Press attaches posted in Pakistan embassies abroad are very important part of our foreign missions. They are supposed to cultivate with the gentlemen of the Fourth Estate of the countries they are posted in with whom they should have an excellent PR. They should periodically write articles for the newspapers of the countries of their posting spotlighting the stand of their country on important international issues as well as countering India’s propaganda against Pakistan.
It is their job to ensure proper press coverage of the official visits of our VVIPs , including the president and the prime minister. It has been observed that whenever our heads of state go on a foreign tour, they take along with them a plane load of newsmen at the state’s expense for their publicity purpose. The question is:What are press attaches for?What good are they if they cannot properly publicise these foreign visits?Most of the foreign visits of Ayub Khan were covered by a radioman of Radio Pakistan who used to be a part of the president’s foreign entourage and that was that. In those days, of course, TV had not made its advent in Pakistan.
One can say with experience of hindsight that too much publicity of a person or work has always proved to be counter-productive. It does harm than good. It is human nature that one is fed up seeing the same face again and again on the TV, round the clock . A persian proverb says that even if an houri becomes one’s necklace, the person wearing it starts hating it after some time. Truer words were never spoken. Moderation in publicity pays in the long run.
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