Slap in the face

The now viral video showing a female reporter/anchor, from a relatively small TV channel, being resoundingly slapped by an FC guard at a Nadra office in Karachi where she was on a reporting assignment has stirred up a storm. The incident, in which the camera team accompanying the anchor was initially prevented from filming at the office, leading her to step in and demand they be allowed to do so has led to a debate on feminism, misogyny and media ethics. Naturally, the kind of violence we witnessed is simply unacceptable, and this applies irrespective of whether it was directed against a man or a woman. The fact that the victim was a woman does, however, make matters worse. We wonder what the FC constable, against whom an FIR has now been registered, is capable of doing when he is not on camera. His actions speak also of the power that law-enforcement agencies wield, confident that they will be spared any action no matter how they treat the public.

The question of media ethics is a far trickier one. The argument goes that this poorly defined code had been violated by the anchor and her team as they attempted to enter a public office. Behind the widespread condemnation of the incident, we hear a smug sense of suggestion that the anchor somehow deserved the treatment she received. This is ironic given that the larger and more powerful media houses, which in fact control the rating system that ranks channels, have often been guilty of far graver violations of media ethics but have generally defended these actions on the grounds of media freedom. Anchorpersons or reporters have harassed individuals and groups on camera, small children who have been recently orphaned have been compelled to deliver the clichéd sound bites the reporter sought, and images of child victims of crime, including heinous sexual abuse, have been flashed across screens. There can be no justification for this and no reason for the media not to speak up against these. Why should media ethics become an issue only when a small-time channel and a relatively obscure female anchor are involved? The matter of media ethics is in fact a very serious one. Our channels have in recent years sunk to new lows. There can be no defence of what happened at that Nadra office. But the incident should also be a reminder of the need to draw up a code so that the desperate yearning for popularity and ratings does not lead to unprofessionalism. Right now, we need a united voice against that slap, rather than broadening out the debate to cover issues which require deeper and more dignified articulation.