Msc Mass Communication 1

Abdullah Aftab
Msc Mass communication
Roll Number: CA565730
Allama Iqbal Open University
National and International Current Affairs Part 1(5633)
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Q. 1 It is a cliché in Pakistan that summer arrives with shortfall of electricity in the country. How can we
control this issues? Suggest some workable solutions to resolve this issue.

Out of all the problems we face as a country, energy seems to be the one that annoys us the most. It’s not that
other issues are not important or are somehow less annoying; it is just that every single person in Pakistan uses
energy in one form or another and hence is directly affected by it at a very personal level. So when a few days
back I was invited as an expert delegate to the PML-N’S ENERGY CONFERENCE , I was pleasantly surprised
that our political parties are beginning to showing signs of maturity and started talking issue. The conference itself
was an unusually serious affair where actual experts sat through a gruelling six hour discussion session on
the DRAFT PML-N ENERGY PLAN. It was for the first time I saw an actual alternative workable policy being
presented and discussed by a political party with stakeholders such as academia, power producers and energy
experts. All in all, it was a great platform and serious discussion took place that can potentially lead to a solid
energy strategy. I later found out that PTI ALSO HELD AN ENERGY CONFERENCE of its own and presented
their draft plan as well. Even though I would have personally preferred the perspective economic plans to be put
forward first, but a start on an issue like energy strategy seems to be pretty good too. This is a national issue and
we need all the alternative policies we can get to finally craft a solid national policy and in that regard, political
parties putting forward their workable strategies is something the people have longed for.
And in that spirit, I would like to present a few ideas that can help with our energy crisis.

1. Replacing thermal power fuel

Pakistan produces about 81 percent of its electricity through oil and gas which costs us about 9.4 billion dollars.
To put it in other terms, that is about 53 percent of our total exports and is the biggest cost on our import bill.
Now given that our reliance on thermal power is so large, we simply cannot dismantle it and magically move to
hydro power, however we can change the fuel used to gain thermal power. Instead of using oil and gas, both of
which are getting more expensive and have volatile international prices, we can move to using coal.
But not the Thar coal, I will explain why later, but imported coal. If we were to import clean coal and use that as
a fuel instead of oil and gas, it would cost us less as the price of coal is more stable than that of oil and gas in the
international market. This can bring some sort of price stability in our electricity prices that keep changing due to
changes in international market prices.

2. Moving past the myth of THAR COAL

Yes, there is coal in Thar, but assuming that it can be used immediately or it will solve all our energy problems
is a myth propagated by a few people and political parties for their personal gains. Experts agree that Thar coal is
highly unstable - making it difficult to transport it from one location to another - and even its gasification is not
risk-free. On location gasification also requires heavy investment, which has practical difficulties due to the
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unstable nature of the coal deposits. So instead of wasting time and effort on this, we should focus on importing
coal to replace the ever increasing oil and gas bill.

Improved energy mix

Energy mix refers to the sources of energy we utilize in Pakistan to fulfil our overall energy needs. I need to give
credit to the PML-N on this one as they are the first ones to talk of the holistic energy mix and not just the CNG
or the electricity crisis. The fact is that all our energy is interdependent.I have previously advocated that WE
NEED TO MOVE OFF CNG as we simply do not have enough of it to supply to all the commercial, industrial
and home users. Its about time that any future energy strategy Pakistan is supposed to have comes with a proper
energy mix to solve our issues. We need more hydel plants and renewable energy projects. In the next five years,
the aim should be at getting five percent of our total power supply from renewable sources and to also use the
nuclear power we are so proud of, to provide electricity. Right now, we are at about three percent power generation
from nuclear sources, which have to go up to at least percent. Hence an overall improved energy mix is what can
solve our issues in the long run.
4. Stand alone power projects

This is a suggestion that I gave at the conference and I am advocating it now again. About 40 percent of Pakistan
is off the national grid; that means they effectively get to no electricity. The way our grid operates, it is already
suffering from heavy line losses and other technical issues, which makes it extremely hard and costly to get 40
percent of the Pakistan on to the national grid. However there are solutions to this. We can finance independent
stand alone power projects that can function in areas where there is no national grid, this way the local
communities and businessmen can set up their own energy solutions without taking prior permission from the
National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) like they have to now. This will enable them to set up
small scale solar panels and plants in their communities and sell electricity locally. Small wind farms can also be
used in areas which are close to wind corridors. The bottom line is, let the people who are living in areas that
don't come under the national grid, do whatever they can to supply themselves with electricity without any
government involvement.

