Urdu News Columnists and Anchors -- should we always believe them?

Personal opinions and biases are presented as news; commentators state inferences and perceptions as facts, often peddle half-baked ideas and folklore as received truths.

The Way Out

Much of the responsibility for the failure in Pakistan rests with the people themselves who have not played their part in protecting their rights.

US Elections: Watching the Watch-dog

Media and pollsters are calling the shots in US elections whereas candidates and people continue to make up their minds from day to day election messages and changing realities.

Wake up to a cup of tea

By establishing and building on the link between waking up to one’s social responsibilities and waking up in the morning to a cup of Tea – (Tata Tea of course !)

Miley Sur Mera Tumhara

These days it is not enough any more to be a Hindu alone. No – indeed you have to be a particular kind of Hindu.

Oliver Stone movie “W.”

Stone and company at times veer dangerously close to parody in their depiction of the Magnificent 7 (Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice, Rove, Powell and Tenent)

The Health and Medicinal Benefits of

Institute of Manic-Depression published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that Talk Show reduced the risk of sensibility in men and women by nearly sixty percent.

Boot Point

Party chief Altaf Hussain and the MQM Rabita Committee cancelled Liaquat's membership after accusing him of "spreading religious hatred through his TV shows"

A Guantanomized Age

The questions aimed at us fall into two broad categories: "Why aren't more moderate Muslims condemning terrorism?" and "What is it about Islam that produces terrorists?

Free to Breed

How come there is no "talk" on TV when a group of fanatics attack a concert, a painting exhibition, a "mixed function" at a college, or force the way the fanatics deem "correct?"

The Pink Side of Disney

Like Hannah, Barbie too had an ideal life. Except Barbie was a mere toy and that meant the endings to her stories were left to the imagination of the youthful owner.

Responsibility of the Media and the Repercussions of Terror Strikes

What is forgotten in the attempt to pacify the people is that there is no restraint in labelling a community responsible.

Forgotten President & Shape of Things to Come?

A new kind of voting belt is being created where people are more aware of the larger issues, of national causes and increasingly form opinions under the spell of Urdu media?

Anil Ambani Pursues Global Media Empire

Besides the Hollywood deals, Ambani is launching 20 TV channels and owns FM stations in India.

Creating Magic For The Audience - An Interview with Afia Serena Nathaniel

Any change begins with a simple idea, Afia believes. ‘Those who can present ideas are in a unique position to effect change in their societies, ‘she says.

Prisoner of Conscience

Mr. Afridi is imprisoned because of his peaceful expression of his beliefs. He is victim of an unfair trial.

Is It Treason to Question

In the General Hospital in Lahore, in the top most brain surgery institute of Pakistan, people lie in verandas in unhygienic conditions.

Europe and the Film Culture

Despite the speculated aggressive reactions, the film “Fitna” was released on the Internet on March 27, 2008.

Is Decline of the Fourth-Estate Here and Happening?

Distinguished Editor and Author of our times M J Akbar is removed from the Chairmanship of 'The Asian Age' and 'Deccan Chronicle'.

Pakistan’s Emergency and the International Media

The international media’s principled stand against the imposition of emergency must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Media: The more things change...

Where only one Najam Sethi was picked up under the Sharif regime, over the past eight years, dozens have been picked up and tortured by Pakistan’s secret agencies.

Freedom of Expression

Was the media really free in Pakistan prior to November 3 2007? Is the media right to claim that it was being responsible and professional.

Pakistan: Media Under Siege

Police have attacked and arrested journalists demonstrating all over the country. Over a hundred journalists offered themselves for mass arrest in Karachi on Nov 20.

Pakistani Media Crippled

The Musharraf government wants to financially cripple this most popular of the media community to set an example - just like the judiciary.

Musharraf and The Media

With the imposition of martial law, all TV channels suddenly disappeared. BBC and CNN and Fox all were gone.

The Press Ordinance and Its Repercussions

Did the dictator really shut down GEO News for the better 'interests' of Pakistan?

We the Silent Majority and the Muslim Fanatics

Why does Western media use the term ‘Islam, ‘Islamist’, ‘Muslim’ very often in the same sentence with words such as terror, terrorist, and fanatics?

