talat smiled as he said that Bolta Pakistan had been away for long and that its time should be kept intact therefore. There was another comment that Talat made in this programme which was in the context of what exactly has changed for the better after the general election. He listed out the pending issues, including that of the judiciary not having been restored, and referred to the private TV channels whose owners had a tough time in getting their channels back or certain anchors and programmes revived.
Of Bolta Pakistan, which is always useful and absorbing to watch, had telecast problems on the first day, as a result of which there were reports that Aaj TV was off air in Islamabad and adjoining areas. Which reminds me that I have noticed that sometimes in certain political discussions when a participant is saying something that may be about the president or the government, the voice is off; only lip movement is seen. It makes viewers wonder about why this happens.
Anyway, it was good to see Bolta Pakistan back, and I am sure that the viewers of this current affairs show have risen with time. Besides, it is a very political season we are in, and all political programmes are watched with deep, growing interest, and concern reflecting perhaps the anxiety of the people. There is not simply a dramatic difference of opinion between the two journalists, but they also reflect two exclusive time zones. Nusrat Javed's years of experience are contrasted well with a youthful exuberance that gels amicably, despite an overall climate of dissent and discord?
Reflecting the post election change in government stance, policy and personnel and so on is that the TV channels having returned after governmental pressure and censure - and after Kamran Khan (Geo News), Hamid Mir has also returned to the popular Capital Talk show (Geo).
The major political parties that have won the 18th February polls are welcoming the role being played by the media in the battle against dictatorship and its many ugly dimensions. The frontiers of freedom, tolerance and expression have been stretched further in more ways than what we can perceive easily at this point in time.
AL JAZEERA SLAMS ARAB MEDIA CODE:
A report from Riyadh says that the Al Jazeera TV has slammed the new TV rules that have been adopted by TV channels in the Arab states, contending that it could shackle the freedom of expression.
It is said that earlier this month a meeting of the Arab information ministers was held in Cairo and it adopted new rules, which many believe was an attempt to rein in satellite television talk. The rules are a code of conduct (called The Charter of Principles). They allow countries to suspend, terminate or refuse to renew the licences of TV network offices, that violate them. All 22 members of the Arab League voted in favour of the document with Qatar and Lebanon opposing. Qatar hosts Al Jazeera, the news report said.
And what does the Charter of Principles do? It has been reported that it "prohibits the criticism of Arab leaders and religious figures, asking the media not to harm peace, national unity and public morals." It also "demands adherence to objectivity, sincerity and respect, to the dignity of the countries, nations and their national sovereignty".
The Al Jazeera TV channel has released a response to this and its Director General, Wadah Khanfar said that "any code of governance for journalists practices, should emerge and be governed from within the profession, and not be imposed externally by political institutions."
It further argued that "some of the language contained within the charter is ambiguous and could be interpreted to actively hinder independent reporting from the region".
The popular Al Jazeera TV channel said that it considers the adoption of the charter... a risk to the freedom of expression in the Arab world". Given the current state of the electronic and print media in the country there is much to contemplate in this report and the response of the Al Jazeera TV channel.
NADIA KHAN'S LAUGHTER:
Sometimes it is futile to try and get away from the Nadia Khan show (Geo TV), which like other such shows runs Monday through Friday. This one, like some others is from 10am to noon, and it has lots of laughter, and Nadia Khan does non-stop talking.
That does not mean her guests don't talk. They do, but she generally steals the show. If they out talk her, or try to out-smart her, or outwit her, she outlaughs them. It looks good and does one some good in the mornings when there is little to cheer about. She even laughed with Sikandar Lalani, immigration to Canada expert, on Monday morning, when her neck was giving her trouble (and pain) as a result of which she had not come for almost a week. I don't watch the show all the time as I only channel surf. Four Man Show (Aaj TV), at times is such fun and so much frivolity and that character Murtaza Chaudhry I simply adore, and I bless him so often!!
I am thinking as I write: what would happen if he and Nadia Khan were to sit together in one show! Anyway, Nadia Khan's neck was stiff that morning and she reminded her viewers with intermittent regularity. And yet she did that birthday bounce segment of the show with Lalani very enthusiastically. Never did that ouch feeling show!!
Sikandar Lalani gave some very valuable advice to intending immigrants to Canada and had precious updated information as well. It is when you see good TV on Pakistani TV channels and you say "Alas, there is only that much time to watch TV"! This includes the many interviews of Shaikh Rashid Ahmed that went on air on half a dozen channels, even though he lost so badly in the polls!! What a media manager he is!
COWASJEE'S CANDOUR:
Of the familiar experts who appear in the current affairs programmes on private TV channels, Ardeshir Cowasjee is amongst the most welcome ones. Which makes it relevant to mention here that some of the participants and indeed some of the anchors are so boring and so poor in their overall presentations that the remote control use is the best option. Sometimes I watched out of patient curiosity some of these men and women to see how disappointing they are, while in their own professional fields they are well noted, and even competent I am trying not to mention names here.
Ardeshir Cowasjee, whose column in Dawn is often quoted for his views and whose short dismissive answers on TV channels are popular and informative, appears on various channels from time to time, and is now 82 years old. Well done, sir! This is something that he underlines occasionally in his interviews, and he did this with Jasmeen Manzoor on the Business Plus channel last week. For the sparkling quality of the conversation I saw large chunks of the interview on two occasions. The repeat telecast was welcome in this case!
There was another interview he had with Dr Danish over the News One channel and that also had Cowasjee in form. It was very interesting to see him counter questioning Dr Danish on many occasions saying "that you know the answer, why are you asking me". This would stump Danish! But then it is Cowasjee's answer that is what the public wants to hear.
Obviously while the subject of the interviews with him is wide and varied, and almost no holds barred in nature, the focus is often political. His answers reflect the clarity of his views, and the uncompromising nature of his opinions. It has been a long innings and therefore, he speaks from the authenticity of experience.
Ardeshir Cowasjee speaks in English, and Urdu and uses briefly and spontaneously Gujrati for effective communication. Evidently Jasmeen enjoyed his use of words, as did the viewers, and sometimes she would repeat it in her questions also, to demonstrate this. Her disbelief at Cowasjee's candour, and courage were evident from her facial expressions as her smiles made way for lots of laughter.
But it was no laughing matter what they were talking about, and she asked him why he was always "negative" in his answers, his vision, and his anticipation. He reiterated that he was being realistic. To some questions he said that she was sounding like Dr Danish! She asked why he had thought of him (Danish) while talking to her. He said that he had been interviewed by him a couple of days ago, and he too asked him similar questions.
Some of the subjects that he answered questions about included President Pervez Musharraf, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed, Mian Nawaz Sharif, the general election, the results, the MQM, the Parsi community, the time when Mian Nawaz Sharif (in his second term as Prime Minister) offered him the governorship of the Sindh province. He also commented on the hairstyle on Mian Nawaz Sharif in a lighter vein, and about President Pervez Musharraf he observed that the was "the best of the worst lot" at this point in time.