5. Dismantle the national grid

The national grid needs to be dismantled and provincialised, because under the 18th amendment, the profits of
power generation go to the province that is producing the power, meaning if electricity is being produced at
Tarbela, royalties of that are being paid to KP Government by all other provinces. However, they sell it to the
national grid and then the national grid sells it down to the District Electrical Supply Companies who further sell
the power to the consumers. This way, if there is a shortfall, national grid chooses the electricity supply patterns
and hence decides which areas suffer outages the most. If we dismantle the national grid and change the electricity
supply to an open market, where provincial grids can buy energy directly from the source, it would improve the
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power supply and be more financially beneficial for the power producing province. This way, the provinces with
the most issues with electricity supply can simply outbid the others to get enough for their local demand. This
would not be privatization but 'provincialization', and will encourage provincial governments to start doing more
for their people instead of relying on the federal government. This can eventually lead to provinces working
harder to upgrade their grids and reduce their line losses as their people would know exactly who to blame if the
power goes out. I think it is time we started thinking on these lines given that the 18 th amendment has already
been passed and provincial autonomy is our future. I hope our political parties come with their own alternative
strategies while taking these points in to account too. ENERGY CRISES is a national issue and all possible
solutions should be explored to solve it.
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Q. 2 Evaluate press-government relations in present government’s regime. Do analyze role of media in

image building of the government.

Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world and some of the main reasons behind this low rate are
financial constraints faced by the parents, lack of sufficient number of educational institutions in the country,
large number of students per teacher, lack of a competitive culture in remote areas, lack of motivation, inconsistent
curriculum and many more. If government can provide free quality education to all children it will help in
improving the literacy rate but that seems unlikely due to limited resources.

Although provincial governments are providing free education to some extent but that is clearly not enough to
equip all the children with the treasures of knowledge. They provide free education up to primary level and that
is also limited to some areas. But there are some other measures which may not require huge sums of money but
they can help us to improve the country’s literacy rate.

One of such measure is to provide education up to secondary level in the local language with English and Urdu
as compulsory subjects. It will encourage all those students to continue their education, who leave the schools
just because they are not well versed in English and Urdu and they are forced to study all subjects in one of these
two languages. Moreover, it will also be a source of promotion of our dying local languages. We hardly see young
renowned scholar, poet or writer of local languages. All those students who have the aptitude to study literature
opt for either English or Urdu literature.

However, if we start teaching our children all of their courses in local languages they will not only learn those
courses in a better way but it will also help them to develop an interest in these languages. So in future if they
want to pursue their higher studies in literature they may opt for their regional language as they already have a
firm foundation for that.

Apart from the inclusion of local languages, the ages old curriculum needs to be revisited. Children should be
taught only the basic subjects in primary schools. Then in the secondary schools they should be given choice of
selection of courses on their own, of course teachers can serve as guide in this matter but subjects should not be
imposed on the students. Like in the present education system students are given the choice to either study
Humanities or science but still Mathematics of the same level in included in the curriculum for both science and
Humanities. Due to which a large number of Humanities students never pass their matric/SSC examination.

One of the other main hindrances in improving our literacy rate is the lack of qualified teachers. Although, it is a
fact that recruitment of large number of qualified teachers at once might not be possible due to non-availability
of sufficient funds but if the existing teachers are properly trained and motivated, they can play a vital role in
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improving the literacy rate. They can motivate their students to continue their studies despite the financial
hardships they and their parents are facing.

For this purpose services of experienced and retired teachers may also prove handy. Hiring professional trainers
is another option. Apart from training, the school teachers need to be motivated through incentives. When they
consider themselves as financially stable, they will do their job diligently. Teachers serving in tribal and other
rural areas should be given special incentives like special pay and allowances as well as bonuses for those teachers
who show promising results.

Another way to ensure provision of education to children without costing huge sums of money is to make the
“ghost schools” functional. As we have seen in media reports that there are dozens of ghost schools present in
different parts of the country. The infrastructure is already there, the teachers are being paid regularly but the
schools are not functional. Instead these schools are used by the influential people as their “Hujras” or dairy farms.

