Pakistan and their journalists...
For long I have wondered about Press Capability and Press Freedom in Pakistan (our neighbor). To be honest, I have not read a lot of articles written by Pakistani journalists/columnists. I have heard of papers like Dawn and Jung but the Indian media have always lambasted these newspapers for being mouth pieces of the ruling government in their country. Another thought that always crossed my mind is freedom of expression in the Pakistani Press (with a "dictator" heading the nation would there be any free Press ?). Having recently read "In the Line of Fire" by General Musharraf, I was even more inclined to find about the Pakistani Press (the General discusses this issue in this book) when...
...I meet Mahmood (my co-worker). We got into an interesting discussion about Benazir's return to Pakistan when I popped the question about Press Freedom and "objectivity & capability" of the Press in Pakistan. Mahmood directed me to read articles written by one Ardeshir Cowasjee (a columnist for "Dawn").
Cowasjee is an old timer from pre-independence days. I was bowled over by his objective writing and his strong language. I was enthralled to read incredibly focussed articles that not only elucidated the columnist's point of view but also retained focus on the subject of discussion throughout the article. It was a feast to read his articles. Here is one sample from his archives. This was written when Musharraf took over as Chief Executive of Pakistan. While Cowasjee might not typify the average journalist in Pakistan it still is comforting to know that writers of his genre are still around and going strong.
On a sad note, I find columnists in India have recently taken to plain rhetoric and mud slinging in their articles. It is one thing to bash the establishment but to do so without concrete evidence does not really help the reader (for he still remains the dark). The heart and soul of true journalism,objectivity and content-supported-viewpoints, are sorely missing in the articles of contemporary columnists. They are going the Ann Coulter way... and you cannot get worse than that :(
...I meet Mahmood (my co-worker). We got into an interesting discussion about Benazir's return to Pakistan when I popped the question about Press Freedom and "objectivity & capability" of the Press in Pakistan. Mahmood directed me to read articles written by one Ardeshir Cowasjee (a columnist for "Dawn").
Cowasjee is an old timer from pre-independence days. I was bowled over by his objective writing and his strong language. I was enthralled to read incredibly focussed articles that not only elucidated the columnist's point of view but also retained focus on the subject of discussion throughout the article. It was a feast to read his articles. Here is one sample from his archives. This was written when Musharraf took over as Chief Executive of Pakistan. While Cowasjee might not typify the average journalist in Pakistan it still is comforting to know that writers of his genre are still around and going strong.
On a sad note, I find columnists in India have recently taken to plain rhetoric and mud slinging in their articles. It is one thing to bash the establishment but to do so without concrete evidence does not really help the reader (for he still remains the dark). The heart and soul of true journalism,objectivity and content-supported-viewpoints, are sorely missing in the articles of contemporary columnists. They are going the Ann Coulter way... and you cannot get worse than that :(