The Cost of a Pakistani Journalist Life

What matters more? the media coverage or the person covering it? Ask a media owner of newspaper or the television and it’s the coverage.

Do You Have a Substitute?

Emergency in Pakistan was the need of time as we had no other options. Do we have any substitute for General Musharraf? Is there any other person who can run the country?

Error Prone : Misleading Lines in the Media

When the Nobel Peace prize was announced, many Indian papers announced in bold headlines that it went to Dr. Pachauri and Al Gore.

Corruption and Freedom of Press in Pakistan

There have been a number of statements lauding the “freedom” of the press accompanied by a grim reminder of the “dark” days under the democratic governments of the 90s. What does the evidence say?

Media: A Catalyst for Social and Political Change

Media should connect the public spirit of politics by encouraging the people’s participation in political decisions.

Identity and Synergy - Classical Music and Film Song

The popularity of film songs is at a peak today, irrespective of the quality of music. In stark contrast, classical music is getting less patronage and popularity.

Where's the news?

The so-called "movement against Musharraf" and the unfolding "democratic revolution" seems like a shrinking reality no bigger than a 26-inch TV screen.

Back To Idol Worship

Are musician (so-called marassis) the only people left on planet earth to be our idols? Aren't there people like Naom Chomski, Stephen Hawking even Dr. AQ Khan to be our idols?

Magic of metaphors : Op-Ed Journey of Thomas Friedman

What is common between Detroit, Toyota, Jack Kevorkian, Mileage Standards and Assisted Suicide? Who would see such disparate elements as connected? Thomas Friedman!

Bernard Lewis and the Neocon view of Islam

Lewis has had such a profound influence that according to the Wall Street Journal, “the Lewis doctrine, in effect, had become US policy”.

Pakistani Twist to “Aliens in America” TV Series

Are the Pakistani and Muslim community here in America ready for raunchy American teenage humor?

Media and Civil Society

The power struggle between the military and the political elite under the watchful eye of media and a new-born judiciary in Pakistan.

India's first Citizen Journalists Meet held in New Delhi

Citizen journalists participating in the meet shared their views and ideas to take the country ahead into the next 60 years of independence.

Violence, the Indian Media, and 'Non-Violent' Indian Society

Coverage of violence appears to be motivated by the profit margin, and often veers on the sensationalist. Issues are also prioritized based on their populist appeal.

Dodging Pakistani Sleuths to Cover a War and a Coup

Are there Indian journalist who could come anywhere near the blunt posers that are hurled by Pakistani journalists to people in authority?

Dawn of a new era in Pakistan

The month of March this year may be considered a turning point in the judicial history of Pakistan, but more so it will be remembered for manifestation of the powerful role played by the media.

Fox off!

What is sicker? State brutality or the brutality being turned into a sensational slide show by the channels to improve their ratings and attract viewrship?

Dilemma Over Spiderman

'So what if people have died, why can’t we go watch a movie?' She demanded to know. A thousand bombs exploded within me.

Pakistani Media to Face Wrath of the Government

Eleven new amendments have been introduced in the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), which would help the Musharaff regime to control the electronic media including TV channels, Internet and mobile TVs.

Coffin Ride of the Classics

The creative classics of every genre are on life support systems and those who get them in the form of sequels, re-dos, movies etc make it to the modern flashy minds. Yes! All that flashes is gold today!

Media under siege in Pakistan

At least 30 people were killed and more than 100 injured in clashes when suspended chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry arrived in Karachi to address a bar council ceremony.

The PG Hamid Talat Khan Show

Hello viewers, I am PG Hamid Talat Khan, with another episode of the PG Hamid Talat Khan Show, in which we talk to some of the country’s leading politicians and also take calls from our viewers.

Its media, Jim, but not as we know it

The traditional media is mutating into something that normal users havent really picked up on yet, what’s going on?

Pandora Box of Television in Pakistan

How can dozens of TV channels run profitably in a country, where the total volume of the advertising industry is not more that six to seven billion rupees?

To Hug or not to Hug

This is going to last me a lifetime! She gushed to Shah Rukh Khan, the new, dapper and witty host of Kaun Banega Crorepati that started yet another season on Jan 22, 2007.

Adam Khor Ayash Gorillay

Is everyone these days tripping over themselves to conform to this stereotype of being hip?