It is very unfortunate that despite the media reports, government has not taken any step to make those schools
fully functional except one or two schools in KPK which were made functional by the provincial government in
recent past. Government needs to mobilise the concerned authorities to take action against those people who use
the government schools for their personal use. Moreover, action should also be taken against those teachers who
are not doing their job regularly.

National Book Foundation is doing a very good job by providing books to the readers on low prices. As
government already allot a significant amount of money to the NBF every year so if NBF starts providing school
books, it will make life easy for all those children and their parents who cannot afford to buy books for their
children. Moreover the “Books on Wheels” project can include schools in remote areas in this project. It will help
the children of far flung areas to get books on their doorsteps.

Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan ensures the provision of free education to all children of the age 5 to
16 years in such manner as may be determined by law. So it is the duty of state to leave no stone unturned in
providing education to all children. The process of development is incomplete without education. The secret of
development of all the developed countries is that they directed their resources to provision of education to their
masses. Our country needs to follow the same route to development.
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Q. 3 How do you see the role of political talk shows and other current affairs programs in creation of
awareness about politics in the country? Provide your comments.

When someone brings news to you- you should investigate its credibility first (Quran).

Politics is the life blood of media coverage because that forms the reality of perception on which action is based.
Political environment is depicted by media.

Today, everyone of us has make us more enjoyable and leisure life by watching TV, and they enjoy by listening
radio and read magazine and newspaper. People are influenced by shows on TV and articles in the newspaper.
Media keeps the people updated and informed about what is happening around the world.

Not only people have positive impacts on the TV, they have negative impact too. They are informed and are
intouch with the upcoming news. People should get aware of the information they get that can be dangerous in
their minds. The TVs permeate their lives, guiding us what are we supposed to wear, how we are supposed to
look and act.
Television not only give positive but negative effects as well on the viewers of talkshows, many studies have
impact of television on society. Mostly young ones are more affected by this. 14 August 1947 when 1st time these
words were spoken instead of “this is all India radio by Zahoor Azher in English and Mustafa Ali Hamadani in
Urdu” building of radio Pakistan Karachi built in 1950. In Pakistan Television was 1st introduce in the excitation
near Mezare Quaid on 16 September.
In 1955, it was a small source of entertainment and short circuit television came into being (Pakistan corporation
limited PTV). 1st official television station commenced transmission telecast from Lahore. In Karachi 1966; In
1974 Peshawar and Quetta , In 1991-1992 original telecast work in black and white PTV launched a full-scale
satellite telecasting services.
PTV news , PTV national , PTV bolan (BOLOUCHI) , PTV Global (dish network) . In 15 July 1990 , 1st private
channel NTM ( network television marketing ) was launched. On 1st March 2002 General Pervez Musharaf issued
the ordinance for launching the private channels. Nearly 100 channels can see on TV like GEO , ARY , HUM ,
DUNIYA , SAMA , WAQAT , EXPRESS , CITY42 , MASALA , ZAUQ , GEO sports , Qtv , AJJ , etc , which
is based on news , sports , religion , informative , documentary , music , cooking , business , political etc . Abdul
Razaq Yaqoob (ARY) has leading private channels chain in Pakistan ( Javaid,2012) .
History of talk show is quite long, and it represents first formats of programing in tv history. While the greater
part of the early shows was geared towards politics and Government, a number of celebrity-oriented shows began
to start up during the 1960s. In 1070s, talk shows were replaced by game shows.a host figures and anchors always
host the talk shows.talk shows usually consist of groups of people who are learned and who get a great experience
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to whatever issue is being discussed on the episode of the show. A call-in show is that in which anchors takes the
live call.
Pakistani media is very lively. Current Affair programs or Talk Shows is most important format of private
television channels. There are multi-dimensional role of Talk Shows or Current Affair Programs in Pakistani
society :
• to inform
• to educate
• to formulate public opinion
Current Affair Program or Talk Shows have great impact on politics , social values , life styles of people ,
relationship of masses and foreign policy.
There are many Pakistani Talk Shows that are fulfulling our masses needs. For example :
GEO Talk Shows ( AJJ RAAT KAMRAN KHAN K SATH ) , ( CAPITAL TALK )
ARY Talk Shows ( KHARA SACH ) , ( )
In theses talk shows , ask soft questions about our country crises due to this viewers like these programs because
in these Talk Shows everyone fights and the anchor are expert in engaging people in fight with each other. Talk
Shows is a TV program in which single anchor or more than one anchor have a conversation on different current
affairs, participants of the talk shows are usually educated. They have great information experience about the
current issues happening around the world. In some of the talk shows a single guest tells about their life
experience, their work , career etc. the most important aspect of talk show is to spread awareness to give
information to others etc.
Nowadays people not only think about politics but they even are very interested in each and everything about
talks ahows and happenings in it. By the talk shows nowadays viewers judge who is better what is good which
political party they should give their votes to, and who will be the next leader this all helps the viewers to know
more about it.
Rationale of the study:
The present study on “role of anchor of news channels creating political awareness in youth”. The researcher
selected this topic to measure the role of news anchors to create political awareness among youth. Nowadays in
Pakistan political issues are increasing day by day and almost every news channel is showing talk shows.
Through these talk shows everyone got to know the political situation and issues happening in our country. Youth
is the major part of our country on which our country development lies. From these talk shows people specially
our youth came to know about political issues of our country. This study will also useful for our government.
Objectives
1. To find out the impact of talk shows Anchors in creating political awareness among youth in Lahore.
2. To measure the level of political worth based on political participation and political awareness among
youth in Lahore.
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3. To find out the knowledge of respondent about politics.

