It was Fareed Zakriya who in his book “The Post-Ameri-can World” wrote: “Media should have been a mirror held up to the events actually unfolding in reality. But it has become a magnifying glass that has the power to present a small fire as a mamoth conflagration”
Nowhere in the world does this statement reflect reality as honestly as it does in Pakistan of today.
A casual meeting of one politician with another offers our anchorpersons enough material to paint a scenario of a mamoth conspiracy unfolding in matter of hours.
Those who have been watching the TV talk shows for the last three months or so, are bewildered as to how Imran Khan has survived as Prime Minister in the wake of such ominous happenings and in the light of such ‘monumental’ exercises in self-destruction.
Some anchorpersons are fond of imagining the future of their choice, and of presenting their imagination as an undeniable truth.
Whether it be Kashif Abbasi or Shahid Masud, or be they Haroon Rasheed and Arif Hameed Bhatti, the political career of Imran Khan would have ended with the last sunset of 2019 if any of their predictive statements had stood the test of reality. Imran Khan continues to be Prime Minister, and the media fortune-tellers continue to predict his fall sooner than tomorrow.
This situation has done great harm to the credibility of the sages who anchor our talk shows.
What are the factors behind this media mood?
Very very substantial fall in the revenue that used to flow into the accounts of the TV barons before the Imran -rule?
Or the power of Mian Nawaz Sharif’s money that has changed the fortunes of not just Asma Shirazi but those stalwarts of sagacity too who love to be branded as the ultimate torch-bearers of fairplay.
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