"The mid break has destroyed the narrative of television content" said former federal information minister Javed Jabbar. Drawing on decades of personal experience in the fields of advertising, communications and media management; Jabbar offered insights on the history, present state and future of media in Pakistan, in a recent meeting with BR.
"The media business is unlike any other business in the world because it has a profound impact on the minds of audiences" he said, adding that "electronic and print media affected the opinions, perceptions and even actions of the recipients of their content".
For this reason, the pioneer of advertising in the country is adamant that "the ownership of media outlets should not be concentrated in the hands of one individual or any one group. They should instead be turned into joint stock companies whose shareholding is monitored to ensure that no single individual, firm or association gains undue control over such an outlet" he maintained.
Complementing the Adasia platform, Javed Jabbar said that the collection of advertisers, ad agencies, as well as other industry stakeholders from various countries will help bring further developments in the field that will not only add to the creative aspect of the field, but also help improve its contribution to the social fabric of societies.
Towards a code of conduct "One of the things we had suggested during the first-ever Pakistan Advertisers Conference was the need for the establishment of an advertising standards authority which should check the content and act as a balancing factor against unbridled and exaggerated, or even unethical claims of marketers" he said.
Javed Jabbar recalled that he had also pushed for the formulation of such an oversight body during both his stints as the country's information minister. But he lamented that "there is still no advertising standards authority in the country, the likes of which exist in other countries".
Still Jabbar asserted that the main responsibility rests with advertisers. Consumers are also increasingly aware on this front and we are now witnessing the growth of various organisations such as those that monitor the marketing efforts of pharmaceuticals, or others that operate customer helpline to help take their concerns to the relevant companies and have them resolved.
Highlighting hurdles to true freedom of expression, he said that at present "some parts of the media are using this freedom to build coercive pressure on the government and the government has also reacted badly in some ways as it uses covert tactics to exert pressure on certain quarters of the media, for example by blocking government advertisements to one media group".
PEMRA "Content regulation of electronic media without curbing the freedom of speech is the job of PEMRA" said the industry stalwart, adding that "this is what I had visualised when drafting that law (PEMRA Ordinance)". Under the initial ordinance, the oversight body was supposed to incorporate a majority of members from non-governmental positions. "But as soon as I resigned, the bureaucracy and the government reversed these decisions and now government officials are in majority there so PMERA has become a highly bureaucratic agency when in fact it should have been independent" lamented Javed Jabbar.
Recalling the initiation of this effort he said that "this was the last law that we passed as the care taker government under then-President Farooq Leghari, on February 14, 1997" adding that legislators had expected the incoming elected government to readily ratify the ordinance into law in the interest bolstering freedom of expression in the country.
"We had expected that this revolutionary law will be ratified and we will establish freedom of speech in the country, but unfortunately the Nawaz Sharif government deliberately let the ordinance lapse" he asserted. Frustrated by the government's response, Javed Jabbar established the Citizens Media Commission of Pakistan to lobby for the reintroduction of this act. In order to rally public sentiment in favour of this cause, February 14 was declared, 'Electronic Media Freedom Day'. The pressure yielded results under the government of former President Pervez Musharraf.
Highlighting the irony of the sequence of events, Jabbar quipped "an elected government rejected the law while a non-elected government gave complete freedom to media in the country".
Yet the performance of the regulatory authority has left much to be desired, according to Jabbar who feels that it has not evolved at the pace that was necessary given the mushrooming growth of television channels in the country.
From delineation to distortion Across the globe, print publications have had to restructure their business models in order to survive in the fast-changing world of media and propaganda. "The younger generation is increasingly turning to the internet for new and insights instead of print publications" said Jabber. But he acknowledged that this trend has different depending on the culture of the country being considered. "In Japan and India, the culture is very print-oriented and people still like to hold a newspaper and read it" he said.
"In Pakistan, there are scores of newspapers, magazines and other publications and their numbers are still growing; which is very encouraging to see" said Jabbar. He expressed satisfaction over the rise of new media groups and organisations saying that this has helped "curb the hegemony and dominance of one influential group in the media industry".
Javed Jabbar is ambivalent over the increasing popularity of social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook. On one hand these developments have helped make it easier for people to get their voices heard, but on the other hand, unbridled information on such forums can be inaccurate or misleading.
"Predicting the trends of innovation will be increasingly difficult going forward. But one thing is clear; there will always be a market for creative content, regardless of the media vehicle that is used to propagate it" he summed up.
In the context of local television channels and their content; Jabbar insisted that a code of conduct, developed through consensus is direly needed. "At the moment, many leading channels and anchors are convoluting their analysis with bias and overtly opinionated. There has to be a distinction between pure news content and its analysis. That line has been blurred" he said.
"Previously, in the PTV-era, everyone was witnessing the same developments or events, in the same perspective. Now opinions are as fragmented as the number of channels and other media" said the former information minister.
Advertisers Unite! Contrasting the state of the advertising industry with its performance back in the 1980s and 1990s; Jabbar highlighted that "agencies nowadays are relying heavily on advertising strategies developed internationally, which are simply altered for the local market". He recalled that, "back in the day", there were few multinationals in the local industry and advertisers mostly had to generate unique content that was "something entirely new and creative, which was relevant to the Pakistani context".
Quoting the example of the Peek Freans Pied Piper he asserted that the character and ensuing campaign created by his company became so popular among local audiences that for the first time in the country's history, "a company adopted an advertising symbol as a part of its brand identity, instead of the other way around".
"In those days as well as now, advertising agencies serve as the de facto training grounds for advertising practitioners who go on not just in advertising but also marketing and management" he said adding that there are now many more professionals with sound skills and knowledge of the field of advertising.
However he lamented that there is a lot of clutter on electronic media at present. "There is a lot of similarity in local advertising at the moment, it often makes it hard to decipher which brand is being advertised or to recall it later on" he asserted. Jabbar commended the achievements of the local industry but added that there are many horizons, yet to be surmounted to improve the quality of content on local media. Quoting a sign posted in his office, he summed up thus: "In a country where 80 percent of the people do not have access to clean water, should an advertising agency devote 100 percent of its time to selling toothpaste?"
Javed Jabbar is a legend of advertising in Pakistan, a famous politician, former information minister and an intellectual. He has diverse interests in mass media, international and national affairs. He is Chairman and Chief Executive of J.J Media (Pvt) Ltd and Project One (Pvt) Ltd.
An Interview with Javed Jabbar Chief Executive of J.J Media (Pvt) Ltd.
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