Hypothesis
Hi- Political Talk Shows motivate youth to take part in politics.
Ho- Political Talk Shows are just for awareness of political issues.
Hi- Talk Shows increase political efficacy among youth of Pakistan
Ho- Talk Shows are informational live program for update of news in detail.
Hi- Political talk shows increase the knowledge of respondents.
Questions
1. Do you think the role of talk shows Anchors effect the mind of youth in Lahore ?
2. Do you think the Anchors play effective role in reporting a leader’s position?
3. Is Anchors are providing proper information about political issue to their youth?
4. Don’t you think that these political talk shows just give benefits to their channels?
5. Are talk shows guided by the guests rather than anchor?
Literature review
Kabir (1965) states in his study that television has ability and it changes the tradition in the society and also has
power to change the social rules of the society, television enforce the society to adopt new trends and made them
part of their lives. . The purpose of the study is to measure the impact of t.v programs in the behaviors and the
standard of living towards media.
Roper (1975) as quoted by Mark (1982) in his research concluded that people habitually got most of the news
about what is going on in the world from TV . When Roper’s organization asked a national cross-section about
this in 1974 , 65% replied TV and only 47% said newspapers.
Rmeez Ahmad from the University of Punjab found that Talk Shows are increasing the political awareness and
socialization of the viewers. Although respondents have awareness to talk shows they don’t participate in politics.
It showed the passive attitude of the young towards politics. Talk Shows of Pakistan TV channels are now an
enjoyable battle of two political parties instead of conclusion on different issues or problems and demand from
the people.
Bilal et al. in 2012 consummated a study on talk shows on Pakistani TV. Their objective was to explore the
relationship between spoken words and ideology of the Talk Shows’ anchors. They picked up two Talk Shows
from GEO TV and they found that anchors try to maintain Talk Shows intentionally by setting agendas.
However, Yousuf in 2012 states that Talk Shows are creating political awareness im Pakistan. Researcher showed
that Pakistani electronic media is more informative. Talk Shows are playing a major role in shaping awareness.
The researcher has conducted surveys. The study found that, TV viewers watch Talk Shows regularly and that
they consider Talk Shows to be an informative program. A grand majority 96% of viewers believed that, Talk
Shows can provide political knowledge and generate awareness to the public.
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Politics means social relations involving authority or power” and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and
apply policy. According to Hegel, Political History “is an idea of the state with a moral and spiritual force beyond
the material interests of its subjects: it followed that the state was the main agent of historical change” ( Hegel,
1991). Aristotle concludes that “man is a political animal” : we can only achieve the good life by living as citizen
in a state.
Afsheen (2002 cited in saghir, 2009), in her article:
“As far as news Talk Shows section is concerned , private TV channels are doing well. In the discussion on ARY
and GEO , people belonging to different political parties and areas of Pakistan express their views. They try to
cover all the important occurring in Pakistan either having international values or not. So it is really a good sign
that is public can get hold of all the information without censor or distortion of facts in governments favor.”
Today people not only think over it but also talk about politics. They know each and everything today due to
political talk shows and also can judge who is better and should be next Leader and can work better for their
country. ( politics portal, 2012).
Four different ways of measuring the impact of anchor of Talk Shows have been used in previous research :
stoichiometric techniques , interviews with key information , observation , and self-designating techniques
(Jacoby , 1974; Rogers & Cartano 1962 , Weismann 1994). The prominent measurements have always been self-
designating techniques, because they can easily be administered in survey.
Rees in 2007 said that uniqueness of the opinion in not special to the set-up of the talk shows. he states,
“In TV programs , we find normal arguments produce in normal ways, but intensified by the pressures of the
specific purpose and layout of the show , hosts elicit arguments to increase the entertainment value of the show;
participants use arguments to detract their opponent’s image and to enhance their own image”.
Alina , Marukh and Rana (2006) conducted the research “level of interest in TV programs channels and its impact
on personal aspiration of youth”. For the conducted research, the greater the level of interest in TV programs, the
greater will be the impact on personal aspiration of the students. Further, to find out the relationship, if any ,
between the level of interest in TV programs and its impact on personal aspiration.
The study conducted by Daheem , Misbah and Atif (2007) , research of “impact of political communication
through electronic media on party loyalty”. For the conduction of the present research , the researchers chose
Pakistan People’s Party that the division or categorization amongst this party has been seen to a much lower
extent as compared to other contemporary political parties. Researchers also observed that the element of loyalty
exists muh more in PPP as compared with other parties of its own level.
Theoretical Framework
There are many theories which are related to media and influence individual directly, proportionally, immediately
etc. These theories have different means to the media and their users. Many theories come into this framework
that can relate the topic of researcher. But researcher discussed the one theory which is :
• Two-Step-Flow of communication.
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Introduction Of The Theory:

