ned newsletter volume ii - final pdf

PROMOTING PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON MEDIA CONTENT IN PAKISTAN

NEWSLETTERSUMMER2011

W W W . U K S R E S E A R C H . C O M

Summer Newsletter 2011: Promoting Public Discourse on Media Content in Pakistan

Editor Tasneem AhmarEditorial Team Sumera Abbasi, Rafia Arshad,

Ibrahim Sayed and Zahid ImrozLayout/Graphics Amina Aaqib

Published by Uks Research Centre

DisclaimerEvery effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this publication. The editor and the organization do not accept any responsibility of any omission, as it is not deliberate. Nevertheless, we will appreciate the provision of accurate information, as it will improve our work.

Copyright: Uks Research Centre 2011

The use of any material from this publication is to be acknowledged.

Uks is a research, resource and publication centre dedicated to the cause of gender equality and women's development. We are an advocacy and rights-based group seeking to raise awareness and assist implementation of our goals and ideals. The Centre focuses on the women-media relationship; a concern that has hither to remained poorly represented by organisations working on women's rights.

The word 'Uks' is an Urdu term meaning 'reflection'. At Uks, our team of professional media persons and research staff aims to promote the reflection of a neutral, balanced and unbiased approach to women and women's issues within, and through the media. The Centre has already won the support of many journalists, human rights and women's rights activists, academics and other like-minded groups.

Since its inception in 1997, Uks has monitored media, conducted research on emerging trends, par ticularly regarding gender and women development, and under taken trainings and workshops to raise awareness about crucial issues amongst media.

Uks views the mass media as an exceedingly important part of our day-to-day living, reflecting and, to a large extent, determining our daily lives and ideological beliefs.

Uks Research Centre51-A, Street-63F-8/4Islamabad-PakistanTel: (9251) 2850906www.uksresearch.comfacebook.com/uksresearch

ABOUTUKS RESEARCH CENTRE

EDITORIALPROMOTING MEDIA LITERACYBy Manzoor Ali MemonJune 9, 2010

THE unprecedented growth of the broadcast media during the past decade and the latest communications technologies have ushered in a new era in Pakistan. They have brought about a paradigm shift in terms of media monopoly and the cartelisation of news gathering, packaging and distribution from the state to privately owned media channels.

This repositioning became more visible when cross-media ownership laws were relaxed and enabled owners of the print media and advertising agencies to acquire broadcast media licences. Resultantly, the media and their power became concentrated in a few hands that were already in the business.

The news channels are credited with exposing the wrongdoings of the ruling elite and revealing the socio-economic issues of the citizenry. However, the channels are also criticised for promoting violence and fuelling despondency and political uncertainty. The trend and tone of reporting in general is rather tabloid. Talk shows are televised on three time slots during prime time, starting from 8pm and ending at midnight. The format and content of the shows is largely uniform, repetitive and monotonous. Their substance tends to be based on speculation by the participants and anchors.

Stagecraft and dramatic elements such as conflict, tension and sound, etc., are manipulated by the anchors and producers in order to engage the viewers. The anchors, often intoxicated by the power of their medium, pass decrees and sweeping statements. As a result, with the passage of time talk shows may lose their charm for the viewers. It is relatively easy and cheap to conduct programmes with invited guests but quality requires investment, research, diversity, objectivity and plurality, which is often lacking. As a result of all these factors, such shows are becoming purposeless for the public at large. However, they may be serving the purpose of media owners and sponsors.

The competition for being the first with breaking news and ensuring their organisation`s presence in remote areas has led channel managements to distribute equipment such as camcorders and microphones to those who have no prior credentials in broadcast media journalism. The hasty growth of the broadcast media, and the issuance of licences without taking care of basic requirements such as training, education and wages for broadcast media journalists, have shaped issues such as violations of codes of conduct, infringements of privacy, door-stepping (the recording of interviews without prior consent) and the killing of journalists reporting from the conflict zone.

Is it not unfair for media owners to send untrained journalists to report from troubled areas? It is unwise to expect unskilled and underpaid mediamen to look out for their personal safety and contribute to quality reporting as well.

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Note from Tasneem Ahmar, Director Uks:This space is actually for my editorial note, but since the article below says all that I wanted to say in my editorial, I am using this instead.

EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

The protection of privacy is ensured as a fundamental right in the constitution. Further, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights protects an individual`s freedom from arbitrary interference with his or her privacy. I leave it to my readers to judge the manner in which the local broadcast media covered the Meera and the Shoaib-Sania cases. Was this not a violation of the fundamental rights of these celebrities who are, after all, citizens and ought to be equal beneficiaries of the protection offered to them by the constitution? The international broadcast media justifies the intrusion of an individual`s privacy only when there is a question of public interest. Neither public interest nor the cause of freedom of the media could have been endangered by a decision to refrain from broadcasting footage of Shoaib and Sania`s bedroom. This is evidence that news channels are selling sensational, potentially harmful and offensive material in order to grab advertisement revenues. In this context, how can we expect viewers — especially those not exposed to education — to correctly decode, deconstruct and interpret the intent and substance of media messages?

