Media matters

This letter refers to the article ‘Invisible and unheard’ (May 3, 2020) by Ghazi Salahuddin. The writer has prudently highlighted the helplessness of the media, which continues to face difficulties in meeting their mandatory obligations. He has rightfully cited a few examples of high handedness by the authorities that has failed to protect the fourth pillar of the state. While noting that the UN General Assembly has declared May 3 as World Press Freedom Day, as is the case with many of it’s advocated causes, the UN’s track record when it comes to implementation and results is pathetic. It is strange that the writer avoided discussing the existing grouping in various media houses, which have made it possible to keep extending the remands of the country’s most popular media personalities. Furthermore, the writer fails to raise the issue of journalists who get invisible and unheard favors in exchange for preferential treatment.

Concerning the PM’s statement that the lockdown was imposed by the elite without regard for the poor, the writer aptly points that the prime minister sits at the helm of a rather elite cabinet. All these issues boil down to an absence of unity amongst various segments of society including politicians and the media. To achieve results we need more unity, in its absence we are doomed to repeat our present failures.

Mukhtar Ahmed

Karachi