The two-step flow of communication theory was first introduce by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson , and Hazel
Gaudet in The People’s Choice, a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making. These researchers
expected to find empirical support for the direct influence of media message on their viewers.
This theory assert the information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals(opinion leaders)
who pay close attention to the mass media and its message receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their
own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. The term ‘personal influence’ was coined to refer to
the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message.
Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviors and are quite similar
to those they influence. The two-step floe theory has improved the understanding of how the mass media influence
decision making. The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behavior,
and it helped why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes and behavior.
Application Of The Theory:
The theory describes that Talk Shows are answerable for refining viewers about the idea of political and social
truth. This situation is clearly exposed by research which seeks to establish what audience can and do understand
about and from the mass media. Such researches have shown that audience can talk intelligently, perform the way
they see something influenced by media. The mass media may not be successful in telling people what to think ,
but mass media successful in telling what to think about. Media and the political talk shows creating awareness
among audience and youth about the current situation of their country.
The TWO-STEP FLOW THEORY asserts the following points:
• the information is transferred not only by the medium but also through interpersonal communication.
• There are people between the medium and the interpersonal communication network which are called
opinion leaders or Anchor persons.
• The influence of such opinion leaders or Anchor persons is significantly larger than that of the medium.
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Q. 4 How can we empower provinces? Provide some suggestions. Also discuss the factors that created a
sense off deprivation in Baluchistan. What different measures have been taken by the government to
create harmony in the province?

Peoples’ Voice

In Pakistan, media is a source of social modernization and a simultaneous window to outer world. It’s playing a
key role in highlighting socio-cultural issues of the populace of the country. Besides, it is emerging as an advocate
of granting the people their fundamental rights. By bridging gaps based on cultural differences, it is leading to
harness and foster national solidarity. Media has made headway and has gained popularity by vocalizing the
public grievances and problems. It has an ability to influence public by disseminating awareness especially on
political rights and responsibilities of the individuals. It is like a watchdog for government as well as non-
government institutions.

Societal Modernization

Media is playing its peculiar role in bringing social modernization. In Pakistan, a huge change is being witnessed
in society during past decade due to increase involvement of media. People have become more modernized. After
being familiar with new trends prevailing around the world, the people have acquired more sophisticated ways of
dealing with each other. They have become more socially active. They have developed a matured sense. This has
enabled them to adopt new norms and values by remaining within the moral limits. This sense has made them
socially responsible citizens and encouraged them to accentuate socio-cultural issues.

Presenting Soft Image of Pakistan

Media has a significant contribution in disseminating education and information especially that is related to new
technologies and developments. It also provides a medium for promoting distant learning where it harnesses
sectarian harmony by presenting different points of view from renowned scholars from different schools of
thought. By presenting a better image of Pakistan media is helping in attracting foreign direct investment in
Pakistan.

