Friday, May 7, 2010

Porn To Be Wild


"It’s late at night and the room is dimly lit. The walls are decorated with paintings, posters of sportsmen and some birthday cards. There is silence. A boy and a girl are sitting hand in hand. In due time, the boy starts playing with the girl’s hair. She walks away from him and he follows her to the edge of the bed. The girl looks coyly up at him and says, “Please don’t.” "


“But it’s too late,” says Fawad Ali, writer of the moment at a new English language newspaper to his imaginary girlfriend, “by this time tomorrow this story I am doing on Pakistan’s porn industry will be on newsstands and the net. People all over the world will be saying who is this man? Look at the hardness of his prose, the rhythm of his sentences, and the tumescence of his intellect…”

“Oh Fawad,” she sighs.

Has there ever been such a well researched, factually correct, emotionally evocative piece of sensationalist drivel? Fawad writes the prequel to his acceptance of next year’s APNS award for Best Feature Story as he revels in her willing vapidity, her unnatural blondness, her loud smile.

“Oh Fawad,” she sighs.

The moment of intimacy is broken as someone shouts, “Repeat.” Fawad takes a minute to step outside his cubicle and reply “Nothing sir, I was just talking to myself again,” to his editor at the newspaper. The newspaper, which is considered one of the best in the country (at least around the office water cooler), combines the innovative with the traditional in its products. For example, retaining the character and formation of old school journalism by putting all the words into pretty columns, while simultaneously making sure the words are often complete batshit.

“Oh Fawad,” she sighs.

Bite your lip, Express Tribune (source: Express Tribune/ Creative Commons)

He takes a moment to run his hands through her hair again before writing the quotes that will be used in the story. He knows he cannot omit the one in which the owner of the studio that has made 90 porn films since 2002, Junaid, says he sees his work as a kind of health education for young people who have questions about intimate relationships. Or the one in which he says his business model is revolutionary because his films feature young people. These are important points to make, thinks the hard-nosed investigative journalist, because people often forget that porn filmmakers are in the business because of the goodness of their hearts, and the idea of using young women instead of old crones to turn people on is really a revolutionary one.

Fawad sketches the outlines of this movement for mass sexual literacy with rhetorical virility. Having established that the opening scene is in a room with a bed, he points out that it is being shot in a study. The filmmakers initially "hired commercial sex workers" for their films but then "they began to expand by hiring enthusiastic volunteers." Fawad considers, but then discards, the thought that readers might have questions about the existence of enthusiastic volunteers for roles in pornos in a country where girls caught on camera kissing in net cafes have killed themselves. If there are people out there who see the world in such a bleak, cynical light, he feels, they might actually find inspiration in this moving story about a passion for passion. Plus, the directors sidekick Tina, a former actor herself, explains it sweetly (and "somewhat menacingly") when she says “we have the ability to convince people.”

Nonetheless, the need for a balanced perspective having been drummed into him during the intensive training sessions conducted by the newspaper before it launched, Fawad decides to include a description of a less-than-ideal situation. One actor describes how she ran away with a boyfriend who then sold her to another man who raped her for a month before putting her up for sale again. Then he realizes the hint of exploitation takes the story in a needlessly negative direction. He compensates by including a bevy of beauties who do it because they like it. Because they are aroused by it. Because it has become an addiction.

Fawad ends his piece with a cursory nod to distribution and law enforcement, two factors that have, he feels, traditionally featured too heavily in any examination of the porn industry. In this he is aided by the courteous compliance of nameless shopkeepers who are only too happy to facilitate the sale of super hits like Take Me In Your Arms and Love On The Beach, and the bumbling incompetence of local policemen, who scoff at the very notion of there being a local porn industry. Spent, he reclines, exhausted, as the editor runs his/her eyes hungrily up and down the taut lines of his blunt word hammer.

“I’m wondering,” says the editor, “if I should listen to that little voice in my crack-smoking head that is saying 'Yeh article hamaray 'We’re not tabloid ji' credentials ki patloon utar day ga?'”

Fawad looks up coyly and says, “Please don’t.” 



