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As a nation Pakistanis have to learn to listen to unpleasant opinions.

With respect, the only problem here is sir that as a News Organization, Geo should not have an opinion or an agenda to support it. All the professional journalists or news anchors, take Stephen Sacker from Hard Talk for instance...no matter how many interviews you see that guy take, no matter how tough he is, how deep his questions and probing is, whether he questions the leader of Hamas or the PM of Israel. You can NEVER tell where his personal opinion is, where his inclinations lie, you can't tell even in the most vaguest terms if he is a leftist, rightist, etc...

Now compare that to monkeys like Hamid Mir, it's an insult to journalists everywhere. I’ve spoken to Geo employees about this matter in detail, and a lot of educated people are uneasy with the shameless power and naked ambition a few essentially financially minded and motivated directors are exercising through Geo and others. It’s how they work, it’s how they think. A Geo person told me, if the rating of a particular program goes down…the planners instruct them to induce a little controversy, whip up a small scandal and problem solved.

In this world perception is more important than reality. The media has the power to win or lose wars, takes lives, the media as the power to destroy all terrorists Anti-Pakistani ideologies. But that doesn’t happen, because stuff people don’t wanna hear, Geo is never going to say it. Their actions are completely selfish.

We bad mouth Fox News all the time, I doubt one person here would try to defend their right to air crap like O’Reilly all over the world. But in a way, western media is mature despite their obvious bias or leanings, they know what is insensitive and what is productive for their country. They have professional reporting, hard hitting research…some actual hard work that helps encourage an educated opinion. But here, the Pakistani media relies on sensational talk shows as flag ship programs in place of shows like BBC’s Panorama or Al-Jazeera’s Inside Story. Only egoistic talk-show anchors are their pride, because at the end of the day they are unprofessional. They lack proper journalistic, professional, research based tendencies. Anyone can whip up an argument, you don’t need to check facts, back up your claims and usually the guy who is loud and more aggressive wins. It’s not exactly the perfect example for the Pakistani people on how to solve their disputes and confusions. Opinion is a substitute for facts as far as these people are concerned. If we have to improve as a nation, then we must throw these shackles off.

First thing Geo must do is admit that they are only human, that they can be wrong. They have to acknowledge that Geo producers will not always know what’s right or what’s best for the country. They haven’t even done that. I want what’s best for my country, and Geo is NOT it. Geo should not get away with everything in the name of ‘freedom of speech’.:tsk:
 
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I somehow smelled wat the geo people talk evryday abt.:what:

Have u evr looekd at their entertaiment news at 9 pm. it always include some indian stars cheap story or the release of new indian movie. WAT the heck do we have to do with the new release. some time ago they had a news in their "entertainment news" section about a shahrukh new movie.He worked out for that movie. They stated as

"evryone can have 6 paks but who and act like shahrukh??" .:taz:

The anchor said this with a smile on her face. This was the bastards primetime entertaiment news.
ok if its india then this can be put as a news and yeah sum ppl in pakistan here like him too. But wat the hells does this means to put indian industry news in ur every "entertainment news"



I tell u onething, may b ive not explained well the above news context but wat they are doing is called as "SLOW POISONING" or to some extent "INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM". Feed people brains with indian news so the difference in their minds b/w pakistan and india is lowered until certain people feel there shud b no india and pakistan.
 
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Cracks at the top?

EDITORIAL

Thursday, January 08, 2009

It is not often that real life reflects a Tom Clancy thriller, but the events of Wednesday seemed to unfold like some racy potboiler. The chronology of events goes something like this: National Security Adviser Maj-General (retd.) Mahmud Ali Durrani told CNN-IBN, an Indian based subsidiary of CNN, that Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani national. The channel also quoted ‘sources’ to say that a report claiming this had been sent to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and that Kasab had no links whatsoever with any state institution. Simultaneously, a private Pakistani TV channel also quoted a ‘senior government official’ as confirming Kasab’s Pakistani nationality. After some time, a foreign news agency carried a report which said that information minister Sherry Rehman in a text message also confirmed this fact, but said that no further details were given. Later, a spokesman of the Foreign Office also told the India Abroad News Service (IANS) that Kasab was a Pakistani national but that he would not be given any consular help because of the serious nature of his act. And after what appeared to be a major breakthrough in the Mumbai attacks affair, the senior government official who had first told the media that Ajmal was indeed a Pakistani was sacked by the prime minister. Some very serious differences at the highest level in Islamabad had been spectacularly laid bare within the space of a few hours.