Highlighting Public Grievances

Media is playing a promising role in highlighting socio-cultural issues. The issues like poverty, inflation,
unemployment, illiteracy, inhuman behaviour of some tribal and feudal lords, etc., are highlighted by media. It
has also been an ardent supporter and advocate of human rights. It’s a known fact that human rights are being
violated all around the world. In Pakistan, inhuman practice like child labour, gender discrimination, acid
throwing on females, child marriages and honour killing also exist. Media has raised its voice against such ill-
practices as well.
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Fostering Inter-provincial Harmony

Media’s role in fostering inter-provincial harmony is also laudable as well as pivotal. In Pakistan, various
programs depicting cultural values and traditions of each province are aired by different channels. This promotes
customs and traditions of each province and creates a psychological bonding. People develop more understanding
toward their norms and values. In this way, they respect others’ culture. This brings harmony which strengthens
the social fabric leading to national solidarity.

Public Trust in Government

Media acts as a channel of maintaining good Public-Government relations. In Pakistan, it is taken as a source for
informing government officials about the reaction of public related to their policies. It is performing its role in
development of support communication services as well. The awareness on the projects which are supposed to be
initiated for the betterment of people of a particular area is being disseminated by utilizing media. This helps in
the form of acceptance of that program by the local residents.

An Independent Watchdog

Media’s role as a watchdog for government and non-government organizations is also plausible. In Pakistan, both
print and electronic media take the government and NGO officials to the task if they commit some wrong.
Different media persons, being a responsible citizen, analyze the performance of different departments and give
tough time to their officials for not performing up to the mark may it be the case of Pakistan Steel Mills, Rental
Power Project or the issue of Arsalan Iftikhar, all were brought to spotlight by media.

Medium of Education

Media is playing commendable role in education sphere. It is being utilized as a medium for emphasizing
importance of education. In Pakistan, there are many campaigns which have been launched to stress the
importance of seeking education. The mass campaign ‘Zara Sochiye’ is one of the efforts in this regard. Media is
emerging also as a window which opens horizons of development, research and technology. In Pakistan, there
are many institutes which disseminate technological information within as well as outside the country. For
instance, Pakistan Museum of Natural History and Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre
(PASTIC), two important subsidiary organizations of the Pakistan Science Foundation, are playing their due role
in disseminating scientific information.

Media is also a source of distant learning all around the world. In Pakistan, media has become a part of educational
institutes. It has rendered its services in the form of educational channels only dedicated for broadcasting
educational programs. The online distant learning program initiated by Virtual University is one of such programs.
This has enabled the students of this institute to take all the lectures through satellite channels of the institute.
This has helped the students living in far areas to excel in education.
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Negative Aspects

Despite all positive contribution toward society, there are certain flaws in the role played by media in Pakistan.

Useless Coverage

Unnecessary coverage to events has become a trend now. Distortion of media content has too become a common
practice. Lack of farsightedness of breaking any news story is further aggravating the situation. There is no
denying the fact that media has a hand in every walk of life. These are some flaws which are destroying its positive
image.

Creating Hypes

Presentation of distorted content is another flaw which is leading the audience and readers to lose trust in media.
In Pakistan, there are many programmes being aired which try to twist and distort the facts for their own purposes.
They never hesitate to follow these acts for creating media hype for their own benefit. They have only concern
with program ratings which never allowing them to even think about media ethics and responsibilities.

Being Mercenaries

Acting like mercenary is another negative aspect of media. In Pakistan, many media persons use this tool to their
own benefit. They indulge in the practice of being on payroll of some politicians. There are many political parties
who have their associations in both print and electronic media. They use them to achieve their political goals for
dragging their opponents name in the mud. This is against the true spirit of media.

Irresponsible Behaviour

Lack of farsightedness in breaking news is another omnipresent vice in media. Without evaluating the
consequences of some particular news, every channel rushes in to break it first. For example, a renowned channel
broke news at the time of Mumbai attacks that the culprit had its belongings to Pakistan without ascertaining the
repercussions of their act. This kind of practice is similar to setting one’s own house on fire.

These are certain flaws which should be overcome by taking concrete steps. Media policy should be formulated
by the media organizations. Freedom with responsibility should be the slogan raised and practiced by both forms
of Media. Moreover, some image-building measures should be taken at every level to make its appropriate use.
So that misuse of media should be discouraged. A comprehensive media policy should be introduced by the media
organizations themselves to overcome ambiguities in rules and regulations. Moreover, Pemra should be
invigorated and made vigorous.

