Hamid Mir vs Fauzia Wahab on media’s accountability
We have received this email from PPP’s Information Secretary, Fauzia Wahab which talks about an experience in a program on Samaa TV called “Faisla Aap Ka”. The host of the show was Asma Shirazi while the program was telecast on Sunday, October 24, 2010. The program was different in the sense that it had an involvement of an audience which was allowed to ask questions for the first time in a town hall meeting style.
It was a discussion which ranged between the recent decision to boycott Jang Group and Geo TV, the incompetence of the government as well tax evaders and willful defaulters in media. This is a must watch program for all those who feel that when the PPP and government criticizes the role of media, the questions asked by the audience would give you an indication how fed up people have become. The program is a must watch and can be seen on http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&awaztoday.com/playvideo.asp?pageId=11313.
Media Representatives from Geo and ARY were grilled
Dear Friends,
I thought I must share this experience with you. The other day I was at a TV talk show called “Faisla Aap Ka” on Samaa TV, where the topic was “Media and Accountability”. The host was Asma Shirazi and the panelists included stalwarts like Hamid Mir, Mohammed Malick, Kashif Abbasi, Pervaiz Shoukat, Fareeha Idrees, Afzal Butt, while I was with them from Karachi via satellite uplink. As you can see, the media was powerfully represented while public representatives representation, as you can see, was nominal. But the difference was made by the presence of the general public in the program. I thought my battle would be lonesome, but my assumptions were wrong. After the usual back and forth between the media representatives and myself, the floor was opened for questions.
Following are the questions that were put up by the general public:
1. Question to Hamid Mir: “If Fauzia Wahab is a liar then why don’t you sue her?”
2. Question to Hamid Mir: The role of the media is to cool down temperature, but you are creating frustration among the people?
3. Why don’t you expose the black sheeps in your fraternity?
4. If the foreign press publishes something adverse or negative about Pakistan, why do you publish it and use it as reference? Isn’t this de-motivating and demoralizing people?
5. Why good news is no news for the media, why do you highlight the negative aspects and ignore the positive sides?
6. Media can be described as free but it is not impartial, why is it not fair?
7. Why are the media targets government-specific, why don’t they expose the secrets of the opposition?
8. There were senior anchors who were aspiring to become MD PTV or DG APP, when they were refused they started criticizing the government and counter alleged the government that prove us wrong that we have defaulted in tax payment. If you are true than why don’t show your tax receipts and documents that you are regular tax payer?
These questions are a reflection of a change in people’s mindset and what they think about the over biased media in Pakistan.
None of the questions were managed or planted as I was in Karachi and the program was in Islamabad. The audience consisted of students from the Islamic International University, Qauid-e-Azam University and the Fatima Jinnah University.
TV Program Link: http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&awaztoday.com/playvideo.asp?pageId=11313
Regards,
Fauzia Wahab
List of Hamid Mir articles can be viewed here.
I happened to watch that program. I think it was a bit unfair because Fauzia Wahab was facing five journalists, three of them belonged to the pro-establishment Jeem group.
I really laud the critical questions posed by the students to the yellow journalists.
See what our bigoted friends at pkpolitics had to write about the program. I am sure, none of them listened to the program:
gwaypaki said:
Join AL&P=ANTI LOOTOO AND PHOOTOO GROUP TO KICK OUT FLOP
FLOP=FOUNDER OF LOOTING OPRGANIZATION OF PAKISTAN=PPP+PMLN
GWAYPAKI, GWAY AWAM,AND GWAY PAKISTAN
24 October 2010 at 11:10 pm KAWA said:
Fantastic program. PPPP could not get anyone better than Fauzia (brain-dead) to represent them against the brainy Geo team….
24 October 2010 at 11:22 pm Aik hun muslim said:
hay do not worry, Zardari has PHD in fraud from Patero college,world’s #1 mafia AAZ?
25 October 2010 at 2:46 am alwi said:
ميڈيا کا رويہ قابل مذمت ہيں اخلاقيات کا فقدان ہے خبر خبر نہيں ہو تی بلکہ سکينڈل بنا کر پيش کيا جاتا ہے انڈيا کی چھپ واضح ہے جيو اور جنگ اپنے ٹيکس کيسز کی وجہ سے فريق بن گيا ہے اور يہ رويہ قابل مذمت ہے پاکستان کی فلاح اس ميں نہيں سب اپنے مفاد کی لڑائی لڑ رہے ہيں
25 October 2010 at 4:07 am hasankhan said:
media is destroying pakistan for the sake of rating,if government ban all anchors,pakistan will solve half the problems.
25 October 2010 at 4:14 am saleem raza said:
ميڈیا کو آزادی ہونی چاہیے آور آج ميڈیا کی وجہ سے یہ لوگ قابو ميں آہے ھيں؛
اب وہ زمانہ گیا جب یہ کہتے تھے آپکا کان کتا لے گیا ھے آور عوام کتے کے پھجے دوڑ لگا دتیے تھے؛وہ زمانہ گیا ھے ؛
25 October 2010 at 4:43 am Aik hun muslim said:
Hamid Mir is right,when he said it is unfortunate our president is Zardari?
