MEDIA ROLE IN NATIONAL GRIEF

Pakistan a hard country is a title given to the book written by Anatol Lieven, where he categorically points to the resilience of the nation. This country of nearly 200 million people has witnessed quite a lot in terms of tragedy, death, and misfortune. One such incident happened on Friday 20th April 2012, when Bhoja Airlines flight B-213 on its route from Karachi-Islamabad met an unlucky fate near “loi beer” a small village near Chaklala Air force base at 6:40pm PST. The 127 (the crew and passengers) people on board that flight were killed, with its remains scattered in a 5/10 mile km radius on land. The passengers: 110 adults, 5 newborn babies and 6 other children were onboard in crashed plane.

There are many questions that a logical mind asks: Foremost being, with people perishing in such a huge disaster why in the name of God was Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Defence hasty in granting license to a bad reputed company of yester years? Why was political pressure on the Director CAA specifically for this airline? Why hasn’t the previous airline crash of July 2010 been an example to cover up those ill’s that have cost innocent people’s lives now (157 people died in Air Blue crash that year).Why a plane such as Boeing 737 which is no more being manufactured, given an A-okay certificate to fly? A plane whose fuselage becomes weaker because of the repetitive compression and decompression and this isn’t the only thing which could have caused it, weather, malfunctioning instruments and lack of maintenance played a vital role in this crash. Pilots are not to be blamed with such an old machine they were one of the most experienced ex-Air force Pilots! When the President or PM of Pakistan address the National assembly, helicopters hover on Islamabad city, till he/they finish the speech and return, couldn’t those helicopters take floodlights and provisions necessary to the crash scene? Why did it take 5/6 hours in providing just ample light for the rescue operation to take place?

With ruins of the plane, body parts everywhere in that area, media persons, locals, and loads of others walked around the scene as if it was a Sunday market venue! Shown live on TV Channels all across the world it was as if death and devastation was a spectacle never to be witnessed again. Where crucial evidence for investigation lay open under the raining skies, such people were free to take pictures, videos, pilfer cash and kind of dead people all over the place. What sort of a cordon was that? Private TV Channels in Pakistan were giving minute to minute breaking news of the event, with scenes from that area which were gruesome to watch. Body parts, shoes, luggage, note books, mobile phones, jewellery, laptops, clothes, identity cards, passports, watches were shown as if the camera was in a supermarket and the items displayed had great deals on them for bargain!

Television broadcasts showed footage of distraught relatives, weeping and hugging each other. One such private channel showed coverage of the event and then swiftly took the viewers to its Karachi correspondent where the anchor of this breaking news was sitting with the family of deceased Flight Purser Ghazala Malik. Her picture shown on full screen, the anchor (a female), asked the bereaved mother (who was holding her late daughters picture in her hand and who looked stoned by the news), ‘Your daughter was the eldest, an earning member of the family, she was unmarried, you had desires in your heart to see the marriage of your daughter, see her settled and happy in life, now that she is no more; What are your views on her demise?’ Is that a question to ask a mother, who received the news of her daughter’s death minutes ago? Does such footage amount to be shown in a breaking news slot? The sentiments of parents: who have lost their children in an uncalled for crash? Is that what responsible Journalism is all about? Where are the ethics of dealing with a victim’s family? Why rub salt into the wounds? Someone’s relatives could be your relatives too, why to put them through further distress? Does this too amount to media rating? If it does, it is highly an immoral way to do so.

The media should understand: Showing graphic images is a challenge to watch for the masses. To be careful in narratives of an incident, to be less descriptive of a scene, let the privacy of someone’s loved one remain intact. Try to maintain a balance of seriousness and avoid hopelessness reach people. A microphone in hand does not mean that the anchorperson should lose all moral grounds, sentences with encouragement to the victim’s family and the viewers should be maintained as priority. Forcing children, youth, old people to comment on their loss or re-live their experience can cause serious Psychological setbacks. Children are particularly vulnerable and may assume an enormous sense of guilt if they feel that they have said or done something inadequate during a media interview. Inappropriate coverage of wreckage, death can undermine the purpose or healing value of the activity. Following should be pointers adopted by people handling the microphone: 1. Avoid the impulse to titillate or speculate. 2. Report information only from identified official spokespeople. 3. Stick to fully verified information that won’t hamper recovery efforts. 4. Respect the potentially still fragile state of individuals who were near or lost a loved-one in the crash/accidents/attacks. 5. Understand the range of potential reactions that can be caused by a traumatic event or the anniversary of an event. 6. Know the school/College students’ watch television too, do not take away their sensitivity. 7. Identify & provide information regarding where to access resources on coping with trauma and who to contact if someone is having difficulty.

In an hour of crisis, the media should: Concentrate more on giving out contact numbers of the office concerned to the affected families, to people at large to come up with mass help in reaching out to the authorities concerned. Electronic media should understand that their actions can lead to desensitizing of the public at large. Death is not a joke, let’s be responsible in dealing with national and personal grief.