Concluding the arguments, it must be admitted that media is playing a commendable role in Pakistan and it cannot,
at all, be negated. The ways with which it is contributing in the society are unbeatable but it is a known fact that
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it’s negative aspects overpowering the importance of media as a catalyst for bringing transformation for
betterment in society.
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Q. 5 Elucidate hurdles in the economic uplift of Pakistan? Suggest some remedial steps to overcome
these hurdles. You are supposed to discuss the role of IMF in the economy of Pakistan as well.

Pakistan has been facing different challenges regarding to its economy. The economic situation of Pakistan is
very critical and people are looking towards the solution of these challenges faced by the economy of Pakistan.
Pakistan has different opportunities which can help it to solve its economic problem. But without tackling long
term challenges and problems decisively, country will no longer be able to take advantages of opportunities.
Increase in debt, increase in import and decrease in export, low saving, lower investment, low tax collection, lack
of policy implementation, excessive taxation are some of the challenges faced by the Pakistan’s economy. Some
of the solutions of these problems are offering low interest rate, collection of the taxes, proper use of young labor
force, use of technology, governance and decentralization.

Decentralization is one of the factors which can help increase the economy of the country. An individual sitting
in capital can’t identify the needs of the different areas of country but the local people those are living there know
exactly what they needed, what are their requirements. One has to transfer power to other, decentralize and
delegate authority, provide resources to the local/district governments so that they can take decisions at their own
at district level. District government will take decision according to the requirement and the needs of the areas.
Local government should report to the provincial government about its activities and provincial government
should report to federal government. If our government does so we can do more by same resources which are
being wasted today. Economic growth rate can be raised from 6-7 percent average to 8-9 percent annually. Interest
rate is one of the factors which can increase the economy of country. Government can offer low interest rate to
the public so that it becomes easier for the investors to borrow money from the banks and invest it in their business.
Return in the form of interest rate should be low so that people do invest their money. Borrowing at low interest
rate and investing money will increase the level of demand in the economy. It will increase the demand of labor
force to meet the high production level. GDP and living standard of people will improve.

Tax collection can play a vital role to improve the economy of Pakistan. For the past four years, Pakistan has
witnessed 81 percent rise in tax revenue, which is a big plus for Pakistan. There was 5.4% growth in GDP, which
is highest and the first time in over a decade. Government should allow Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to work
as impartially, independently and transparently which will make FBR an efficient and effective tax administration.
This will increase the confidence of taxpayers in FBR and increase tax collection in fair manner. This higher
collection of tax can be used for the development of infrastructure. It will help to create jobs by reducing
unemployment and generate income for the millions.Pakistan is among those countries which has a young labor
force which can be bound for its own and global economy. If we tool these young women and men accurately,
we increase the female participation in labor force, give them knowledge and skills, they can become the labor
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force for the rest of the world. This will give immense boost to Pakistan’s economy. In 2001, worker allowances
were less than a billion dollars; today we have almost 7-8 billion dollars. Currently this can be multiplied by three
or four times if we have educated labor force i.e. skilled labor force going for foreign employment. This is the
best mode to create employment opportunities because if you have younger people approaching to labor force
and you don’t have job opportunities for them you can have social disturbance. Therefore, it is commanding to
make employment opportunities for them and train them in the kind of skills which are not necessary only by the
national economy but also by the international economy. Pakistan can put over 30 million plus population by
drilling training in various fields to meet the market needs in the age group of 25-35.

Technology has been spreading like a wild fire. 5 years ago, not every individual had mobile phone but today 95
million Pakistanis have mobile phones today. This technology can be used to provide individuals banking
services, information on climate/weather, agriculture extension, health, education etc. Technology particularly
the information/communication technology can be used for the betterment of social and economic problems of
Pakistan. Pakistan is making good progress on Business-to-Business (B2B) front as software industry aims to
achieve the goal of $5 billion export mark by year 2020 through software development and service out-sourcing
which will help to improve economy of country.

While there is a crucial need to fix persistent challenges, more innate reforms are required to improve and attract
talent to serve in the businesses and public sector. Instead of politicians, the academics, intellectuals and
community leaders should come forward and play their role in social revolution.