25 October 2010 at 4:54 am saleem raza said:
میرا فوزیہ سے یہ سوال ھے؛کہہ انڈیا ميں تو پچھلے دن آیک ٹاک شو ميں لوگوں نے آیک دوسرے کو کھوسنے پھرے ھيں؛آپ بھی کسی ٹاک شو میں جایں آور آپنی آپنی گن بھی ساتھ لیں جایں؛آور آیک دوسرے کو شوٹ کر کے آپنامخب وطن ہونے کا ثبوت ديں ؛آور اس طرح آپکا قوم پر احسان ہوگا؛
آج تو رضیہ پھس گی غندوں ميں
25 October 2010 at 4:55 am hasankhan said:
taliban,judges and top establsihment officials r on pay role of media.media uses them to make news ,get secret information and to evade taxes and harass government.
25 October 2010 at 5:28 am Salam said:
PFUJ president Pervez Shaukat tried to expose media owners on their business policies/direction, but all anchors went into denial
PPP is transforming from benazir bhutto based party to zardari controlled, many old lions are being thrown out like trash… will asifa & bilawal be able to pull grave worshiping crowds for their daddy?
25 October 2010 at 7:01 am Mohammed Ashfaq said:
jin ki ho jaye khhatya khari tu wo esi terha chikhtey hai. or ye Sahaiba tu en ka tu jawab hi nahi…dodhh ki dhooli hai…
25 October 2010 at 1:26 pm aftab said:
Oh Yes! HM really put this silly women in her place, that was the best i have seen from the media in a long time, brilliant.
25 October 2010 at 1:38 pm aftab said:
One thing that comes to mind about the person who broke the story about the notification of the judges re-instatement being taken back, should have waited and let this Mafia shoot itself in the foot, missed opportunity.
25 October 2010 at 2:02 pm faheemraza said:
media is always wrong wrong wrong?
pakistani media is sick and they are making the all the nation is sick please stop all the 8pm to 11pm shows and pakistan will be peaceful. media is not accountalbe now. that all yellow journalism.
faheem raza
hong kong
25 October 2010 at 2:04 pm lughmani said:
very nice program.
25 October 2010 at 3:49 pm Babloo said:
This so Called Azad Media is ranting all the time about every one, Govt, Politicions, Political Parties, Talibans,Uncle Sam and bla bla bla but could never dare to say a single word against
MQM and its ghundagardi.
According to the PPP chargesheet against Jang Group, Hamid Mir wrote as many as 132 articles/columns in Jang and The News between August 2009 and August 2010. 112 out of these were biased(85%) and 20 were balanced (15%). The fact is that those whose columns were analyzed, Hamid Mir had written the highest % of balanced articles. If 15% is the highest, you can imagine the bias!
CLEAN SHAVE TALIBAN BHE KISSI KE BAAT SUNTATY HAIN !
We are very unfortunate people.We do not have main stream media.We do not have impartial judiciary.Our parliamnet does not debate issues which could improve our lives.Our military is not committed to our constitution.Our priests are devoid of religion.We have very small leaders with highly inflated big egos.We could present only few personalities and few achievements to international community without getting embarrassed.
We could present Mr Jinnah,Mr Bhutto,Asma Jahangir,Benezir Bhotto,Dr Abdulsalam,Bacha Khan and a few economists with genuine pride.The other achievemnent is our constitution and our people’s desire to live under a democratic system in spite of all setbacks.
We had some great poets like faiz ahmed faiz,habib jalib and ahmed faraz.we also had great musicians like nusret fateh ali khan and khawaja khurshid Anwer.We do not have no general,no judge,no journalist of international stature.What a failure?
Damn, how I missed this show! I so want to watch it at the earliest now, thanks for posting this here.
Miss Fauzia Wahab, if anyone can convey this message to you, or you, by your good self, can read it: please give FBR the green signal to check media barons’ income tax affairs and leave the rest up to FBR. 🙂 I am sure none of them would dare to steal a single penny from the government after that.
That is the best show I ever watched, I am so thankful to Ahmed Iqbalabadi.
Our government representatives and media persons both are not that much educated as you know that the greatest height of the education is tolerance but unfortunately they don’t have.
Hamid Mir & GEO TV Supported Lal Masjid Operation. (Dunya TV 15 Feb 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkrOW0krd4
I think everything posted made a bunch of sense. However, what about this? suppose you were to create a killer headline? I am not suggesting your content isn’t good., however suppose you added a post title that grabbed a person’s attention? I mean Hamid Mir vs Fauzia Wahab on media’s accountability | LUBP is kinda boring. You might peek at Yahoo’s front page and see how they write post headlines to get people interested. You might add a related video or a related pic or two to get people excited about what you’ve got to say. Just my opinion, it could bring your blog a little bit more interesting.
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