Similarly, the increasing penetration of the Internet holds the promise of the new media playing a significant role in coming years. According to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority website, there are over 96 million mobile phone subscribers in the country while the number of Internet users is also rising. The convergence of print, broadcast and the new media, and interactivity in the form of social networking sites and blogs have introduced networked/citizen journalism in the production and distribution of information and entertainment. This media expansion is bound to bring changes in the media practices of users, practitioners and regulators.

These arguments demonstrate how we were neither prepared for the broadcast media revolution nor ready for a converged new media revolution. The question is how best we can make use of the newfound media liberties and advancements. The answer lies in empowering citizens and shifting their role from being passive to active, from being recipients to participants, through media literacy. The purpose of such a drive would be to equip citizens and journalists with the skills and abilities “to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages across a variety of contexts”, as defined by Sonia Livingstone, professor at the media and communications department at the London School of Economics. Media literacy aims to educate citizens and journalists on media production processes and systems, and fosters an understanding of how and why media messages are manufactured, packaged, distributed and regulated. Such a campaign could be launched along the model of Ofcom, the broadcast media and communications regulator in the UK.

Media literacy has so far not garnered the attention of policymakers and other stakeholders. It should be a fundamental component of our media and communications policy. The public sector should lead this drive under a public-private partnership scheme involving broadcasters, regulators, media organisations, press clubs, educational institutions, media professionals and citizens` bodies.

[email protected]

NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

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ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCEVolume 1 of this newsletter mentioned how the students at all 8 of Uks's partner universities had begun with their media monitoring exercise, following the orientation workshops at these universities. This included monitoring newspapers and TV channels on a daily basis for one entire month.

ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

TV Channels

Some of the TV channels that were monitored as part of this exercise include:

- Geo News - Dawn News - Express 24/7 - Duniya TV - Khyber TV- City 42 News (Lahore) - KTN News - Apna TV - PTV News- Aaj News- Samaa News- Rohi

NewspapersSome of the newspapers that were monitored as part of this exercise include:·

- Jang - The Nation - Kawish - Daily Mashriq - Dawn - Daily Taseer - Daily Express- The News

MEDIA MONITORING


‘Talking to the Audience’ - The Focus Group Discussions

The students also proceeded with conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with different segments of the general public. The themes as well as the questions put forth in these FGDs were based on the analysis and findings of the media monitoring done by the students.

These students were able to organize and conduct 13

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ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

FGD’s at each location, engaging and interacting with a large audience such as those belonging to the following groups:- Above 40000 income - Below 40000 income- Workers of universities having low income - Minorities - Youth- Employed males- Employed females- Housewives

Employed0

50

100

150

200

250

Housewives Youth Males/Females Minorities

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF PARTICIPANTS


Content analysis at Uks

In June, once the students from these universities had started to send in their media monitoring sheets and FGD reports, Uks embarked on analyzing and studying these reports and findings. This process is now at its final stages, and Uks plans on sharing this analysis and findings with the media and the public through the publication of a Handbook, as well as a Launch Ceremony in Islamabad in October.

Breaking News Syndrome

Mukhtara MaiLegal/Ethical

Violations

Anchor’sPower

Osama bin Laden

Media Monitoring

Media Literacy

Media EffectsMedia

Awareness

Kharotabad Incident

Karachi Rangers

killing of acivilian

As of now, around a total number of 1000 people from all over Pakistan have been a part of these Focus Group Discussions - from Mansehra to Karachi, from Islamabad to Bahawalpur.

Some of the themes or topics of these discussions have been:

Islamabad Consultative Meeting - 11th August 2011

Uks organized a ‘one-day consultative meeting with the media and partner universities’ in Islamabad in August. The aim of this conference was to bring together media representatives from a wide range of backgrounds as well as the coordinators from some of Uks’s partner universities to share and discuss the progress and findings of the media monitoring and focus group discussions that have been conducted at these partner universities, and to seek the feedback and opinion of the media. The guests present at this occasion included notable media personalities such as Amir Mateen and Asma Shirazi. The project coordinators from 3 of Uks’s partner universities – Mr. Zafar Iqbal from International Islamic University Islamabad, Ms. Ismat Waseem from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Islamabad, and Mr. Shujaat Ali Khan from Hazara University Mansehra were also present. The project coordinators delivered presentations detailing the progress of the activities at their respective universities and presented their findings and analysis on the media monitoring and focus group discussions that have been done at their universities, and shared their own views and thoughts on this exercise as a whole. The media present at the occasion also gave their feedback and views on this exercise. They greatly commended the effort and work that has been done at these universities as part of this project, and urged that projects and initiatives such as this should not only be continued but encouraged and promoted in Pakistan. They also greatly emphasized on the need of public discussion and a more responsible media in our country and said that such initiatives are precisely what’s needed to achieve that.

