he moment we choose to imagine and write about the fraught challenges the traditional media face today, it’s like a foray into the dead of night where danger lurks around every bend in the road. But then the narrator is seized, as if it were, by the scruff of the neck to tell the whole story whatever the cost. Before we can unmask some of the obvious and not-so-obvious challenges, it would help to look at the daunting background against which the media is operating today: a) we have a new class of what some scholars might describe as fake/ pseudo leaders thrown up as a consequence of equally fake/ pseudo elections. These elections seek to mimic the semblance of democratic alliances; b) the country has new-old autocrats hell-bent on driving out the independent judges from the judiciary. Efforts have been afoot to make judges ineffective through the usual route of court packing. This is pretty benign compared to scary headlines about direct intimidation of the judges. Remember: independent judges are the life-line for independent journalists. The two operate in tandem; at least that is what the media textbooks teach scholars and students. Another factor in the equation is a stacked legislature meant to serve as a rubber stamp for the unbridled sway of the invisible puppeteers. As anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Pakistan’s history would know, the old anti-democratic playbook is operative again.

And now the thesis of this short essay: although the so-called establishment has not exactly sent censors into the newsrooms or grievously shut down offending newspapers and TV networks, decades-long existing strictures plus the new red markers could drive news entities into financial unsustainability. Much more damaging from an academic perspective is the start of a new era of vacuous journalism in Pakistan; distinctly absent from this landscape might be the educated and enterprising young men and women. That’s a sorry prospect.

The argument that a vibrant social media could compensate for the traditional media’s loss of vitality in Pakistan sounds less than convincing. The unbridled utopianism of the 1990s is a thing of the past. For many years, policymakers and professional pundits thought that despotic tendencies among dictators would collapse under the weight of internet and social media. Today, scholars warn us against what they believe is the hype created by worldwide use of the web. For instance, Evgney Morozov argues that the “internet is inherently a political medium that will frustrate those who believe democracy can be promoted with the push of a button.” Think mass uprising in Egypt and Tahrir Square—and the misplaced enthusiasm of democracy lovers.

The biggest challenge facing journalists in Pakistan is the following: can they bring news to us without the fear of reprisal? Can they maintain their jobs with any degree of certainty and serenity? Will they continue to embrace trauma and willingly wall off authoritarian encroachment on the civilian turf? Are we about to witness, or are we already witnessing, a culture of self-censorship across media organisations? The latter is considered a bane for robust journalism. “It’s snuffing out free expression before it is actually born.”

Let’s look at the safety aspect first. Pakistan today is among the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world. This chilling description hasn’t changed for years because the environment for journalists and media outlets hasn’t eased a bit; indeed, the reverse is true. Perceptions among students of media, as well as those who wish to embrace writing as their career, are mostly negative. The allure of writing that has been noticeable in recent years is countered by notions of safety hazards and unpredictability of the career arc. Alongside, there is a realisation across young people that things change in Pakistan to stay the same. The trepidation in the newsroom has seemingly seeped into the classroom where one is meant to articulate ideas and engage in debate. The culture of prior censorship is now the elephant in the room.

Media outlets are now confronted with a sort of double-jeopardy. On one hand, newspapers are already in a relative decline. They are starved for funds because of the nation’s perpetually dipping economy on one hand and the depletion of state money in the shape of government advertisements, on the other. However, the curbs on freedom of expression are the proverbial unkindest cut of all. Newspapers are in danger of losing their competitive edge, hence their appeal for the readers. Are we throwing away the culture of scoops and exposés across the media in this country? Consider the shocking irrationality behind the injunction against pronouncing the name of a leading political leader. Even those who do not particularly appreciate the politics of the said leader resent this bizarre restriction.

It is true that the media in Pakistan have had to bear dictatorial whims. Not just that, violence against enterprising journalists has been a norm. What has changed in the last couple of years is the enhanced impunity enjoyed by elements of the so-called deep state. In principle, the latter should have had no sway over journalists seeking truth and redress. Have we entered an era of post-truth? We have, and we now run the risk of a collective punishment. As for those who seek the undoing of a free media in Pakistan, they too would experience before long the repercussions of their actions.

The writer teaches media writing and communication at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He is a former editor of The Frontier Post