KARACHI, Oct 31: Owing to an unprecedented, transparent and independent coverage of the Oct 10 elections by electronic media, especially the recently launched private channels presenting to the public their credentials as a consequence of Pakistan’s liberal media policy, people had paid least attention to the foreign channels.

The observation was made at the media shop talk on the subject, ‘An Analysis of Media Performance During Elections’ held under the aegis of Pakistan Press Foundation at its Vicky Zeitlin Media Library here on Thursday.

The speakers welcomed the private channels’ coverage saying that this augurs well for the future of this industry in Pakistan.

Iqbal Azam Afridi, the Deputy Controller of Current Affairs, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Karachi, observed that media was used effectively in presenting election-related views of general public and that the analyses and expected polls results truly reflected the people’s assorted opinions.

He claimed that some of the new TV channels, defying the government’s terms for the freedom of expression and unmindful of the consequences of their defiance, indulged in certain undesirable activities. In this regard he referred to, as he put it, undermined image of the stalwarts belonging to some political parties. He opined that this had left a bad impression among their viewers.

He defended the PBC’s role during the recent elections saying that the radio reflected voice of a state secured on an ideology.

Owais Aslam Ali, Chairman of Pakistan Press International, said that the elections had provided a good opportunity to the new channels to play a crucial role in keeping people abreast with the latest developments in the political arena.

In the wake of the ban on political rallies and processions, the elections had become lustreless, he said, adding “nevertheless, people took keen interest in issues highlighted by various political parties through the electronic media. He observed that the media provided a platform to all the political parties without any discrimination.

Over the past two decades, he said, that there had been serious doubts over the electronic media’s attitude once a free hand was accorded to it. However, he pointed out, it came up to the expectations, as evident from its attitude during the recent elections, by fulfilling its obligations even without any check on it. He observed that during live debates also, none of the political figures indulged in maligning his rivals beyond a certain limit.

The PPI chief agreed that the state television retained its significance despite the emergence of a large number of its competitors. It was observed, he said, that the PTV was accorded due attention by the masses which signifies its ability to hold grounds against all odds.

Yousuf Khan, a senior journalist, said that simultaneous emergence of such a big number of channels had overshadowed significance of print media. He was of the view that the glamourous presentation by the electronic media had pushed newspapers to the position of secondary source of information.

He, however, asserted that newspapers had played a vital role in pressuring the rulers to respect the aspirations of the people and, he added, “this is evident from the history of this country.”

Fazl Qureshi, Chief Editor of the PPI, attributed the transparency in elections to the alert media. He said that the constant vigil practised during the news-gathering by the media prevented rigging on a large scale.

He opined that the election campaign was run in a civilized and peaceful manner and all the stake-holders, realizing their responsibilities, desisted from maligning each other.—PPI