Karachi Consultative Meeting - with Karachi media and Universities

Uks has also planned to organize a similar media consultative meeting in Karachi, where senior and prominent media personalities from Karachi will be invited, along with some of the coordinators from Uks's other partner universities.

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ARTICLESARTICLES

Hamzah RifaatSZABIST, Islamabad

After undergoing a 6 month long training program with Uks on Gender Based Violence and conducting a workshop on Gender Based Violence, which targeted Islamabad's populace, the three day workshop on media monitoring at SZABIST on the 21st of February, 2011, was the ideal

opportunity to explore the avenues of reform, on the depiction of various aspects in the media. In an age of fierce commercial competition and the media playing a key role in shaping public sentiment, this experience with Uks, where rigorous exercises and in depth analysis of media content was met with alacrity by the various participants, was wonderful to say the least.

To benefit from such an experience after being involved with internships in various channels, has helped in enlightening me, to become media literate. In an age where information is manipulated to arouse interest, the diagnosis of the various aspects of the print and electronic media was an exciting experience. The prowess of Sumera Abbasi along with her assistant research associate, Rafia Arshad, helped us understand the essence of the media in shaping public opinion and what needs to be done to try and curtail the clout of biasness and partisan depictions and dissemination of information.

The fourteen students, of which many hailed from diverse backgrounds, added a unique flavor to the sessions. Varying schools of thought with regard to media content, helped in promoting constructive debate and at the same time promoted respect for each other's opinions. Break- out sessions helped in gelling practicality, where proper monitoring exercises helped in enhancing everyone's outlook towards the media. Despite the presence of a stringent routine in everyone's daily lives, all fourteen participants reaffirmed their commitment to the month long exercise, which would also include focus group discussions, in the month in contention.

On a personal note, I, Hamzah Rifaat, who has been associated with the Pakistan Television Network, Aaj News and a daily contributor to the Islamabad Dateline, have found this experience very rewarding. Every news item or program segment entails spice, sensationalized content which needs to be diagnosed, in the modern era. This experience has helped me understand the media better and look for novel solutions to try and tackle the information provided to the common man in the country. A positive outlook and respect for those who constitute the media, whether it is the presenter or the subject itself, is what this nation needs after all the negative hype shown on various channels. By the end of the exercise, I personally hope that the students of SZABIST, under the guidance and coordination of Ms. Ismat Waseem, would contribute in one way or the other, to reform the very media that we call our own.


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ARTICLES

UKS MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT FEEDBACKAyesha Wallayat Ch.

Islamia University of Bahawalpur

As we all know in this modern world of ours, media - whether it is print or electronic - is considered the 4th pillar of any democratic country. Media plays an important role in portraying positive as well as negative image of the country/society. To control the contents of print media the journalists have formed newspaper societies like APNS (All Pakistan Newspaper Society) & PFUJ (Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists). These societies are responsible to watch over whether the print media follows the journalistic code of ethics or not. On the other hand PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) was formed to control the ownership & programs of the private electronic media.

Now a day's most of the channels & newspapers are not following the journalistic code of ethics. It's happening in this way because the editors of the newspapers are the owners of them as well and they also have high designations in those two newspaper societies. Same happens in the matter of private channels & PEMRA. The mass media in Pakistan creates sensationalism in the audience just to sell its contents & to earn profit. At one time the media organization supports a specific group of people as they could earn them some profit and on the other hand within seconds they oppose the same group of people if they think that doing this will make their organization popular among the audience.

The channels & newspapers create a lot of fuzz about the sensitive issues like child abusing, women-rape cases and many others like these. They create hype in the general public which results in the form of strikes & damage of national assets. In the newspapers the news items, editorials & features are full of criticism on different political parties & personalities. The news is biased & also carries unnecessary details. Hence they have lost the element of fairness & objectivity.

On the other hand in news channels the current affair programs are just to impose the opinions of the owners of the channels or the opinions of the anchorpersons. The channels might have introduced these programs with the intentions of solving the current issues of the country & general public. But instead of that they make the situation worse & try to create a wrong impression of the guest speakers on the audience.

