Why all institutions have tiff with media?
Almost all national institutions including parliamentarians, judiciary and military criticised the media over misinformation and propagation.
ISLAMABAD: Almost all national institutions including parliamentarians, judiciary and military have criticised the media over the spread of misinformation and fake stories besides calling for effective steps to curb the menace.
The Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has reportedly criticised the misinformation and the menace of fake news on the media platforms, saying that media is also one of the major issues of the country.
According to the media reports, the chief of army staff made the statement during an informal talk with the media and youth on the occasion of the Pakistan Day Parade in Islamabad.
The media reports said that the army chief clarified that the military will not interfere in the political matters, adding that let the politicians settle the matters by themselves. He added that the military has always been criticised for interfering in political affairs or being stayed away from it.
On the political end, the media houses have been criticised by top politicians including Prime Minister Imran Khan, Maryam Nawaz, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and others for going against them through different kinds of propaganda campaigns.
Maryam Nawaz had once criticised the media after her audio leaks, whereas, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had criticised Jang and Geo media groups for allegedly running a campaign against the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). PM Imran Khan had also complained that the national media is giving wrong perceptions against regarding the developments on the no-confidence motion.
The Chief Justice (CJ) Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also pointed out the attempts to scandalise the judiciary in the Rana Shamim contempt case.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had earlier announced to take steps for countering the fake news and the development of the media through Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) to regulate the media organisations including print, electronic and social media.
The back-to-back calls to stop the negativity of media and journalism have raised questions about whether it is the time for the media entities to start a self-accountability process and formulate a strategy to address the reservations of the national institutions.