Author’s Note: The above was, of course, inspired by Fawad Ali’s bodice ripping (not) take on Pakistan’s adult film industry, which was printed in the Express Tribune last Sunday and has since been doing the rounds via email and FB. Another article in their Sunday magazine, The Matriarchalso generated much excitement, primarily because it mentioned female undergarments and featured descriptions such as the following:

“Rolling around the floor in hysterical laughter, the women passed the item under inspection from hand to hand, checking the adjustable straps, the fasteners, the oyster satin and lace cups and cracking jokes about the underwires which gave it its shape until, with incredibly fast, startlingly deft movements the matriarch swung my caftan up and over my head, checked me over with her work-worn hands, covered me up, ripped open the fastening down the front of her kameez, held her matched pair of overripe watermelons out for inspection and said ‘See. Mine are much bigger than yours but I don’t wear one of those!’”
And:

The room erupted as she then tried to stuff herself in to the too small bra, two of her granddaughters struggling to squeeze her appurtenances into its delicate cups as if they were kneading dough for chapattis…”

Fawad Ali is presumably a reporter, while Zahrah Nasir is a columnist. His function requires research and analysis; hers can be satisfied by whimsical musing. Another crucial difference between Fawad Ali’s rather sketchy sketch of local titillation options and Zahrah Nasir’s playful piece on lingerie and women’s relationships with their bodies is that Zahrah Nasir can write. The Matriarch works because its somewhat lurid descriptions of undressing and breasts are merely a stepping stone to observations about culture, tradition and communication. Fawad Ali’s piece, on the other hand, is merely a stone that he should be beaten on the head with, repeatedly. So I will stand by Ms. Nasir’s right to examine the geo-strategic significance of knickers. Unless she uses the word ‘appurtenances’ again. Then she’s on her own.

65 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my! Pyala people, you've outdone yourself this time. HAHAHAHAHHA! And you are right. The original piece is absolute bullshit and completely false.

Anonymous said...

ET circulation has improved and hits on ET site have doubled searching for porn writings. Great idea of fancy brigade to stabilize falling ET.

Tayyab Mahmood said...

"The matriarch" is mere copy of DAWN's SWOT....... fucking cheap publicity stunt....

"Inside Pakistan’s adult film industry" got 170 comments in Five days..

You use sex and our nation will run towards it.....

Sadia said...

MSS, will you marry me?

Anonymous said...

WTF!!!

Alpha Za said...

dude, fucking brilliant and you made your point.

Well Done.


At the very least, it's great publicity for the Tribbin Loving Folk!

Nadia said...

MSS, will you marry me?

. said...

Yes! I've been waiting patiently for your take on these two articles and boy you havn't disappointed.

Anonymous said...

Where are the mullahs? Why aren't they torching ET?

Hahahaha ... ET has tried so many things to be appreciated in its young life ... remember that piece of green paper, calling Dawn a 'gustakh', 'desh drohi' newspaper, distributed by the hawkers along with a copy of the Dawn a day prior to its launch ... for ET sure knows how to play dirty to beat competition.

But the fact remains that they are no competition at all for the paper founded by the Quaid-e-Azam himself. The hawker selling eveningers on the streets also has a copy of ET unsold from the morning hoping to find a buyer in the evening.

What a piece of trash!

Anonymous said...

ET has a surviving chance if it is published as an Eveninger. Then they can have all the sex and funny stuff the way they like. But again IHT is such a baggage. That will not allow them to publish alone and reduce price.

Tanya said...

Brilliant as usual.

My only grouse is that you have mentioned the name of the reporter too many times. He is so not worth it.

Insider said...

Fawad was not part of the initial training.

Anonymous said...

Haha!

This is brilliant.

ahmar said...

@anon at 2:14 pm

"Hahahaha ... ET has tried so many things to be appreciated in its young life ... remember that piece of green paper, calling Dawn a 'gustakh', 'desh drohi' newspaper, distributed by the hawkers along with a copy of the Dawn a day prior to its launch ... for ET sure knows how to play dirty to beat competition."

What does that mean? Can you give details?

Anonymous said...

Half of Karachi got a flyer on Sunday a day before ET's launch with a copy of the Dawn newspaper talking ill of Dawn while urging people to ban it and read the "new newspaper". It called Dawn a pro-India publication.

Unknown said...

Pyala master, you did it again! This was an incredible read.

I was a little taken aback when I read about the "volunteers" (?) Not to mention the fact that the director said that he prefers his 'actors' practice unsafe sex, does not get them tested for HIV and is still very confident that none of them are infected. not to mention that he hasn't really bothered to conduct background checks on his subjects and figuring out how/why the "volunteers" are there in the first place.

With the "volunteers" finding the whole process "addictive" it sounds more like a sex club filming their own activities.

The other question that came to mind was that the writer of the piece mentioned that these films are made in several apartments in Defence. Everybody's heard of similar activities taking place at the Rainbow Centre, why not cover that side of town as well?

