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Journalism of Courage
At a time when the Indian government is dithering over the uplinking of television channels, the Pakistan government claims it has provided uplinking to 12 private TV companies.
Foremost among these channels is GEO TV, owned by the Jung group of newspapers, described as the Aaj Tak of Pakistan. In a country where the electronic media has always been subject to government control, GEO TV is the screaming and kicking new kid on the block, broadcasting controversial discussion shows on Musharraf, showing programmes about Musharraf’s palmist and astrologer, broadcasting live pictures of the massacre of Shias in Quetta earlier this year and reporting live when suspected Al Qaeda activists were arrested in Karachi last year. It is the most watched private satellite channel in Pakistan and models itself on Aaj Tak.
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India, Pak exchange visas of officials
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NEW DELHI: Adding further impetus to the upswing in Indo-Pak relations both countries exchanged visas of officials to strengthen their respective missions. Following the move 19 officials from India and 17 from Pakistan will move in to bring up the staff strength to 47 each. The lists were coordinated and passports handed over on Monday at both ends, External Affairs Ministry officials said. (ENS) |
GEO TV anchor Hamid Mir, famous interviewer of Osama bin Laden however angrily denies that uplinking facilities have been made possible and says the government is being highly un-cooperative and GEO is still, tortuously and expensively, having to broadcast from Dubai. Nonetheless, with a footprint stretching from Pakistan to South Africa, 600 correspondents, bureaus in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore and a fast, sharp and astoundingly irreverent reporting style, GEO TV is, as author and columnist S. Akbar Zaidi puts it, ‘‘a revolution in Pakistan. If it is given uplinking and is able to provide 24 hour news, it will create a social, intellectual revolution. In fact, it has already done so.’’ GEO TV was launched on August 14 last year and its ratings have soared consistently. In a study carried out by S. Akbar Zaidi of 120 MNA (Members of National Assembly) almost 60 per cent said they watch GEO TV and want to appear on it. ‘‘The reason why the government is not giving us uplinking is because they feel we will become more powerful that the state,’’ says Mir, ‘‘and there will be nowhere for the government to hide.’’
Headed by the US-educated Karachi-based Mir Ibrahim Rahman, son of Shakil-ur Rahman, owner of the Daily Jung and the English-language The News, GEO TV is an Urdu language news, infotainment and entertainment channel located in a swank new building in Islamabad’s Blue Area market. The office interiors are modest but the studios are air-conditioned and plush in a 1970s sort of way, a little like Zee TV a decade ago.
The staff are demurely dressed in salwar kameezes and veils yet the office buzzes. ‘‘Let any mullah come near me when I’m doing my story,’’ says a correspondent, ‘‘and I’ll pick up my chappal and slap him.’’
GEO editorial director Ghazi Salahuddin says: ‘‘Reading habits are poor and the impact of newspapers is low. But now GEO TV is creating self-awareness, people are questioning more.’’ Change is slow and often imperceptible in this feudal, military-dominated country. Where Zia remained in uniform all through his tenure, there are already demands that Musharraf take his uniform off within three years.
While a few years ago a discussion on the fall of Dhaka may have been unthinkable on PTV, today the Bangladesh war is discussed on GEO TV. During the SAFMA conference every Indian MP was hot-footing it to GEO to take part in discussions. ‘‘Kitney galat fehmia hai Pakistan ke bare mein (There are misconceptions about Pakistan),’’ sighs Ram Vilas Paswan, ‘‘Yaha to bahut azadi hai.’’
So what does GEO stand for? ‘‘For intellectuals it’s geo-political, geo-strategic. For common folk, it’s just Jiyo Aur Jeene Do, (live and let live)’’ says Mir.
