Puruesh Chaudhary delivers a talk on the state of media and the need for investigative journalism in Pakistan, she talks about her passion for improving media reporting and the AGAHI initiative has launched in Pakistan
"What a terrorist is, what a terrorist does?"
Continuous broadcast of news covering death, destruction and chaos is leading to a much radicalized -- intolerant society.
Rukhsana, mother of a 6 year old, I met at the airport says her daughter knows what a terrorist is, and what a terrorist does. I will not digress from what I heard and it's impact. Nor am I not going to into the politics of Pakistan nor our Media Industry. But to point out that our media has gradually desensitized and misled our society into a debate, which is neither in their socio-economic wellbeing nor in Pakistans' national interest is a fact -- far from generalization.
A perspective we fail to acknowledge are the voices that don't burn our tubes at 8PM every night.
Since the deregulation of the Media and Telecommunications in 2004 in Pakistan, we have become a very informed society. So we know whats happening, why is it happening and now thanks to the breaking news diarrhea we also know exactly when it is happening. But what it has also led to, is that we are unable to process, channelize and transform that information into knowledge either online or offline. The consumption of information is not resulting into any actionable value derivatives.
The fact that everyone wants to see credible, relevant and ethically sound journalism happening in Pakistan or anywhere else in the world, is a reality!
During our course of Media Development Initiative in Pakistan, we have come across several journalists from all over the country, demanding to be trained and exposed to opportunities where they can connect their content to the global agenda. Content that not only promotes a healthy democracy; but also stand up for public interest, and campaigns for appropriate reforms.
Relevant content development creating knowledge footprint and clusters of information both online and offline, which not only supports but also encourages pluralism and diversity of reportage in Pakistan will play a critical role in the fundamental development of a progressive nation.
