Media used as shield to defend corruption: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he had witnessed the highs and lows of Pakistani media.

"I have seen ratings of TV anchors go up and also, go down," he said. "Respect and dishonour both are in Allah's hands. If someone thinks he can bring dishonour to another person, he is wrong." He said that if human beings could bring honour or dishonour upon someone, only the rich would be respected. "You cannot hide or suppress the truth for long," he said.

The prime minister said that Pakistani media was used to hide politicians' corruption. "[TV] anchors were given money to do planted programmes," he said, adding that current affairs shows had become 'meaningless' for people. "Current affairs programmes produce no results," he said.

PM Imran said that Hollywood and Bollywood are promoting vulgarity in society. "Vulgarity destroys the family system," he said. His remarks came a day after Maulana Tariq Jamil criticised Pakistani and international media for peddling lies.

Speaking about the PTI's social media team, PM Imran said that his party is the first one that realised the importance of digital media. "I started the PTI's social media team with Dr Arif Alvi," he added.