I, Consumer

Whether it is marriage, job or just looking pretty-you need to be fair. A great value to promote in a country where the vast majority is dark skinned! And in the hope to become ‘the fairest of them all’ – girls have made Fair&Lovely

Save our Children from Mental Abuse

It is disturbing enough that both English and Urdu versions of Yahya’s creationism documentaries -- that conceal, deny and confuse with theories not testable with science -- are being shown almost daily. That they’re passed off as science is e

Invasion of Iraq-II

How the Western media failed the whole world on the whole brouhaha of Iraq.

Killing Darwin

“The Cold War ended 15 years ago. Young people do not shun capitalism and religion anymore to become communists!”

What’s On Air?

So, what exactly is on air? Absolutely nothing. There’s an eruption of quantity whereas quality is nowhere to be heard.

Excursions into dystopia

It is an irony that we have dozens and dozens of TV channels out there with pretty liberal programming policies, the whole concept (or ability?) of quality seems to have flown out the window.

Conspiracy Theories: From the Mind to the Media

Many have come up trumps discovering a massive market hungry for the latest conspiracy theory. The result being, the tremendous commercial growth witnessed by FOX News Network, Al-jazeera and a number of Pakistani news channels and newspapers.

Soaps Sans Sanity!

In every tale, a woman protagonist is dominating and manipulating others consistently and her counterpart man is bound to obey her in each matter. Male characters sit idly at home all the daylong, busy in resolving domestic disputes.

Take-Two ... News

“I knew it!”
“Knew what?”
“That Pluto is a dog. Didn’t I tell you Pluto is a dog?”

Demolishing the Circles of Dominance

Information glut is sinking us. Can the pundits by telling us the deeper reasons for out problems inspire us to become problem solvers rather than merely frustrated spectators?

Control Room Documentary an Eye Opener!

If there really are two sides to every story; then this documentary puts forward an unparallel opening to scrutinize the other side and leave it up for its audience to make up its own mind.

Rise of Rogue Radio

Not long ago, it was here that television sets and video shops were smashed, music and videocassettes were burned, and barbers were forced not to shave men’s beards. In such a rich mix of intolerance and bigotry the sudden rise of FM radio is a cons

The Power Celebrities Wield

An interview given by Aamir Khan in Tehelka magazine changed my newspaper reading habits

Cartoons -- Freedom or Ridicule?

Dispatches on War (Part VI)

The American movie industry is a powerful institution, which can shape perceptions globally.

South Asian Earthquake: Don’t care… or don’t know?

The few reports trickling in from the earthquake zone remain blips in the overall media radar.

A Certain Age

Everything one reads seems so dire. Endless implications for the fate of civilization and the way the world turns and is going to go in the next ten, twenty, fifty years.

Political Sustainability, Media Freedom and Women

The general’s regime has been utterly impotent to even initiate any semblance of a debate on real issues plaguing women in Pakistan, such as rampant domestic violence, education and the infamous Zina Ordinance.

A Whiter Shade of Green

If I have never written a single word against Musharaf then I have neither written a single word for Musharaf either. Until now. Right now.

How Free is ’free?’

The Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's August 11, 1947 speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, in which he talked about freedom of religion, is no longer censored, as it was for years.

When Puppets Hide Behind Pomposity

Journalism is full of the evils it accuses society of. The Press has in the past exposed leaders and even brought down governments.Ever heard about a media baron being at the receiving end?

A Personal Publication

In 1997, Gallerie was born. It had a conscience, and it 'strung art, poetry, cinema, essays, photography, short stories and ’life’ -- which would feature socio-political /human interest stories of communities in India and overseas.

Uproar over a Cartoon?

Why so much uproar over an editorial cartoon? Why is it considered derogatory and why are the Pakistanis so offended?

Thus Fare Fake Democracies

This government has gone completely bananas. On World Press Freedom Day, it chose to thrash journalists in Islamabad and Lahore.

UNhappy times?

“We are outgunned. We are outmanned. We need help from outside groups. We need to be able to organize outsiders to work with us to write to papers, to appear on television.”

Scoop or Sting

If there is a dearth of ideas let me suggest some for India TV

South Asia’s Ride On The Video Tiger

Satellite television is another tiger that South Asia is firmly riding; getting off perhaps is not too much of an immediate concern. Regulation, benchmarking, calibrating debates with nationalistic undercurrents, codes of conduct will evolve.

