FPAC

Prof. Dr. Ahsan Akhtar Naz, Institute of Communication Studies, University of the Punjab
 

Pakistan's is a curious case of the historical media-government differences due to internal instability, terrorism, and wars. A succession of governments has exercised strict controls over a media that it fought rigorously through violations and severe punishments during the martial law regimes. The democratic governments began negotiating ethics with the media, giving it freedom and protection under the 1973 constitution. However, their differences were never settled despite the introduction of free media policy by Musharraf's (semi)martial law government at the advent of the new millennium. The history of media regulations presents a never-ending story of ethical violations by media groups and professionals who have compromised truth and objectivity for vested interests. The magnitude of this lapse has increased tremendously due to heavy induction of immature journalists. Consequently, the media groups lack abilities for managing information with responsibility in the present post-9/11 War on Terror scenario, that parallels a rise of free electronic media in Pakistan. This situation reflects a demand by some sections of the Press and public to implement media ethics to avoid mass-mediated view of reality pertaining to terrorism and sectarianism. The media should change its attitude and frame and implement ethics to avoid any future regulations by the government. This paper examines the Pakistani media scene and the historical media-government differences in view of Pakistan's internal instability and terrorism that global media project, putting challenges to the local censors and the credibility of the government and media in Pakistan.

Maha Jamil, Kinnaird College for Women Lahore

 

While violence is not new to the human race, it is an increasing problem in modern society. With greater access to firearms and explosives, the scope and efficiency of violent behavior has had serious consequences. We need only look at the recent school shootings and the escalating rate of youth homicides among urban adolescents to appreciate the extent of this ominous trend. While the causes of youth violence are multi factorial and include such variables as poverty, family psychopathology, child abuse, exposure to domestic and community violence, substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders, the research literature is quite compelling that children's exposure to media violence plays an important role in the etiology of violent behavior. While it is difficult to determine which children who have experienced televised violence are at greatest risk, there appears to be a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior within vulnerable "at risk" segments of youth. In this article, I will briefly review the impact of media violence on children and adolescents, and indicate the vital role physicians can play in helping to diminish this powerful cause of violent behavior.

 

Media violence poses a threat to public health in as much as it leads to an increase in real-world violence and aggression. Fictional television and film violence contribute to a short-term and along-term increase in aggression or anger in young audience. Television news violence also contributes to increased violence, principally in the form of copied suicides and acts of aggression.

Hyba Nawaz, Kinnaird College for Women Lahore

 

The importance of media is vital in the 21st century as media is playing the role of gatekeeper and watchdog. It is an age of globalization and media which influences thoughts, lives, emotions and actions. Males and females are waving together not only in media institutions in modern age but they are also participating in every walk of life including the police, army, business, law, medical, engineering, aeronautics, teaching, nursing etc. Women are a part of every field in developed societies, while their participation is limited in different spheres in the conservative societies, where they have to face problems and criticism. Pakistan is also among the underdeveloped nations having multifaceted cultural, religious and traditional taboos that restrict women in participating in some of the sectors purely meant for their male counterparts and journalism is also such a field in which women have to confront numerous hurdles and difficulties.

Madiha Munawar International Islamic University Islamabad

Globalization is generally stated as "more than expansion of activities beyond the boundaries of particular nation states. Globalization shortens the distance between people all over the world by the electronic communication .Whether we like it or not, the phenomenon of globalization is more concrete than ever, globalization has impacted enormously on the media and here we discusses globalization theory from the viewpoint of media. This paper addresses the unspecified functions of media in the background of cultural, economic, technological and new media spheres developed in the recent decades. This research also highlights some of the challenges that media has to face in a globalised world.

Anam Sairah Khan, Kinnaird College for Women Lahore

 

Online media have become a key part of social and cultural life of people in many ways. There is no way one can avoid technology now a days. When we talk about communication and media, internet is playing a vital role in everyone's life. Internet has become an integral part for news and information. With the rapid increase of convenient technology, young youth population is now more inclined towards timely news and convenient ways of getting information. For this purpose, online media is there to serve the need. Online media is an electronic media just like printed newspapers but in electronic format. For educated Pakistani population online media is considered as an easy source of information. From educational institutes to offices and even homes, Internet has become a vital need.