“What is your source of news these days?” “I used to watch Western news channels but a few weeks ago a Western channel’s second or third lead was a North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine.”

“Well that supports the Western claim that the North Koreans are fighting on behalf of Russia against Ukraine and that is cited as the reason for enhanced Western support for Ukraine, you know the use of ATACMS and….”

“Wait, hear me out. The report then added that its source was Seoul.”

“Isn’t Seoul the capital of South Korea?”

“Yes, so neither Ukraine nor the Russians nor the North Koreans were the source of the report…wait, there is more to come.”

“But surely the Ukrainians can bring the captured man in front of the camera and…”

“The very next day, it was reported that the captured North Korean had died.”

“Don’t be facetious.”

“No, it was so reported on this channel.”

“Why not show his corpse…”

“They couldn’t prove conclusively that the corpse is that of a North Korean soldier.”

“There are ways – get a tailor to make a North Korean uniform and…”

“I heard all the tailors in Ukraine have been recruited by the government to serve on the front line, besides Ukrainians don’t look like Koreans, so there is a need for a Korean corpse and…”

“Hmmm, well, some of our reports are also factually incorrect…”

“But we don’t claim that we are accurate and unbiased and holier than thou.”

“Yes, we do, but no one believes us; so you reckon that the claim of independent reporting by Western outlets has kinda…kinda…”

“Died a natural death, and this is especially so with respect to reporting on Gaza and portraying Israel as morally upright, honest, democratic…”

“So, now what? We watch Pakistan Television as the channel that gives us the truth? And, before you say anything you do know that the viewership of talk shows on seventy plus private channels is also going down…”

“Which is why in both the West and the East we have millions turning to social media for their information and this in spite of many social media reports failing the fact check criteria that is where we, the World Public, are turning for information….”

“Oooops in case you can still access the social media we are on, mine just went kaput.”

“It’s the undersea cable that…”

“Hallelujah.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025