by Umair Hassan

Created on: September 29, 2009

According to the Pakistan Press Foundation survey done in 2006, Pakistan's media is generally assumed amongst the most outspoken in South Asia. However some people in Pakistan negate this, and see media as camouflaged in government bureaucracy.

The sprouting of private radio and television channels in the last few years have seen a much noticeable change in freedom of expression. Media has now become symbolic and pluralistic and caters to a lot of viewers across the country. These private channels has set a new trend, especially in President Musharaf's regime, when under his govern the media was given a leniency to express their views, even against the government. Because of this shift, there is an open competition in broadcasting, and thus the people enjoy more freedom-based exposure. Now the channels are more newsworthy, and give more intricate details to the happenings across the country, and thus contribute in creating a global village.

Even though the media is still under pressure, and is frequently threatened and condemned by the government for going against them, yet due to competition the channels do not keep shut anymore, rather voice public opinions in regard to unemployment, poverty, price rises, worsening of the law and order situation etc.

However freedom is also being misused in certain ways such as the upper class is over hyped and over represented than the middle and lower class on television, and some ethnic groups are portrayed in a prejudiced way, such as many pathans are often given the characters of servants etc, in television serials, and in some commercials women are portrayed as sex objects. Since advertisement is the sole income of the media in Pakistan, thus people with money for example industrialists; big organizations have considerable power to drive media on their terms.

Referring to recent past, it is ironic that the President (Musharraf), who gave media the boast to voice public opinions, was later on jeopardized by the same medium. The private channels made caricatures and amusing talk shows on how the President was forced to 'get out of his uniform'. Also recently, the media hyped the lawyers' movement, as both print and electronic medium showcased the much 'revolutionary' movement as if its an exciting match of cricket between 'Pakistan and India'.

Such is the chaos, which is sprouting due to the freedom given to media. Every channel airs a number of talk shows, which spice up politics and portray individual government

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