Speakers at the two-day Inter Interdisciplinary International Conference on Media and Social Change, which began on Thursday at the University of Karachi (KU), agreed that the role of media was vital for a change in any society- whether positive or negative.
KU Vice Chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim, while accepting the importance of media in Pakistan, criticized the corporate media that was infusing foreign culture that had nothing to do with traditional Pakistani society. He especially mentioned the introduction of Valentine’s Day that was unknown to the general public a decade ago but today it had been adopted by many. Halloween, another tradition carried by Irish and Scottish immigrants to the US, has made inroads in Pakistan this year.
Pakistani society is a very traditional society and it is facing global onslaught from various international traditions that did not match with our culture, religion or tradition. It is resulting in a culture that is atrophied and lacks originality. The Pakistani society must have a parameter to accept the culture that fulfills the cultural, traditional and religious norms of society. If we do not do that the foreign culture presence in our country will be fatal to us, he warned.
He reminded the media that if it did not use its potential in a selective and careful manner, the society will be corrupted and chaotic leading to decay and anarchy.
Russian scholar Dr Zamaraeva Natalia was the keynote speaker at the inaugural session of the conference and read her paper on Media and political changes in Pakistan: Their mutual interaction and different approaches. Her paper underlined the importance of socio-political life in Pakistan in general, its integrated interconnections and mutual impact on each other since the foundation of Pakistan in 1947.
Dr Natalia, who earned her diploma from Moscow State University in Mass Media in Pakistan (1947-1980), showed her depth in the Pakistan’s socio-political situation by her discourses about the various periods in Pakistan history. For example, she talked about Pakistan Times a Pakistani daily newspaper in English that was launched in 1946 from Lahore, before the emergence of Pakistan. Its founder was an opposition leader in Pakistan’s first Constituent Assembly that determined the newspaper’s orientation until October 1958 when the first martial law was clamped on in Pakistan. The military government of General Ayub Khan changed the newspaper’s orientation into a pro-government publication.
Dr Muhammad Shamsuddin, Dean, Faculty of Arts, welcomed the participants of the conference on behalf of his faculty and expressed his ideas on Importance of media and its responsibilities.
He was of the opinion that media evolves a common set of vocabulary and common goals ie justice to society. A society without a functional press is less cohesive. Diffusion of mass culture around the world is eroding the traditional cultures around the world.
Dr Shamsuddin cautioned the people about the fact that western media was controlling the world media. A one way dissemination of news and views is endangering the world. Islam, on the other hand, is very specific about the truth in the news. He recited verses from the holy Quraan that advocates the dissemination of the news only after it has been fully authenticated.
Dr Anila Amber Malik, the organiser of the event, highlighted the goals of the conference and sought that media should act as a catalyst to bring sanity in a society contaminated with crime, corruption, poverty and illiteracy.
Prof Danilo Ardia from University of Padova, Italy, spoke in the first plenary session on the new public diplomacy and the EU. He informed the audience about the lobbyists in the EU countries just likes the Jewish lobby in the United States and thought that European powers should be wise and balanced while dealing with other countries.
He lamented the fact that often their (EU’s) words and deeds did not have the match. Imposing of order to other parts of the world may be very dangerous idea. More proactive role of EU instead could be the general and advisable norm, he suggested.
Prof Kaleem Raza Khan, Chairman Department of English, spoke on Media, culture and language in Pakistan. He said: Culture is the name of thought patterns and behaviour that people acquire, generate and share. It is culture that makes us distinguish one society or social group from the other. Human culture includes people’s beliefs, religion, rituals, etc.
Prof Khan derided the use of bilingualism in Pakistani media, both print and electronic, and gave examples that were funny. He presented his research through the slides showing the use of English words in Urdu dailies and on the TV channels that were hilarious and the auditorium burst out with peel of laughter for some time. Such use of English language will lose the cultural identity; Urdu vocabulary is losing the ground, pronunciation of English (when spoken) is distorted through inaccurate model or erroneous transliteration; pride in mother tongue and/or national language is lost and Urdu and English both remain unlearnt, he said.
Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat, Chairman Department of Sociology, read his paper on Media and social change in Pakistan: challenges and responses. He criticised the media for not doing enough to cope with the fast-emerging challenges and advised it to do sensible and responsible reporting.
He talked about the sensationalism that the media was spreading to make money and had no feeling for the reader or the audience that was being subjected to it. Dr Burfat especially mentioned the culture of breaking news that was actually breaking the hearts of many saner segments of society.
Source: The News
Date:11/6/2008
