By Maida Khan
Ethics are moral principles that help an individual to understand what is and what is not legitimate to do. Almost every organization in this world defines ethical principles for its workers. Journalism indeed is a profession with great historical significance. History is evident that journalists in Pakistan faced severe torture, threats and lost their lives during regimes of several rulers. Our so called free media is expanding day by day. Number of channels and news papers are increasing but quality of content is rapidly decreasing. They are selling news instead of giving it to the audiences. The practices of yellow journalism can also be clearly observed in the news coverage and reports by some journalists. “Adding spice to the injury” is their motto while designing news content and reports to increase TRP (Television Rating Point) and they call it journalism. Wow!
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Recent image designed by Dunya News showing top ratings of their program clearly showed that they are losing grip over ethical standards. I am not at all against promotion of their success but the way they portrayed is the main issue. I also salute creative team behind creation of this image which ignored that dogs run faster than an elephant, while designing this content. They could have promoted same content in a decent manner but unfortunately creative team behind this image preferred to relate itself and other media organizations with animals. Apart from criticism, I would also appreciate their honesty as they admitted through this kind of portrayal that these organizations are not truly practicing what journalists are supposed to do. They clearly depicted which creature they follow while practicing it. Our leading media organization Dunya News should not exchange ethical standards with popularity. Because, their action has actually beaten their intention, as they stated on the top right of image. I removed name and picture of media professional from snap shot who shared this picture proudly on his Facebook timeline, so that they can better learn, what ethics are all about. Such practices should not be encouraged under/by any media organization.
If we discuss ethics in perspective of Pakistani news media only; they are present in written form but we can hardly see their true implementation in any news organization. Most of the media organizations in Pakistan are owned by political elites or some business groups and the reason behind not following the ethical principles might be their influence or interference. They only care about ratings, ratings and ratings to maximize their profits. Journalism would be able to flourish in its real sense only when these political elites and business groups will keep aside their personal interests and will allow media practitioners to work independently in a transparent and an efficient manner. The role of media and press can’t be denied that is why it is considered as the fourth pillar of the state. Not to let anyone use this power in a negative manner, media regulatory authority PEMRA needs to keep check and balance by monitoring the content shared by several news organizations. But, that control should be on unethical practices rather than control on the flow of truthful information.
About Author:
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Author is an aspiring journalist. She is multi-talented and very much committed to her work. She started her career in journalism as reporter from PTV News Islamabad. She did not confine herself to journalism field only. She is great writer, director, producer and photographer. She has excellent communication skills. “Jack of all trades” is an appropriate term to define her versatile personality.