This was an extremely shoddy attemp by the writer at investigative journalism. It's fluffy masala piece at best.

Unknown said...

* fights the temptation to edit her previous comment *

Roda said...

Evening especial and CHATRALI are available in urdu so why not ET in English because any thing related to sex sale here.
Good luck Cafe pyala.

Anonymous said...

BUt the dawn family and ET family are married now. Why would they attack each other?

Unknown said...

how are they married? and no one's attacking "each other" it was just ET trying to attack Dawn.

Zakintosh said...

Hilarious. Glad you took F's knickers off!

Anonymous said...

NazAfreen Saigol (Amber's daughter) and Danish Lakhani (of ET) are betrothed.

Just as an aside, the Pakistani porn industry has been covered by other publications. There is a more balanced read on the subject published a few months ago in an Urdu current affairs magazine. Actually that article is about porn clips being sent digitally to mobile phones at a charge, and how unsuspecting girls and women are sometimes captured undressing/making out without their knowledge by opportunists who use the footage to make quick cash.

Umair Javed said...

Apparently, people in Karachi are going crazy trying to find a 'Rambo Plaza' and a porno titled Andheri Raat. A friend of mine says that Mr. Fawad has promised to provide him with a few CDs, presumably to establish the veracity of his 'drivel'. hahahaha.

This should be sent as a follow up feature piece in the tribune.

Pyala peeps, this post is as good as the infamous 'Women and Sexuality' riposte from a few months back. Brilliantly written MSS. Take a bow.

Bolshevik said...

Sadia and Nadia: I asked her first!

MSS: Chhaa gaye chhaa gaye! *dies laughing* :-D

Anonymous said...

shame on you MSS

Sadia said...

Bolshevik: Not if I get her first! :D

Insider2 said...

Someone wrote: "ET has a surviving chance if it is published as an Eveninger."

Brilliant idea.

On the side, I have 'inside' news that ET is desperately trying to get four of Dawn's top four columnists: Cowasjee; Irfan Hussain; Nadeem Paracha and Kamram Shafi.
So far not a single Dawn columist has agreed to write for ET.And we can quite undetsnad why.

Malik Siraj Akbar said...

I am surprised why many reporters are suddenly out to hunt for porn-related story these days. I came across a similar piece in DT by Amar G about the 'high sale' of porn CDs in Pakistan. I could not locate the story link as DT's links normally do not work properly. Porn has suddenly become as much a salable commodity in the English press as the conspiracy theories in the Urdu Press.

ahmad said...

"Another crucial difference ... is that Zahrah Nasir can write." Ouch! That must have hurt our wannabe Woodward and Bernstein.


"So I will stand by Ms. Nasir’s right to examine the geo-strategic significance of knickers. Unless she uses the word ‘appurtenances’ again. Then she’s on her own." Although I think Ms Nasir can carry her 'appurtenances' very well and does not need your support, I felt that the word managed to convey far more than what any other anatomically vivid description would have been able to evoke.

However much we may deny it, sex sells. And ET is rolling down that road - and gaining traction.

sAm said...

Dear Blogger.
One of the best sarcastic write-up/critique i have ever read. Such a marvelous work you have done to point out the shoddy work of Mr. Fawad. The icing on the cake however was:D

"Fawad looks up coyly and says, Please don’t."

Good work.
Regards

Unknown said...

If any other Pyala writer had attempted this post, I would have said: Get over your obsession with ET and find some less obvious topics to write about. But MSS has turned in such a delightful piece that I can only admire it (while grinning from ear to ear). Exquisitely crafted, each observation on the mark - Fawad Ali must be going: ouch!

ahmar said...

@anon at 3:51 PM

"Half of Karachi got a flyer on Sunday a day before ET's launch with a copy of the Dawn newspaper talking ill of Dawn while urging people to ban it and read the "new newspaper". It called Dawn a pro-India publication." --------- I am looking for this damn flyer and I can't find it anywhere. Will anyone help? anon? cpm??

Anonymous said...

I think the original article is sensationalist and everyone has a right to condemn / riducle as they best feel fit. I feel however that while the piece may not be exemplary journalism (or any type of journalism of any sort as CP is so keen to point out), I do think the free access to Porn is a real problem that parents need to be aware of (the kids will be made aware of anyway - and not just because of this article).

If one you can walk in to Rainbow Center one can clearly see for yourself the filth that is sold. CP perhaps you could retort with a piece of investigative journalism yourself by doing so? (in addition to your satirical critique of anything Express-Tribune which I must confess I really enjoy by the way)

FAS said...

