Media faces immense challenges, certain truths remain unsaid in Pakistan
Jun 27, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], June 27 : Pakistan's Federal Power Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Sunday said that the media faces immense challenges in Pakistan as there are certain truths that cannot be said in the country where democracy is crushed often.
"It might be an exaggeration to say so but this erasure of the line between truth and lies is endangering democracy worldwide. In this country, where democracy is a one-leaf plant and is crushed so often the media's challenges are immense - almost the same as those faced by elected representatives because there are certain truths that cannot be said in this country," he remarked.
According to The News International, the Pakistan minister further said that the media had failed to save the public from lies. Social media has erased the line between the truth and lies. In the current age of the media, facts and reality are manufactured because if you have sufficient manpower and resource, you can alter reality. The people were not allowed to speak the truth about Balochistan.
"Extreme reporting is an endeavour that requires bravery and strength and courage. If you look at Pakistan's history there have been courageous men and women who have tried to express the truth and they have suffered for it. For example, Journalists have been shot in broad daylight, kidnapped and what not," Khan said as he commended the role of journalists in the history of Pakistan.
The Pakistan minister was speaking at a media conference titled 'Extreme Reporting: Conflict and Peace in the Digital Age' organised by the Centre of Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), The News International reported.
Notably, in recent months, several cases of attacks on journalists have been reported in Pakistan.
According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Pakistan has been ranked the fifth most dangerous place for the practice of journalism.
According to the media reports, 138 media persons in the country had lost their lives in the line of duty between 1990 and 2020.
The country remains among the top 10 countries where predators of attacks on journalists and media go unpunished.
Besides fatal attacks, journalists face other categories of threats such as physical attacks, kidnappings, enforced disappearances, imprisonment, and torture.
