Confessions of a desensitized journalist – by Sadaf Khan
Victims emotions and personal stories are often exploited by the media to pull at the audiences heartstrings
As Pakistanis we should now all be well versed with disaster coverage. Bomb blasts, terrorist attacks, violent protests, military operations, natural disasters – you name it and we have seen it all. However, instead of making us more proficient at covering tragedies, the influx of disastrous situations seem to have worked in reverse. For media personnel these situations are double disasters. The more serious the disaster is, the worse the situation in the newsroom becomes.
As I started writing the first script for a television news package regarding the rescue operation at Margalla Hills crash sight, I was rudely reminded time and again, by more than one journalist, that technically I shouldn’t write dead bodies – they weren’t whole after all. And it would be so much more effective and convey so much more if I said ‘parts of bodies’ instead. So much more capable of sketching the intensity of disaster – so much more insensitive and so much more inhumane. However, sentiments don’t matter in the business of news anymore. It is a rat race – instead of searching for authentic information, reporters are simply searching for new ways to add more punch to stories.
A few years ago, we aired something live accidentally – it was a blast sight, a mosque in Karachi. The footage had reached us unedited, we didn’t want to waste time previewing and editing it. So we aired it and saw the footage as it went on air. We saw the ‘body parts’ hanging off fans, saw things no one should see. We aired it accidentally, and couldn’t help gagging at the sight of it. For days I felt guilty – even though it hadn’t been my decision. Today, things are different. Footages like that are the norm.
Write a sensitive script and I hear ‘maza nahi aya’
I play safe with figures and I’m told ‘dekhi jaye gi’
Hear this again and again, and after a while you’d be so used to complying with these orders that their mode of information would come naturally to you. You would turn your heart off, calculate, exploit and write things that wouldn’t really be any good for anybody, but yes, they would be striking, they would make people flinch and cry.
In the Airblue tragedy, we saw baseless reports of survivors being airlifted to the hospital. And the crowd of people at the airport could hardly be contained.
‘There were survivors!’
‘We saw that on TV!’
‘Why aren’t we being told where the injured have been taken?’
What does one say in face of such false hope? You are speechless, but this hope gives a more tragic angle to the story so why not? Why not exploit every emotion these poor souls show, to make a better show? And that’s what I did – I used a soundbyte, showing a man sobbing his heart out – asking why couldn’t they atleast tell him where the survivors were being taken. I feel guilty – but I tell myself, well what else could I do, that is the norm, isn’t it?
what Sadaf has said in this valuable article, people like me are watching and reading since long. Sensationalization is on sale and on sale very cheaply so much so it has already tarnished the image of media so badly. No country can claim that accidents are not happening on their soil, but in here, if the news is like one paragraph, tons of paragraph follows in shape of “beyond the news” and “what the government is doing”. For reaching this conclusion they would not dare to cross the limits and enter into fallacies. Period.
The news media have three distinct group. One is Talbanized group which is headed by Hamid Mir (Khalid Khawaja fame). Other is cluster of hate PPP group. This group had the support of Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, but on the issue of ‘Degree’ there is a rift in between the two as one thing led to another and media covered all the news about fake degrees which mostly involved PML-N parliamentarians. The third group is mostly composed of persons having personal vendetta and are hell bent to settle the score. For achieving this goal they would go to any zone of stupidity. I would quote just one example.
Dr. Shahid Masood, who has the reputation as a liar and “shifting person” is presently in ARY-One doing News & Views (one more time). On the issue of General Kiyani’s extension, he gathered his pet analysts and for one hour or so he stressed upon like PM Gilani was not shaved, his wasket’s two buttons were open, his hands were shaking. In nut shell, Dr. Masood’s emphasis was that Gilani was awoken in the late night hours, given a piece of paper to read the same on National hookup and NOW. On the other hand, PML-N, having some sane politicians sensed what is in the card and reacted strongly. Only then Dr. Shahid Masood realized that the sole beneficiery of this extention is PPP government. He did what his previous track record tells, in the very next episode he was shouting “this corrupt government got the lease to govern for further three years”. There is no limit in being shamless. Carry on Dr. Shahid Masood, the more you open your mouth, the more you are exposed.
It’s wonderful that yyou are getting thoughts from this article as well as from our discussion made here.
I intended to post you this bit of remark so as to say thanks over again over the awesome views you’ve contributed above. This is simply seriously open-handed with people like you to present easily exactly what many of us might have marketed for an ebook to generate some profit on their own, primarily considering the fact that you could have done it in the event you decided. The thoughts also served as a fantastic way to be sure that other people online have a similar eagerness just as mine to grasp a little more concerning this problem. Certainly there are several more pleasant instances ahead for individuals that looked over your site.
This excellent website really has all the information and facts I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.