Please explain afew points, that confuse me
1. That whatever Express Tribune published is not a fact; then how did the Times of India actually copied that same story; within aday on its website
2. In our country the situation the Taliban have attacked the schools, colleges, university and shopping plaza but never once touched a cinema house within the vicinity of Karachi n Peshawar. Such is the lethal weapon of our porn industry.
3. Sitting in your drawing room with the air-condition on. How many of you have actually seen Karachi, as a city; and know its history inside out.
4. We are all so-called journalists; who don't know real invesigative journalism is all about?? Or do we?? It would have been much fun, if an investigative reporter had done some fact finding on their part and filed a story negating these facts, with precise arguements. Making tall claims is easy, but there should be a difference between a lay man and an investigative journalist.Correct its Rainbow centre, but people coming from the lower strata of the society call it Rambo centre. Visit Landhi, Mali and Hawks Bay and you will know for sure.

Unknown said...

FAS:

In response to point 2.

You must be joking? The Taliban never attacked a cinema house because of the strength of the porn industry. I don't know if we read the same newspapers, but I can guarantee that the Taliban and their associated militant outfits have bombed dozens, if not hundreds, of CD shops (read shops selling porn) in KP. Just google "Taliban CD Shop Peshawar" and you'll see a ton of results.

Now, I have no doubt that Pakistanis watch a ton of porn (at least Google Analytics seems to suggest so), but to start talking about "the lethal weapon of the porn industry" is just absurd.

mcphisto said...

Oh Fawad, you can surely come up with a better defense than that :)

besides, it is commendable to see somebody from ET posting if not with their name, atleast with initials.

p.s: so, would you be kind enough to burn me a copy of 'Love on the Beach' ? and please, dont say 'Please Dont' :p

Anonymous said...

@ mcphisto..... plz don't ask him "plz don't" :>

@FAS...... i want a copy of 'live on the Beach too', but 'plz dont'

Bolshevik said...

Dear FAS aka Fawad Ali [Shah],

Judging by the story that you'd filed, there's a lot more than just these points that confuses you -- the concept of investigative journalism and the difference between fact and fiction, for instance.

The ToI simply picked up the story from PTI -- they have no means of confirming or denying it, and anything which comes out of Pakwatan and does not involve bearded fuckwits is unfortunately considered news.

No one's denying the fact that porn is made in Karachi -- one only has to go through Youtube, browse Rainbow Centre, and ask around (investigate) the madness at Axact. None of that, however, is close to the crap that you've churned out and are defending.

The Taliban attacked and killed dancing girls and destroyed CD shops in Swat and other areas -- and you're implying that they left the "porn industry" alone! Are you nuts or are you nuts?

Please stop making a few random weirdos sound like the mafioso. Also, please just stop. Period. You're making yourself sound like more of an idiot that you otherwise are(n't).

Anonymous said...

@FAS .... plz take me to the porn filmmakers you had mentioned in your in-ASS-tigative piece, i want to volunteer (of course) IF they accept male volunteers ;-)

Anonymous said...

Ha funny how this piece of advice comes from Urooj whose "investigative report" in DT tried to prove that a prostitute was being raped.

Leave the poor boy alone Bolshevik - at least he is man enough to come out and speak, unlike someone who runs stories under fake bylines on Indus Watch

Bolshevik said...

Anon baeta,

So you have no concept of rape in the context of a commercial sex worker? Just because she/he sells sex, she or he should be forced into "doing it" with just about anyone, with or without consent? What are you, a moron?

Anonymous said...

This is gutter press to the core. Fawad, you have ashamed yourself and everyone in this esteemed profession of journalism. Do you have any idea how people will look at you from now on? Labels such as porn journalist, yellow/blue journo etc will remain associated with your name forever. Your fake story has made you infamous for bad journalism. No who in his right mind will ever consider your stories to be true? Who will think that the stories you ever did were authentic? Even if you change your name people will consider you as a third rated journalist. That is your punishment for life.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! you tried hard Urooj but it didnt work. I wasnt trying to justify the rape of a prostitute but in YOUR particular story this wasnt the case.

And why no retort for the Indus Watch allegation?

Unknown said...

Anon above: No response to the Indus Watch allegation because it's actually true. It's a breeding ground for her half-baked political ideologies etc.

fawadalishah said...

