KARACHI: Sindh Literature Festival 2017 kicked offon Friday27thOctober 2017 attheBeach Luxury Hotel with a ribboncuttingceremonyand anorchestraplaying Sindhimusic in the background.
Thethree-dayfestival isorganisedto celebratesocio-political history, culture and significance of the Sindhi language and to preservePakistan's pluralism,toleranceand lingual diversity.
Underonepanel discussion titled, 'KyaMediakoAisaHeHonaCha hiye' moderated byWusatullahKhan and discussed by senior journalist andanchorpersonHamid Mir, and Managing Director Geo TVAzharAbbas, among others, highlighted the roleof media in delivering quality content to the masses.
When asked 'Kya MediaKoAisaheHonaChahiye' ,AzharAbbasagreedsaying," Yesmedia is a reflection ofoursociety. We need to admit that the narrative in our countryis dividedand so it is reflected inthe media as well."
In reply to a question of who decides how to preserve the sanctity of news that is aired on Television,AzharAbbas further said, "TV is competing with Social media. Itneeds tokeepup with Social Media'space and style or otherwise it can get ready tobecomeirrelevant."
Heemphasiedthe reality aboutmillennialswho want their news 'on-the-go' soinorder to cater to their highly restricted requirement, the TV needs to become fast-paced.
But the question remained that no matter the size of the content, if the quality is not preserved then what is the point of the whole journalism?
To whichHamid Miraptlydescribed, "Thetelevision is no more based on the demand and supply rule.A free market economy system should technically have free competition butwhich is not the case in our media. The ratingsystem is controlled by business tycoons.
Social issues don’t earn ratingsand evenif they do, the ratings are adjusted and altered in view of the larger business goals sothe mediaremainsina disastrous state."
Furtherhe told the audiencehowthere are some 'no-go' issues for journalists which they arestrictly forbiddento step into.Thus, limiting the role and scope of journalism and access to correct and true information of the masses.