‘War on terror not easy without media’

LAHORE: Print and Electronic media should play their positive role in the national sovereignty and economic growth while the media programming on the constructive side of the society can be helpful to counter many challenges easily.
These views were expressed by the experts at the Jang Economic Session on the ‘Role of media in National Sovereignty and Economic Growth’ on Wednesday. The discussants were Zahid Mubasahr, Musarat Abid, Farooq Hameed Khan, Nosheena Saleem, Jamshad Iqbal Cheema, and Makhdoom Iftikhar Ahmed while hosted by Sikindar Lodhi.
Zahid Mubasahr said the media was an important power in the modern times and if it portrayed the positive image of Pakistan then the local and foreign investments would increase. He said the media positively highlighted the unbiased performance of the bureaucracy, army and other institutions while the promotion of the educated and responsible media was crucial for Pakistan. He believed that without the media, war against terrorism was not easy. He said the media owners should not involve in their business protection and present facts and realities to the public while one sided experts’ opinions was not correct.
Musarat Abid said the media power increased and over 100 TV channels were viewed by over 120 billion people and 140 million people listened to radio and 30 million people read newspapers. She said the print and social media were playing an important role in the opinion building. She believed the media should also highlight the weaknesses of social and economic policies while globally coverage of negative incidents and terrorism should be discouraged. She suggested a research and investigation based journalism.
Farooq Hameed Khan said the media should play its role as a watchdog. He said regulatory institutions should also play its due role when the media crossed its limit. He appreciated the efforts of the media in the success of the National Action Plan. Nosheena Saleem said the current media became infotainment and was focusing only on sensationalism rather than telling facts.
Jamshad Iqbal Cheema said the performance of the army and politicians was discouraging. He said the media should stress the real causes of terrorism which were ignorance, poverty, injustice and unemployment. He said the media should emphasise the social issues and its solutions.
Makhdoom Iftikhar Ahmed said the overpopulation of Pakistan was eating up the economic growth for which a positive mindset was required to solve the said issue. He said the media’s responsibility was to disseminate facts and information to the public without any bias.