Media is an important source of information about not only the things going on with in your country but also of overseas. There are various theories which are applied by the channels with or without pressure on them. By pressure I mean theories like authoritarian, totalitarian or communist where people have no freedom of speech and media is controlled by the government. Definitely in such situation government does not allow media to give out what the truth is or what are the holes in their leadership. Pakistan has seen this kind of government a lot of times. These theories are usually functional in the dictatorship government and we have seen it in Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zia ul Haq and Musharraf tenure. But now the trend has changed and we have democratic government in our state. Media has freedom of speech. But how is media performing its duty or what is the strategy of media to acquire its goals is the matter of concern here.
In the world it is observed that after a long period of suppression and brutality come revolution. Like we have seen in French, European and American Revolution where after authoritarian rule came libertarianism and after totalitarian ideas came social responsibility. In Pakistan we saw it in the regime of Pervez Musharraf when in 2002 he established PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) and gave freedom to media in real means. The first proper private news channel established was GEO NEWS in November 2005. It is a Karachi-based Pakistani news channel, fully owned and operated by Jang Group and has millions of Urdu-language viewers around the world.
There are dozens of discussion programs on current affairs presented by geo news which are not only popular but appreciated by loads of people. Among them are AAJ KAMRAN KHAN KAY SAATH, CAPITAL TALK, MERAY MUTABIQ and JAWAB DEH. Geo News is credited for bringing change in the concept of providing information to people on various subjects. Their programs have various flavors of discussion like Kamran Khan show presents analysis of daily happenings, capital talk highlights the most important issue of all with analysis presented by the host ( Hamid Mir) and take views of people ( MNA’s or MPA’s from different political parties are called as guests in the show) related to the issue being discussed. On the other hand Ifitikhar Ahmed of Jawab deh cross examines a single person related to an ongoing issue. These variations in the shows of geo were successful in receiving popularity and still the journalists of geo news are appreciated for their hard works. Many channels copied the programs of geo news.
Geo news has a lot of achievements on its recognition. A documentary by Geo covering water scarcity in the Indus river delta won “The Special Prize of H.S.H. Prince Rainier III” at the Monte Carlo TV Festival. The channel was also awarded a special award in 2005 at the Nouticaslo TV festival. On April 20, 2004 at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas, Mir Ibrahim Rahman, chief executive of Geo TV, received an International Broadcast Excellence Award for the impact the channel has had on Pakistan. And on November 3, 2007 geo news and other channels were banned in Pakistan due to the imposition of emergency in the country by the then President Musharraf who was the one who gave freedom to media in 2002. But the channel did not accept any government offers though other channels already had and remain wedged to their mandate to tell the truth which was again appreciated by the people. The ban was lifted on 21st January, 2008.
Although geo is very much popular and had a lot of viewers all around Pakistan but the question here arises that what is the strategy or what theory geo news pertains? Apparently it seems as if geo follows libertarianism theory (where media has all the freedom, no regulations on media by the government) because it clearly point out flaws in leaderships either it is the matter of Swiss cases of president, police brutality, permission given by the Prime minister for issuance of thousands of prohibited and non prohibited weapons or any social issues like violence against women or patient died due to the negligence of doctor. But if the channel is observed closely it will occur that it has an agenda to exaggerate the situation with every possible way. The most important factor of Geo’s fame is the way they present news. Their mocking sentences used for the government or any song attached to the situation is very much appreciated by some people but some criticize the use of songs in news which is quite justified criticism. So, Geo has set an agenda to propagate the news in an exaggerating manner.
Agenda setting as defined in “Mass Media, Mass Culture” is the process whereby the mass media determine what we think and worry about. Walter Lippmann, a journalist first observed this function, in the 1920’s. Lippmann then pointed out that the media dominates over the creation of pictures in our head; he believed that the public reacts not to actual events but to the pictures in our head. Therefore, the agenda setting process is used to remodel all the events occurring in our environment, into a simpler model before we deal with it. By the definition it does not seem that setting an agenda is something wrong. In truth it really is not. Every channel has some agenda; wrong may be the agenda a channel sets.
Here may lay the most important effect of mass communication, its ability to mentally order and organize our world for us. In short, the mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about. So is the case with geo. Like what a person can acquire of Shoaib-Sania marriage subject? It was a news till the channel was telling that they are about to get married. But the channel actually embellished the news in such a manner that everyone who is interested or not knew that sania mirza was wearing her mother’s sari on her nikkah and so on. Even the hotel room in which they were suppose to stay in Lahore was also shown and after that when the couple got irritated with the media they didn’t come out the next morning to which our geo news adorned this news with an Indian song “hum tum ek kamray me band hon” which was embarrassing and humiliating for our state as geo is seen overseas also. The standard and elegance of news is destroyed by geo due to the addition of songs behind the news. Not only this was done with the couple but also their previous relationships were painted on this news channel which was again disgracing. They have no right to interfere in their personal lives even though they are celebrities. For weeks the channel’s lead story was the Shoaib Sania marriage. So, the channel was unbeaten in leading the thinking of people and the issue received great popularity and in the end of the day they say it was the demand of people. It was media who made people to think about them. Geo news started it and other channels followed the strategy. This lead to ignorance for other subjects like it happened when Dr. Israr Ahmed died. Geo was busy in propagating Shoab Sania news.
Apart from this anything shown on the channel which is depressing is presented in such a dramatic manner that the viewer can’t control his tears. They must be shown but not in a dramatic manner. Mostly women and children related issues are granted that kind of privilege. Or during the restoration of judiciary movement several issues related to people were ignored same happened before and after the 18th amendment. Many people due to the exaggerating attitude of geo are loosing interest in watching it. Moreover, sometimes the language ( headings of Kamran Khan show) used by the anchors is not respectable for the leadership, though we have lots of corruption in our country due to them but it is something beyond our Muslim values to do so.
To gain popularity must not be the only aim of a channel. By overstressing the issues you decline the standard of your news. Neither interfering in a celebrity’s person life will do any good to the channel nor must exaggerating Prime Minister’s unannounced meeting with the Chief Justice be the agenda of any news channel of Pakistan. Geo has become the canal of exaggeration. It must be stopped and Issues like inflation, unemployment and government injustices must be given the opportunity to be raised.
