By Syed Irfan Ashraf
Pakistan’s media elites invest hugely in the material development of their networks but no such generosity is evident in providing a comfortable working environment to their employees.
Resultantly, the majority of journalists in Pakistan have always struggled for survival.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) issued a report on the eve of International Press Freedom Day recently: “There is no visible improvement in the working conditions for journalists, who still work on dismal wage structure in an environment of no professional liberty and growth.”
Such concerns may sound far-fetched to those whose image of a journalist does not extend beyond anchorpersons on news channels. The fact is, a sizable proportion of journalists contribute to their field without earning enough. Others earn, but not enough to match their contribution. This imbalance has affected the quality of journalism and journalists.
Journalists have traditionally suffered indifference and exploitation. The vernacular press appeared in British India around 1818. It owed its existence to reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy. The latter took up journalism to purge the Hindu community of the sati ritual. After 1857, the Sir Syed school of thought used journalism to reform Indian Muslims. Throughout the 19th century journalism in the subcontinent served as a means to an end. It was not an end in itself.
Militant press in the early 20th century fine-tuned these traditions. Urdu-i-Mualla, Al-Hilal, Al-Balagh, Zamindar, Comrade and Hamdard were owned by heavyweight politicians who believed in journalism to extend their political causes. Long hours, sacrifices and imprisonment became part of the routine in journalism.
Qadoos Sehbai narrated in his autobiography an incident from 1934. He had joined the Khilafat newspaper, which was owned by Maulana Shaukat Ali. In response to workers’ demand for salaries, the owner highlighted his political mission. “Until finally we decided to go on strike following which the maulana ordered his servants to throw our luggage out of Khilafat House,” Sehbai wrote, adding that some workers were reinstated after they tendered an apology and were also paid half their dues.
After the creation of Pakistan, the strong influence of the leftists brought journalism close to its professional ideal of conscientious reporting. However, the ruling establishment had views to the contrary. The truth was considered sacred and was linked to dissent, hence journalism was considered a threat.
In 1948, an arrest warrant was issued for Faiz Ahmed Faiz, editor of Imroz and Pakistan Times. Five journals and a newspaper were banned. In a deadly blow, in 1959 a military ruler took over Progressive Papers Ltd to muffle the Pakistan Times, Imroz and the weekly Lailo Nihar. The Associated Press of Pakistan suffered similarly in the 1960s.
McCarthyism in the US is also remembered as a crackdown on leftists in Pakistan. The human aspect and the professional impact of the subsequent highhandedness were long-lasting. Hundreds of journalists lost their jobs, leaving a large vacuum that was later filled by pro-establishment rightwing journalists. It is not surprising that there are pro-Taliban elements in the current media generation since the seeds were sown from the 1960s onwards.
Official intervention during this decade deprived the country’s journalism of its vision and ideals and set it on a bleak path. First, the state adopted a strategy of coercion and gratification to discourage independent thinking and promote corruption by giving newsprint quotas, advertisements and plots to compliant parties. Secondly, the state extended tacit support to the cartelisation of employers, which reduced journalism to a ruthless business.
The only solid positive step taken by officialdom was in 1959 when the press commission report was announced. It led to the promulgation of the Condition of Service Ordinance, 1960, which made it binding upon newspapers to establish provident funds and pay salaries according to the recommendations of the Wage Board Award. After amendment in 1973 the award became controversial because it was extended to non-journalists as well.
On the whole, when the state became oppressive and employers turned suppressive, journalists suffered. The community became disorganised and lost effective leadership. Workers were discouraged from showing their appointment letters to anyone. This was partly because workers remained designated as trainees for a number of years.
With very few exceptions, one could clearly see signs of frustration in newspaper offices. Restless employees sought catharsis in the form of narratives that provided insight into the employer-employee relationship and the deplorable working conditions. After joining a national Urdu daily a scribe was, for example, briefed about a status-conscious boss who had sacked his reporter when he realised that they were both going to the same function.
Ironically, the journalists’ stance has been different. When the Nawaz Sharif government took on a media group, journalists stood like a rock behind the owner. Similarly, Peshawar’s Frontier Post was closed down in the early years of the Musharraf rule but workers held sit-ins despite the sizzling heat. Journalists were also lashed publicly during the Zia era.
Harsh working conditions have plagued the print media but the issue is even worse where the electronic media is concerned. The average TV journalist works for 13 to 14 hours a day but is supposed to be available round the clock for all the outlets of his media group. Staffers in the main TV offices are given a low salary but outstation correspondents do not get a regular one at all. In some cases salaries are delayed for months. Worst of all, job insecurity has increased substantially since all TV channels follow the contract system and hire or fire at will.
Meanwhile, representative organisations must understand that they have failed to utilise their vast networks and resources for the capacity-building of media professionals. Journalism is no longer just a mission or a business. Changing times have made it a competitive profession that needs a trained, educated and motivated workforce.
The writer is a freelance journalist and teaches at the Department of Journalism, University of Peshawar.
[email protected]
Source: Dawn
Date:5/17/2010