The media through advertisements is making our nation consumers instead of producers, for they advertise the products in such a glamorous way that people feel compelled to buy that product. The dramas & programs of media glamorize everything, it is creating a moral vacuum in our society. Cultural invasion has also taken place in our society through media. It is projecting western & Indian culture in the commercials & other contents of media. Media manipulates the interests of the people negatively. It is also blamed for overwhelming negative exaggeration of different sensitive issues.

Media is also responsible for cutting short our social activities as we remain fixed to TV screens. There is a lot of bombardment of information in the mass media & it is becoming difficult for the audience to get the information of their interest in this era of overloaded information.

There are also some positive aspects of media in Pakistan. Media has played an important role in spreading awareness & knowledge about different social issues. It has increased the level of awareness of general masses. Pakistani media has also assisted in the development efforts of the state through commercials & ads such as “Parha Likha Punjab” & “Benazir Income Support Program”.

Media has influenced the public in creating their opinions about different issues by conducting focus group discussions/cross discussions by highlighting different issues in their programs. Media is also used for education purposes by different educational institutions such as AIOU use media for that purpose. Media also supports democracy by bringing out democratic norms & inculcates the same in general public. It provides live coverage of parliamentary proceedings & sessions. Media provides a platform to the public to give their viewpoints on the issues of their interest. It has given a voice to the general public.

In short media in Pakistan is playing both positive & negative role. But mostly its role in our society is negative. The media literacy project by Uks is a good initiative to convey our message to media ownerships that they should produce their programs & publish their newspapers in favor of the general public & Pakistan. They should play a positive role in the development of the country rather than playing an important role in its social & moral deterioration and downfall.


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A PLATFORM FOR CUB JOURNALISTSABDULLAH

BS Journalism, 8th Semester, Kohat University of Science and Technology, [email protected]

Journalism and Mass communication is a newly introduced field in Pakistan. According to media scholars, most people working in practical field of media are not journalism educated. That is the reason behind unbalanced and subjective information flow about the circumstances which spreads panic amongst the people. If we go through electronic media, we can observe that there is competition of breaking news syndrome on TV channels, while anchors in talk shows use derogatory language which is promoting a negative image of our country Pakistan.

According to a research, every day TV channels are communicating a variety of information to the viewers and viewers believe what they watch is correct. While the contents are constructed according to the policy of media organization by not caring about viewer's choice. How viewers could be involved in content making of a media organization? For that purpose Uks- A Research, Resource and Publication Center on Women and Media, introduced ‘Media Literacy’, a new concept in Pakistan.

Media literacy is sharing the skills of experiencing, interpreting and analyzing the contents of media channels. It is the ability to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day. It's the ability to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all media. It's about asking pertinent questions about what's there, and noticing what's not there. And it's the instinct to question what lays behind media productions the motives, the money, the values and the ownership and to be aware of how these factors influence content.

Uks like many of its earlier bold initiatives took the credit of being first non-government organization to introduce in Pakistan the concept of media literacy. Based on media monitoring and content analysis, it is aimed at educating and empowering people-viewers and readers about their rights and responsibilities regarding the media, and promote media literacy through a culture of dialogue and analysis. It is hoped that this process will result not only in strengthening democratic values, by initiating media debates but also help towards fostering better and more active relationship between media and its audiences. Since its beginning in 1997, Uks has monitored media, conducted research on emerging trends, particularly regarding gender based and woman development, and undertaken trainings and workshops to raise awareness about crucial issues amongst media.

Recently Uks started workshops and trainings on media literacy for which it takes a group of 12 students (male/female) from journalism departments of different universities. Till now workshops have been held in Kohat University, Punjab University Lahore, Islamia University Bahawalpur, International Islamic University Islamabad, Hazara University and Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, to name a few.

During the three days orientation workshop, trainees learnt how media will be monitored. Being part of this project from Kohat University I find myself able to analyze the media contents and I am involved now in content making process. For some weeks we regularly monitored media on criteria such as gender equality, ethics and stereotype concepts etc. Besides monitoring we arranged focus group discussions in which participants number were 30. Furthermore Uks is also focused on Woman-Media relationship; a concern that has hitherto remained poorly represented by organizations working on woman's rights. After comprehensive process of monitoring, youth members will also write articles for the newsletter of Uks Research Centre as well as for report.

Uks took the initiative of giving a platform to youth, to bring a positive change in the society by playing their roles in media content analysis and eradication of gender based violence from our society. Now it is necessary for youth to use that platform, and actively participate in activities which are organised by Uks from time to time.

Uks is of the opinion that students which are currently enrolled in journalism departments are cub journalists and in future they would join media channels. So from their academics if they are trained they will work positively in the media according to the ethics, furthermore there will be no panic of breaking news, and a peaceful concept of Pakistan will be promoted worldwide.

ARTICLES NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

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