The Cost of a Pakistani Journalist Life

Cameras flash, reporters with mikes in their hands run for the first glimpse and the exclusive news while video camera men fell on each other to cover the shot. Who are they covering? religious bearded students who were coming out of Lal Mosque (The Red Mosque). It’s the media boom as watched by the nations viewing and listening (VL) folks on many national channels on their cables.

During the 11 days stand off between the extremist forces versus the government security forces; many lives were lost from both sides.

The dispute ended but the major sufferers were the journalist disposing professional duties - on that day one was killed, one paralyzed for whole life and two injured critically.

The Pakistani government after the crisis handed over the financial compensation to the bereaved journalist family member and injured ones.

The rising number of conflicts in Pakistan is making journalism tougher like in a war zone coverage.

The on and off suicide bombings, military operations and much more the channels run to cover while the nation is glued to TV sets to know the latest.

The VL (viewing and listening) nation is hungry to know the latest like an addiction given by the media to lessen their ire of the street power show. During this whole saga some journalists are killed and many injured. What is the price of their blood?

What matters more? the media coverage or the person covering it? Ask a media owner of newspaper or the television and it’s the coverage. But whose life is at stake - the journalist in the field, the camera man and the team covering the conflict.

Pakistan’s media boom occurred at a time when conflicts are more to cover. The new channels couldn’t get the time to provide the proper training to journalists covering such situations instead the sudden media boom turned the attention of media owners only towards the coverage, ignoring the need for training.

While I was covering the Lal Mosque incident from a national daily based in Islamabad, I stood more than 500 meters away from the chaotic scene. It was anarchy as one of the journalists fell from a stray bullet that hit him in the head and took his life. The journalist community then moved back but then how does one cover the event? Renowned channels stand as much as 50 meters away from the conflict zone to get the best footage.

Poor, pathetic and embarrassed as I watched a foreign journalist covered with a full protection gear for the conflicts with helmet on the head, bullet proof chest jacket, a satellite set, a tear gas mask, he looked like a techno character moving like a technology gadget among his Pakistani counter parts who looked like the 1940’s cars compared to the foreign journalist.

He stood near a security officer and observers asking them for comments and then moved away from them towards a safer place-a wall of the building. Watching every thing from a kilometer away from the mosque he was getting more insight then the vulnerable and low paid local journalists of the capital city Islamabad and some of them may not even get a byline in the next days newspaper.

Why is this and what are we missing? The answer to this was given by Secretary General of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist Mazhar Abbas “their must be full protection gear, insurance cover and a proper training for the journalist so to save them from being vulnerable in conflict zones”.

He added that journalists must be trained by the media institutions so they know how to cover the conflicts and ways to cover these conflicts professionally.

Tough times are ahead for the nation as well as for the media. The deteriorating law and order condition in the country require the media to cover the stories at an increasing risk to their life.

So the ball is in the court of the media house owners and also to some extent the vulnerable journalists who should demand their rights to professional training and protection for conflict zones.