Well,nice to hear from all of you .I won't defend myself. You have the right to criticise. Any one who says I filed a fake story should prove it. I would like if someone proves me wrong through facts and figures. WHO is this FAS? I don't own comments posted by him. I have written what I witnessed and that's all. By the way I liked this article. Welldone Samina... I am shocked people like Urooj Zia are criticing me...who turned prostitutes into RAPE VICTIMS and had to leave DT. Well those who said "KWSB inaugurates SFC-III" are also commenting.I must appreciate the writer of the blog...welldone... I will keep on writing the truth...does not matter "people like it or not"...

Bolshevik said...

Maryam: If anon had a point, she or he would've used her or his name and/or provided proof. I see neither, and therefore don't feel the need to respond to pointless drivel.

Fawad: Oh Fawad! Your powers of deduction and basic comprehension (the lack thereof, actually) continue to amaze me.

No, Fawad, I wasn't fired from DT. My departure had nothing to do with any story that I'd filed. Details of my resignation are well-known, and I'm tired of repeating them.

Moving on, contrary to what you may have been taught by society, a commercial sex worker (CSW; NOT prostitute -- that's a derogatory term) has the right to sue if she is raped. When a woman says, "no," it means "no". If someone disregards that, they're rapists. Simple.

The story in question was about a girl from Thatta who was a CSW and was raped. It was printed in June 2007 -- long before my departure from DT, by the way. If you'd bothered to read the story, instead of heeding anonymous comments on random blogs, you would have seen that the case was handled by War Against Rape (WAR) and the Panah shelter home. I'd called WAR in because back then, as a 23-year-old newbie, I didn't know what to do. We also gathered enough proof of rape, courtesy the girl's medico-legal examination, as well as signed confessions which the accused gave to the Taimuria Thhaana people (that's where we'd rescued the girl from as well).

Throughout this case, which we followed through to the girl's hometown, I was accompanied by the WAR team and two drivers from DT -- one of them was with me in Karachi; the other had gone with me to Thatta because he could speak and understand Sindhi and I couldn't, at the time. The girl was also questioned by psychiatrists at WAR and Panah.

We did a follow-up of this story, which was published recently in Kolachi in The News.

Oh and stop pretending to be schizophrenic.

Anonymous said...

Hasn't the author of the article in question been accused of filing ficticious stories before, too?

You know what they say, where there's smoke, there's a fire.

Fawaz Ali - your attempt to equate your crime to unintended mistakes and/or errors is sweet (in the pathetic sort of way) - but the fact is that a concoted story is not a mistake.

It is deliberate. And therefore makes you a criminal in the journalism world.

Unknown said...

@ fawad - just one question: are you actually suggesting that a (in your own words) "prostitute" cannot be raped?

Muadib said...

hmm!

Muadib said...

Sorry about the 'hmm! was just checking if my comments would appear or not!
I think the chap must have been "duped" by some "angels" into thinking he was "interviewing" "genuine people" from the so-called Pakistani adult film industry". He must have been "welcomed" into one or two or three well-decorated "apartments" where there must have been some girls dressed in western-style outfits looking like whores (to him). I believe him to be from somewhere where girls are not supposed to meet boys face to face! and on top of that in jeans!!!! That was ... purely ... theoretical!

Now coming to his comments about why an Indian daily picked up a story published in his newspaper: Couldn't it be just because it painted Pakistan in a bad light?
He then commented about the granting some kind of an "immunity" by Taliban! Oh Fawad! Please Don't! I hope you are not suggesting the Taliban themselves are "corrupting" us somehow to mint money for their holy crusade against all evils? I haven't seen any guy or girl getting whipped or killed for appearing in Pakistani adult films, has anyone?
And asking people of Karachi if they know the city? Well that takes some gall! or is it gal? And what does the city's history has to do with the supposedly-thriving Pakistani porn industry, for ***k's sake!
Methinks the story smells of perverted collegiate-level fantasy! or at best, hearsay!
And dude, just mentioning a name or a locality (have you even been to D.H.A.?) does does not make it a fact! Investigative journalism is when you make lawmakers resign or presidents puke all over (ever read about Watergate or Monica Lewinsky)!

MSS said...

I can appreciate that some might see irony in my advising others not to get personal but...lets not get personal :)

Fawad, thank you for reading and commenting, but you seem to have missed the point of my critique. I respectfully suggest you take your exploration of the local adult film industry to your editor - actually, considering he/she didn't help you first time around, scratch that - take it to a GOOD editor, and go over it line by line. It would help if said editor was also an experienced journalist. Best of luck with whatever you're working on next.

