PUBLIC memory is short, so goes the proverb. This greatly helps the opposition when lambasting the incumbents for their shortcomings.

The public rounds it up because it is rightly concerned with “today’s” misery, forgetting the factors that led to such hardships. The present is always linked to the past.

On almost all TV networks, generally the most thrilling programme is the debate on current affairs. The participants are mostly from political parties who, in order to save their skin and their party position, unabashedly justify their party’s respective positions. This slandering match is like “kettle calling the pot black”.

The viewers, who bear the brunt of current miseries, naturally blame the party in power, failing to remember the past.

Would it not be fair and helpful if the anchors, who are supposed to be unbiased and well versed, preface the debate with a “fact sheet” or a “whitepaper” containing some kind of evidence, needed to justify their arguments? For example, past and current comparative data of multiple crimes, cost of living, etc. should be displayed, creating a balance.

If these comparisons are shown in detail in the background for all to see, this will be a great service in as much as the average Pakistani will escape falling from the “fry pan into the fire”.

It is the duty of the media to keep the public well-informed.

F.H. ANSARI
Karachi