The revelation about Kasab’s nationality should never have been allowed to become such a contentious issue. Even if it is proved beyond doubt that he is indeed a Pakistani, there is no evidence to suggest that Pakistan had any control over his actions. It should be noted here that a section of the Pakistani media had visited Faridkot in southern Punjab, the purported place of origin of Ajmal Kasab, soon after the Mumbai attacks and found that a person by the name of Ajmal Amir had indeed been a resident of the village and that his parents still lived there. The presence of men appearing to be intelligence sleuths was also reported, after which Geo TV particularly came in for some heavy criticism for ‘acting against the national interest.’ by investigating this affair. In fact, a case was even filed against it on this account. The role of a responsible media, and in fact of responsible civil society, should be to act in a manner that furthers the interests of the people and the country, ‘the national interest’ being an amorphous and vague term often used by governments and vested interests to consolidate their own hold on power. In any case, the national interest in the current climate would not be to mirror the knee-jerk antics of the Indian media, but to be introspective and seek out the truth. As the Pakistan government has repeatedly stressed, terrorism has afflicted this country more than any other and that a joint investigation with India on Mumbai is the best way ahead.

As for the national security adviser’s sudden dismissal, it obviously raises a host of questions. It would be fair to assume that someone of his rank would have access to sensitive information and would be in a position to confirm or deny precisely the kind of information that he did confirm on the evening of Jan 7. But did he or did he not clear the release of such clearly important information without consulting the chief executive? What does one make of the confirmation by the information minister or indeed by the Foreign Office? Is there a gulf between the two top offices in the country, as some analysts have said? Or does that gulf stretch even beyond the two? Whatever the truth, even if it is simply a matter of protocol and coordination, the unfortunate fact is that the affair gives ammunition to those who say that the government is not speaking with one voice on an issue of utmost national and international importance.
 
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Since 2007 I have had my doubts on GEO. One example how they covered the civil movements, lawyers that destabilised pakistan and then how their coverage was against Musharraf.
 
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Cracks at the top?

EDITORIAL

Thursday, January 08, 2009

It is not often that real life reflects a Tom Clancy thriller, but the events of Wednesday seemed to unfold like some racy potboiler. The chronology of events goes something like this: National Security Adviser Maj-General (retd.) Mahmud Ali Durrani told CNN-IBN, an Indian based subsidiary of CNN, that Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani national. The channel also quoted ‘sources’ to say that a report claiming this had been sent to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and that Kasab had no links whatsoever with any state institution. Simultaneously, a private Pakistani TV channel also quoted a ‘senior government official’ as confirming Kasab’s Pakistani nationality. After some time, a foreign news agency carried a report which said that information minister Sherry Rehman in a text message also confirmed this fact, but said that no further details were given. Later, a spokesman of the Foreign Office also told the India Abroad News Service (IANS) that Kasab was a Pakistani national but that he would not be given any consular help because of the serious nature of his act. And after what appeared to be a major breakthrough in the Mumbai attacks affair, the senior government official who had first told the media that Ajmal was indeed a Pakistani was sacked by the prime minister. Some very serious differences at the highest level in Islamabad had been spectacularly laid bare within the space of a few hours.

So that only goes to show that Indian Intelligence was working really hard and feeding Indian Media which is what Indian Media wanted as it improves the sensation quotient. I am sure if ISI had briefed Indian Media that too would have been widely reported.

The revelation about Kasab’s nationality should never have been allowed to become such a contentious issue. Even if it is proved beyond doubt that he is indeed a Pakistani, there is no evidence to suggest that Pakistan had any control over his actions. It should be noted here that a section of the Pakistani media had visited Faridkot in southern Punjab, the purported place of origin of Ajmal Kasab, soon after the Mumbai attacks and found that a person by the name of Ajmal Amir had indeed been a resident of the village and that his parents still lived there. The presence of men appearing to be intelligence sleuths was also reported, after which Geo TV particularly came in for some heavy criticism for ‘acting against the national interest.’ by investigating this affair. In fact, a case was even filed against it on this account. The role of a responsible media, and in fact of responsible civil society, should be to act in a manner that furthers the interests of the people and the country, ‘the national interest’ being an amorphous and vague term often used by governments and vested interests to consolidate their own hold on power. In any case, the national interest in the current climate would not be to mirror the knee-jerk antics of the Indian media, but to be introspective and seek out the truth. As the Pakistan government has repeatedly stressed, terrorism has afflicted this country more than any other and that a joint investigation with India on Mumbai is the best way ahead.

Is it wrong if Pakistanis get to know how their Army and ISI and LET is fostering a war on them. Do Pakistanis work for Pakistan or do they work for ISI+Army+LET.

As for the national security adviser’s sudden dismissal, it obviously raises a host of questions. It would be fair to assume that someone of his rank would have access to sensitive information and would be in a position to confirm or deny precisely the kind of information that he did confirm on the evening of Jan 7. But did he or did he not clear the release of such clearly important information without consulting the chief executive? What does one make of the confirmation by the information minister or indeed by the Foreign Office? Is there a gulf between the two top offices in the country, as some analysts have said? Or does that gulf stretch even beyond the two? Whatever the truth, even if it is simply a matter of protocol and coordination, the unfortunate fact is that the affair gives ammunition to those who say that the government is not speaking with one voice on an issue of utmost national and international importance.

Truth is there is a fight inside Pakistan today between those who understand how they have been held back because of an obsession and those who dont. What is wrong about that, that is what mature societies have to go thru every day. This is democracy, welcome to the real world. Even the incompetence of RAW gets highlighted everytime terrorists create trouble in India.
 
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