There is a circus every night. And it unfolds not in an open-air carnival but in the very place where the idea of protection from all harmful elements is the fundamental factor. It is beamed through television screens into the minds and the lives and the homes of millions of Pakistanis who brainwashed on the idea of the imperativeness of remaining updated on current news and political developments of Pakistan find themselves unable to wrest themselves from its influence. Political talk shows have that kind of a toxic power, and there are no umms and errs about their very potent hold on the psyche of a country that views politics as an essential evil for the continuation of the various systems on which the very structure of the country is precariously perched. The idea of a talk show is to have a platform in which an anchor-moderated discussion on a particular subject and its myriad angles takes place among various participants. While being in basic disagreement with one another as members of opposing political parties or social or other organisations, and being prepared for repudiation of every point or idea presented by the other side, there is always the expectation of a façade of civility, a given in any social interaction between adult human beings in a civilised setting, the key words here being civility, adult and civilised.
Every day on every channel with faces that are interchangeable, viewpoints that are as stale as one-day-old iftar samosas, insults that are as predictable as mosquitoes on a hot summer evening, and petulance as vapid as their viewpoints, there is a glut of talk shows, smug and unabashed in their bravado of presentation of reality. Pakistan’s reality through its many politicians on television has been narrowed into a match of rising vocal chords, mud-wrestling of who will-be-the-rowdiest-and-the-rudest, incoherent answers, more incoherent rebuttals, and incomprehensible explanations.
In the dirty game of defending the indefensible, the space for that rare politician who is still an adherent of the good old values of dignity, grace and respect for the opponent has shrunk to the point of non-existence. If you don’t raise your voice subduing voices of the other guests as well as that of the anchor, you are not fit to represent a political party on national television-that seems to the singular instruction given to all party spokespersons/representatives by either their party leadership, or an unimaginative media team that believes in the effect of chaos for achievement of a desired result.
And all of that happens in the presence of an anchor. Instead of playing the role of a moderator-ask a question, follow-up, give the other side a chance to respond, interject in the case of presentation of a falsehood, debate, and ensure non-crossing of a red line or social appropriateness by any guest-the anchor, by design, or at times, inadvertently, becomes the catalyst for more chaos. Relinquishing the fundamental idea of journalistic integrity to never allow a personal viewpoint or bias become a hurdle in conducting a non-partisan show, many anchors in Pakistan use the medium of television to do more than their basic job of asking questions, commenting, repudiation and acceptance of myriad viewpoints: they push a certain narrative, support a particular political party, and obfuscate the truth to further a political agenda.
That unlimited power to reach and affect millions of minds has resulted in such a convoluting of the right and the wrong that an anchor for whom personal and journalistic integrity is more important than ratings and pandering to political agendas of one political party or the other party has become as rare an entity as a politician who is good and decent. *