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Why is the media trying to pin a self-fulfilling crisis on the current PTI govt & what factors realistically contributed to this sinking ship?
Why certain elements along with their vested interests eventually made them toe the line towards an anti govt narrative?
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Why certain elements along with their vested interests eventually made them toe the line towards an anti govt narrative?
Thread:
The deregulation of the media took place in 2002 in the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, therefore a regulatory body PEMRA was established to facilitate the electronic media with a task to formulate rules & regulations to promote a diverse media sphere in the country
The freedom of press and speech fall under the Article 19 & 19A of fundamental rights in the constitution of Pakistan. This gave PEMRA the authority and power to regulate & oversee the operations of all broadcast media & services
An already booming electronic media industry post deregulation in 2002 started experiencing unusual growth as state showered the private broadcasters with govt adverts which have always remained the backbone of their funding
As Tv channels grew in large numbers so did the total spending of advertising. In a span of 3 years after deregulation from 2002-2005 the total advert spend on electronic media galloped from Rs 200m to Rs 3.5bn. The major chunk being contributed by the government of Pakistan
Boom in the elect media was so evident that within a decade tv channels increased from 3 to 89, with 26 foreign channels also granted broadcasting rights. Acc to APP, total investment of $4bn has been made from 2002-2017 in the elect media, by 2018 it was estimated to touch $5bn
Question remains as to why, when & how, the once vibrant & dynamic electronic media started corroding? After reaching the heights it possibly never imagined the problem was deeply embedded in its roots & within its own structure
As the elect media set its sights on becoming the “Fourth Estate” it was hijacked by the well established influential media tycoons in the print media as they purchased most of the broadcast licenses. Broadcast reg resulted in concentration of ownership & diagonal integration
This concentration of media ownership rightly resonates Prof Vincent Mosco study of Political Economy where media corp inflate their econ & polit power by pouring in capital in order to monopolise the media market. Hence media lost its place as a watchdog in state paradigm as it
Aligned itself with polit groups. System of TRP added fuel to fire as it waged a tug of war b/w media groups which gave birth to unprofessionalism unethical practices & sensationalism in the ecosystem of broadcast media. Antiquated regulatory laws further mainstreamed such pract
The menace of commercialism among media giants made them vulnerable to state cont damaging their credibility. News media lost objectivity & allowed itself to be used as a medium to collude political discourse. Impartiality began to fade, decimating elect media’s econ landscape
Elect media has been resting on a flawed & fragile business model. Post 2018 election the media shake over has exposed rogue elements in the media even though it started months before the PTI govt came to power as Pak was embroiled in an economic crises & nearing default
Financial squeeze in the media was inevitable as govt slashed rates of adv which was adjacent to slashing the venomous tongue of the broadcast media. Since then the rogue elements have resorted to dirty antics as they were heavily reliant on state funding to run their businesses
The PTI govt was put on a media trial as they rebuffed to shower billions of funds as their predecessors. Refusing to subsidise news channels which was normal practice for decades, by buying air time at a much higher rate eventually led to an outburst of unnecessary criticism
Commotion created on talkshows was the ripple down effect of the financial squeeze as anchors & journalists from top media groups received pay cuts ranging from 15-35%. The talkshow elites along with their masters were financially disturbed as they used to to eat the major chunk
Media’s decade of mushroom growth did not pass down to every worker of the industry. It benefited a certain class of journalists & talkshow hosts who earned huge salaries and benefits. While many hard workers below in the hierarchy are currently embroiled in a financial crises
The alleged crises is the own doing of the elect media acc to former info minister Fawad Ch. “Irrational pay structures that are in place whereby talk show hosts almost bag the salary of 100 workers was bound to not last in the long term. This in turn began retrenchment & closure
As majority of the media fraternity had been slandering the PTI govt for the alleged crises. Former pres of the PFUJ, Afzal Butt says the shake over took place due to the withdrawal of govt subsidies followed by an ailing economy & dwindling advert revenue