The Holy Mind Blow

This new “liberal” lot. They have done more to give the mullahs the space to continue playing havoc with the country’s sociology and politics than the mullahs themselves!

Conflict over Foreign Investment in Indian Press

Is it a threat of further invasion of our values, culture and life by foreign opinion makers or would it simply bring in financial investment, editorial quality and transparency. A heated debate amongst editors, publishers, and politicians in India.

15 Days of Watching TV in Prime Time

In this time of commercialization when we are paying to watch TV serials, it’s our right to have quality program atleast in prime time.

Changing Times

Whatever flaws the American press might have (remember ’embedded journalism’), it adhered to at least one principle: never sell editorial space — at least not blatantly. And we, Indians, have managed to do that, too.

Lady Reporter

There is no simple answer to the question that people (mostly foreigners) often ask: how does it feel ‘to be a woman journalist in Pakistan’?

Branding Nations

A country’s image is its ‘brand’ and building an image is like building a brand. No country or society is perfect. What differentiates nations is the perception about them and the quality of their ‘brand’.

The Second Wave

Profiles of four outstanding filmmakers at the upcoming 4th Karafilm Festival ...

Five, four, three, two, one, clap!

I received an invitation to be a part of the audience on Question Time India. My first impulse was to politely turn it down, but then the voice on the other end offered me the chance to pose a “planted question.”

Media: Defining Roles

What has been the role of the media in gender portrayal, particularly, the emergence of the woman as an equal in society?

The new face of Reality

In a furious race to outdo each other networks are airing reality TV shows with newer and crazier twists every few months.

A Booming Industry?

Growth in the new media industry remains one of the more dynamic sectors, even in developed countries. But with breakneck liberalisation of media policy, Pakistan has of late witnessed an extraordinary revolution in its media industry. As television, and

Contemporary Sit-Coms

It is really difficult for people to tell whether I am talking about desi movies or sit-coms. The only apparent difference being that the sit-coms are over-acted upon by a specific set of college dropouts pretending to be yet in their teens.

The FM Boom

So what does this mean for Pakistan? After all, most FM stations just dish out ‘ear candy’ - easy listening, music hits, recipes, chit chat... Just more commercialisation and encouragement of ‘the burger culture’, right? Maybe, but

On-Air Exclusive!

Ted Turner’s Cable News Network, once disparagingly called the Chicken Noodle Network, now “the most trusted name in news” or CNN, changed everything...

Sister Act: Radio Free Speech in Bushland

I can’t help thinking that it is ironic that just as people rarely know of the dissent in Pakistan, so too there is little knowledge of the vibrant dissent within the United States

Last Rites: An Evening at a Pak/Indian Show-biz Award Ceremony

The ceremony begins. But no. First eighty-two TV commercials of the seventy-seven corporate companies that have sponsored and co-sponsored and co-co-sponsored and co-co-co-sponsored the ceremony. All awful, of course.

Experience Technology

Nothing would have prepared us for the experience we were about to have. It was as if we had slipped into a sound and deep sleep, the screen had vanished, the people gone, the aids disappeared and left was me on a mountain top watching archaeologists all

Our ’Zamir’

Zamir in Urdu means conscience, and that is what Zamir Niazi, that great chronicler of media freedoms and censorships, was to so many of us – our conscience.

Recent Accounts of US Perfidy in Iraq

While President Bush may believe that he is carrying out ‘a mission that has been sanctioned by the divine’, as he recently indicated in a White House press conference, there is significant evidence from noteworthy sources which reveals otherw

A Sign of Things To Come?

What is extraordinary is that this programme was shown on PTV. A few years ago something like this would have been unimaginable.

Western Media’s War on Pakistan

The single most important contribution at this stage would be to develop a blueprint for a 'School of Modern Media Sciences', in other words an independent media university.

Untitled

Boy, what was that awful sound? A bomb explosion somewhere in Karachi. Phew. Thank God. For a while I thought it was mom exploding because I had forgotten to record the 1865th episode of Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahoo Thi.

Of Tiaras and World Peace

We hear more of world peace on the stage and see more blood shed in the real world but we take it all with a pinch of salt and allow them their moments of glory.

