Thursday, June 3, 2010

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Take a look at how Dawn and The News have covered yesterday's proceedings in the Supreme Court, hearing the challenges to the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Here's Dawn's story on its front page, and here's The News', which is, in fact, its main lead.

See the difference? The News focuses on Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday's comments that seem to indicate the Supreme Court is gunning for the government, which fits in nicely with the Jang Group's overall position or hope, as espoused by its various anchors on Geo. Dawn's story, on the other hand, takes as its highlight, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja's comment, which implies that the court is sensitive to the political legitimacy of the elected government. Which fits in nicely with Dawn's overall gentler line about the government.

Of course, both these comments were made in the court by fellow judges, there is no question of that. But let this be a lesson in deconstructing the 'angle' or spin the media can impart to a news event.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who the heck is Pyala to comment on the work of reputed news organisations, both electronic and print? Pyala's pieces are written by faceless and unnamed people who could be from the same news organisations whose output they comment on. Doesn't that translate into the worst kind of clash of interest? The people who respond to the Pyala blogs are also mostly anonymous. Compare that with the fact that all news organisations have established their credibility in varying degrees through years, even decades, of hard work. We know by name the people behind each news channel and newspaper. Pyala is welcome to comment on other people's work provided it gives the names of its writers. And we should be told who the owners are? Otherwise, they are just a group of journalists out to grind their axe.

Bolshevik said...

Anon-above said: "Otherwise, they are just a group of journalists out to grind their axe."

That, sir/madam/whatever, is every journalist's basic right, enshrined in the unwritten journo constitution. You cannot take that right away. Hum nahi maantey -- zulm k yeh zaabtey! :-P

XYZ said...

@Anon833: Oho, so you're one of those people who post the same comment on multiple posts! Just finished answering you on the cyclone post...

"Pyala's pieces are written by faceless and unnamed people...The people who respond to the Pyala blogs are also mostly anonymous."
... says Anonymous! Hahahaha. You want irony, you have it right there my friend.

But really, if you're so indignant about not knowing our identities, and you feel our opinions are not credible because of it, why do you keep reading?

And can I also ask what exactly it is in the post that you find so abominable and equivalent of us "grinding our axe"? Seriously.