In the runup to the Iraq war, there were clearly problems in the United States media apparatus as they failed to fully report on the consequences of military action in Iraq. In fact, there was a so called "rush to war" and it is commonly felt that the media played a major role in this. As the years have passed, the media has gained some degree of independence from the ruling party, at least enough to give the appearances of independence.
Now, let us turn to pakistan, where the idea of a free press is relatively new.
In fact, Pakistan has not in recent history any semblance of a free press and the sole media outlet for quite some time was state run media. This of course is antithetical to a democratic society.
With the onset of satellite communications and satellite television, there has been an explosion in pakistan in recent years of privately owned stations, the most popular of which include GEO TV, and ARY.
GEO and ARY have multiple channels, that include sports entertainment, etc, nut their main staple is their news division.
In the past several years, their news division has grown increasingly independent from the ruling party, namely General Pervez Musharraf, the military dictator of Pakistan since 1999. As many of us who live in the media dominated american society, we recognize the influence media can have on the thinking of nations, and its peoples. As we have seen increasing support of unjustified wars that was virtually perpetuated by a willing media. In Pakistan, the opposite had been happening, the media, an independent private media , had been for several years holding the feet of the ruling party to thefire, so to speak.
SO as it is, on November 3, 2007, when needing to destroy the current judiciary and replace it with a puppet judiciary of his own liking, General Musharraf recognized the need to rid himself of the media and cut off all media in paksitan except state run television.
In addition to the revocation of the constitution, this move can be seen as akin to de facto creation of a fascist atmospheere within the country.
To this day, GEO TV stays on internationally and can be seen along with ARY from the comfort of my living room in the U.S. At the same time, these same informative channels, are banned in pakistan. Thus, my relatives in Pakistan do not know of the gravity of the situation within their own country. So as it is, our blood boils in New York, while ignorance is bliss in pakistan.
There are countless reports of protest coming out of pakistan, but there is not simultaneous uproar from the masses primarily because they remain in ignorance as their fundamental freedoms have been quashed with the stroke of a pen, and a handful of compliant army officers.
We can never underestimate the need for a free press.http://parsitani.livejournal.com