Anonymous said...

How about the following post published earlier this year?
http://pakistanmediawatch.com/tag/syed-fawad-ali-shah/

Anonymous said...

@Anon at 12:08

Its not the same Fawad Ali Shah that the link refers to - though there seems to be a definite similarity in their work that appears in their respective papers; both are fakeish.

However, being a recipient of the community posts, Fawad Ali Shah's post - some of them atleast - make some sense. As per his latest post he claims that the Taliban contacted a few glider manufacturers in Peshawar requesting air worthy contraptions and resorted to threats once their engineers were non compliant. The aim is to use it - as Shah believes is to conduct some sort of Kamikaze attack. - That is a little difficult with a glider, though you can shoot down a drone, given its helfire missiles wont get you first.

fawadalishah said...

MSS, you are absolutely right. I agree with some of your points. There is always space for improvement. I always welcome positive criticism. The time I read your piece neither I could laugh nor cry....It is awsome. Yes of course the article could have been presented in a much better way. I agree. Nothing is perfect. I dont like criticism for sake of criticism rather it should be for the improvement of an individual or society.
@ANON and Muadib: Come on yaar. At least you should have the courage to write comments with your name. Yes, I am from Nowshera [a backward area]. But thanks God, my parents and teachers have taught me how to behave in a civilized manner. How to follow a discussion. How to listen to others and behave. I didnot associate one man's blog or link with others'.
Muadib: You have the right to criticise my story, as a reader. Again I would say come on and prove me wrong. I am not an investigative journalist. I am a feature writer and thats all.
P.S: I don't own comments posted by FAS

Samina said...

Fawad: Hello. Why mention my name in something that I am not a part of?

not your typical office bitch said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Raamis said...

You know, it's actually quite sad that most of the people who comment here have nothing but bitchy things to say. And it's even sadder that you seem to have so much time on your hands. Poor Pathetic Pakistanis. Can't do anything but put each other down.

Muadib said...

For Fawad :)

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/when-nobody-would-marry-their-children-to-journalists-429

Anonymous said...

@Muadib - Fawad's reaction to that would be "Please Don't"

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
XYZ said...

OK ladies and gents and the transgendered: we try and be lenient and let a thousand flowers bloom and all that, but time to put a stop to the personal bashing based on what a, b, or c did to you or someone you know, what their personal life is or what you insinuate someone is guilty of without proof. Please restrict your comments to the content of the post. If you don't have anything to say about the topic at hand and continue to fight your personal wars here, your comment will be deleted.

Anonymous said...

@everyone who is bashing the shit out of the reporter: Why isn't anyone talking of the magazine editor who decided that story was good enough to go on cover and the editor who let it go not thinking for once if it was authentic or not?

Anonymous said...

The whole magazine was awful. I wonder what the magazine editor does all week since it seemed like a two hour job, layout and all? The story on PCOs failed to elicit even a yawn from me.

The critique by MSS is hilarious, outstanding!

And Fawad, it is a brilliant opportunity for you to learn and improve. Your editor obviously is not ready/able to teach you for whatever reasons. You can use this criticism to your advantage. Worst case scenario, to my mind, is that you go on creating substandard fare without getting enough candid feedback and start thinking you are the best around. There are quite a few such people around.

ET staff: It is now getting tiresome reading your personal attacks on each other in almost every post here. FYI, ET isn't the first blundering paper to have come out... though I must say, ET's churned out some absolute gems! Good thing about a paper is that it publishes everyday. So you get chances to improve. Infighting doesn't win any sympathies from outsiders and outsiders don't really care about your internal politics either. So please relax.

P.S. Had to comment. The post is so brilliant.

Anonymous said...

sohail, karachi,

ET would go to any length to sell the paper...tabloid..i think this is an english version of shit that used to appear in Re 1 urdu digests in the 70's. Great work pyala people. but i wonder why you write the new english language paper instead of the straight name, Express Tribune

Ali Rashid said...

A brilliant piece of writing.

Fawad could have had much brighter career prospects if he had opted being a Novelist/Adult-Novelist or a Story Writer. Journalism requires a very different kind of creativity altogether.

@Fawad:
I Feel astonished that you have still got the gutts to defend yourself like the way you did; specially after this: http://pakistanmediawatch.com/tag/syed-fawad-ali-shah/

Lastly, I still salute your extra-ordinary creativity for coming up with a story that could have even seemed original - only if I could have found the two bullshits of Adult Movies in Rainbow Centre that you mentioned ;)