My SAARC Diary

The Indian journalists in Pakistan have been behaving as though they are in a mela with candy floss in their hands. Everything looks pink and rosy, or perhaps it does not, and they are merely enjoying the weather.

Enduring Operation Freedom

The work documented American knee-jerk reprisals since September 11th.

Johnny Walker- King of Comedy

On 27th July, 2003, Bob Hope died. Two days later, Badruddin Kazi, popularly known as Johnny Walker died.

The End of an Era

Is Fido Dido back for a revolution again?

Teaching journalism

Once I asked if any in the class wanted to become foreign correspondents. Almost the whole class chorused, but of course, muffled by the loftiness of their stated agreement. Then I asked them if they liked Henry Kissinger, and virtually none of them had h

Razia Bondrey Bhatti: A Woman of Courage

'I see the journalist’s role as both reporter and crusader. In a civilization that seems to be regressing into new holocausts, we must seek and speak the truth, for we are the voice of voiceless millions. Having chosen this profession, we cannot be

Acidity - Novellete Part III (final)

A novelette zigzagging along an addict’s (heroinchie’s) pathological observations of the bleak and absurd comedy of 21st century’s social and political neurosis

The new face of US Warfare

A few weeks ago when a US District Court sided with a relatively unknown satirist Al Franken and admonished the right-wing Fox News empire calling its arguments ‘extremely dubious’, it ‘officially’ broke a taboo of silence against

Acidity - Novellete Part II

A novelette zigzagging along an addict’s (heroinchie’s) pathological observations of the bleak and absurd comedy of 21st century’s social and political neurosis

Acidity - Novellete Part I

A novelette zigzagging along an addict’s (heroinchie’s) pathological observations of the bleak and absurd comedy of 21st century’s social and political neurosis

The Directors’ Cut

the advent of all the ARYs, Geos, Indus Visions, IMs, Uni-Pluses and whatnot, has paved the way for a string of new directors/producers in Pakistani tele-plays. Most of these, however, have succumbed to the plastic-coated demands of churn-out television o

Of Doom and Gloom

Going through Urdu columns published in various newspapers and websites feels like paying a visit to a graveyard where you see only the end of the world

The Mental Animal & The Rib!

So, who is right? The agnostic scientists, or the above-mentioned religious beliefs? And we as ashraful makhlukat have the obligation to study and advance the positive aspects of knowledge

I’m With Stupid

thought to myself, as I searched for the right kind of chocolate fudge cake, that I was now living in an ascendant empire, the most powerful country on earth and perhaps in all of human history. An empire!

Spare Us The Smoke, Please!

non-smokers seriously need to start realizing their right to health and safety

The Unreality of War

Reality TV at its numbing best!

Travels through America - Deep Thoughts

Finally, it was one sight that took my heart and left a lasting impression on me of the beauty and simple innocence of a human being...

Teasing or Torture?

both men and women are equal losers when it comes to sexual harassment in our country

A Comparison of Fashion

I thought this would be a great chance to go see and judge where our fashion industry stood compared to India’s

Action To Support Displaced Community in Gujrat

I grow more certain day by day that we must start in Gujarat, what we did not do in Kashmir

Worldwide India-Pakistan peace movement begins?

It is time for Indians and Pakistanis worldwide to re-humanize their enemies

Confessions of a BJP Supporter

Why was the philosophy of the Sangh Parivar attractive to so many urban middle class Hindus?

After Pearl, Which Journalist is Next?

So the press in Pakistan is free

Reaction

Terrorists Breeding In Your Gentrified Neighbourhood of Ft. Greene, Brooklyn.

This Visit To Pakistan

one notices some interesting adaptations in the life styles of upper classes

Lahore Diaries XI

one is always driving behind a lorry carrying hay

The Louder Echo

children are more comfortable, knowledgeable, and literate than their parents

Of Boylove and Boylovers

We (even in the oh-so-liberal West) live in a more conformist society that we are led to believe

Lies of the Western ‘Science of Islam’

Mass killing in the name of the state is legitimate and justified; sporadic acts of violence in the name of religion (read: Islam) are illicit and immoral

The Lost Generation

You cannot throw a stone without hitting a cynic here