Dodging Pakistani Sleuths to Cover a War and a Coup

ras, the fireworks have already begun. Most of us are just being too polite right now. If chowk publishes a few more of Mr. Naqvi's writings, some people will even begin to talk to him plainly. :)

Good to see Jawed Naqvi's writing here on CHOWK.

Now let the fireworks begin....


Ras

HP, LOL, yaar, I could have said what you wrote about 'independence' made no sense. But I am trying to see what you meant. Your posts referred to so many different possible meanings - independence as some kind of an autoarchy, devotion to some form of objectiveness, or to fairness, being impervious to or the absence of various external pressures.

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When one holds the Indian media 'culpable' one assumes that Indian media deliberately write falsehoods to promote the Indian government's agenda. That is not so. On many foreign policy matters, Indian governments reflects the views of Indian people quite closely, as does the Indian Press. There is a quite a bit of convergence.

And when there is not, it is available in alternative, fringe sections of the media - from right to left.
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While what you say is true about English newspapers, real differences between the societies (if any) might actually be reflected in local-language newspapers, those being relatively 'closer' to the masses.

#35 Kambakhat HP

Your brains got fried somewhere when you tried to read Friedman!

Media is part of the country. The scribes are its citizens, the publishers are its fat-cats.

Media elites do not drop out of the sky. They need to live among the same khaki wierdos and the green beardos!

If the whole country is shackled like a pitt-bull in heat, it is foolishness itself to talk of a free media. That is why, any little bit of objectivity that the Pakistani journos can put together needs to be appreciated!

It ain't easy, no?!!

this busharraf is a useless dictator under Hitler majority Germans never questioned army and govt, in India hindus never question govt line on Kashmir, punjab, Assam but in pakistan every aira ghaira nathu ghaira barely out of pajamas will question national security, kashmir, balochistan, waziristan, bade kameen log hain

#30,
Further, People in Pakistan don't have a unanimous voice over Kashmir. Indians do because they defending on this issue.

Indian media is culpable in messing this issue up for the Indian government.

#34 Posted by bjkumar on August 25, 2007 2:02:04 pm

The standard for independence set by the pakis is: being contrarian just for the sake of being contrarian... the paki media clearly fails the test..

in any case..this is just like saima whining about friedman not covering paki billionaires when he covered indian billionaires..umm..maybe because there are no paki billionaires..simple objective criteria..

the reporters without borders index is the clear objective criteria...the reality-challenged pakis can dwell in their echo chamber of self-delusion all they want...things are different outside pakiworld

#30
Comparing Indian press to Pakistani press and that too in such a superficial ways is acknowledging that you don’t even understand the issue.

Both India and Pakistan have two different histories when it comes to press, media and the freedom of press and media. The difference is so glaring that it is almost like comparing apples to oranges.

Both Pakistan and Indians only know the English media in both countries or have some knowledge currently through the satellite systems. However, in both countries the English media is not the dominant one. 80% of Indians and Pakistanis don’t have sufficient command over English. So the English media tends to NOT cater for their political and social views.

To penetrate this market Indian English media relies on cheap movie stories or the barely clad women. The Pakistan English media does not have this luxury. There is no movie industry in Pakistan to speak of but they do find some barely clad to attract readership.

The English media in Pakistan has to rely on social and political issues to maintain its readership. Indian English media does not work with these constraints.

Knowing the history of the media development in Pakistan and India is the starting point before you compare Indian or Pakistan media,

The only point of reference is the independence of media.

Kaal, you may need to work harder than just asking questions.

#32 Mian Arjun

[How many paki newspapers printed the mo cartoons?]

Perhaps the same number as the Indian newspapers that did?!

And perhaps for the same reasons?!

Romair

Because - the official stand on kashmir and pakiland makes sense - it gels well with national ethos... indian nation is united against fight against jihad and islamism - that's a good thing... why should anybody question it?...

And like you said - Ms Roy questions it - nobody understands why, but nevertheless... isn't that enough?... :)

When was the last time any paki media outlet questioned the paki government policy on the mohammad cartoons? How many paki newspapers printed the mo cartoons?

clearly shows that the paki media isn't independent..

of course..those who're not bat shit self-deluded already knew that and the RSF index bears that out...but since we're talking to reality-challenged pakis, we need to make that clear.

Pakis, once again, are making virtue out of their predicament... Urdu press is hot on mushy because mushy is clamping down on their extremist agenda... english press is doing the same for exactly the opposite reasons - that mushy is NOT cracking down enough on extremists...

No paki ever questioned paki establishment when jihad was in full swing in name of strategic depth, thousand cuts and what not... All paki "journalists" and "intellectuals" are gladly reporting "freedom fighters kill 7 in marraige party" in kashmir...

now the whole jihad "strategy" has backfired badly - pakis are not sure where to go next... elite who cheer-leaded jihadis for decades now want it rolled back for their survival... islamists want it to go on for their survival - mushy can't satisy both sides - hence both sides are unhappy and have started "questioning" the govt...

And suddenly pakis are more free, they have more courage, so they are better than banias across the border who don't fight their govt that much... :)

I have always read a lot of Pakistani newspapers (English ones) and have over the past few years, followed the Indian English media and TV channels also....

......Pakistani media is now very free....they have taken on every issue....they had a big role to play in exposing the recent MQM killings and in restoring the CJ.....This has happened in the past five years or so.....

.......Indian media has always been relatively free.....Though recently, it doesn't seem as aggressive on local issues as the Pakistani media.......

On international issues, Indian media is quite diverse.......

......however, there is one area where India media is quite weak......i.e. on issues related to Pakistan......Pakistani english press carries all kinds of views on relations with India.......some blame Pakistan, some blame India......However, I have found the Indian media on issues related to Kashmir, state and individual terrorism, Pakistan etc. to be totally pro-Indian govt. stand.....Every single Indian writer seemed to be pro-India on Kargil; none even mentioned the situation in Siachen, which had a close relationship with Kargil.......Ditto on Kashmir.....

In Pakistan, there were some pro and som against......Similarly on Kashmir, there are all kinds of views on Kashmir - some want LOC to be the border, some want to totally put it on the backburner, some want to continue to try to get militarily, some want it to be independent......

However, from India, barring Arundhati Roy (and to some extent Khushwant Singh), I have yet to see anyone who critiques the Indian govt. line on sensitive issues like Kashmir or military buildup vis-a-vis Pakistan.......

By and large, the Pakistani journos do a good job covering events in Pakistan and in maintaining a degree of objectivity in reporting.

It is not easy because of the whole Pakistani culture, its unabashed self-subjugation to the powers that be, its unhealthy emphasis on "Islam first and Islam last and Islam everything-in-between and Islam now and Islam forever" and the constant need to defend the indefensible - the creation of the Islamic Republic itself!

By and large, the journos do a great job and still continue to survive!

Unfortunately, they have become adept at it primarily because of long-term practice.

#27

Mind! What mind?!

HP, to make the concept of "independence of media" clearer, could you narrow down (or identify) the influences from which such independence does not exist in the US but does in Pakistan (or exists to a greater degree)?

Some of these, for instance, could possibly be: fear of political reprisals from politicians, threats of personal harm by government officials, loss of advertising revenues from the government, loss of advertising revenues from commercial advertizers, or (violen) protests from political groups, drop in circulation rates.

Which of these or others did you have particularly in mind?