ISLAMABAD: Defence Secretary Lt General (retired) Asif Yasin Malik, on Monday, said that building the trust between the state and the media was crucial for national security.

“There is a gulf between the state and the media, because of which, the government’s spokespersons are not believed and the media gives its spin to the stories,” said Gen Malik at the conference on “the role of media and Pakistan’s national security discourse”, which was jointly organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the Strategic Vision Institute.

He said that he found the media trustworthy, and believed that there should not be any “no-go areas”, adding that the media should be allowed to determine, itself, what has to be and what cannot be reported.

He asked the media to report on national security issues in a mature, balanced and an objective manner. Gen Malik said that a course correction was due on everyone’s part in the state, media and the public.

President Jinnah Institute, former Ambassador Sherry Rehman, said that the lack of clarity in the government’s narrative on terrorism has confused the law enforcement agencies about their targets.

Ms Rehman added, “There is still an urgent need for a parliamentary in-camera session, with clear directives, not just statements. The government has to lead the discourse, not the outlaws. Enough time has passed for a decisive strategy.”

She said that she was troubled by valorisation of terrorists in the media as “legitimate stakeholders”. However, she added, “The media cannot be expected to function freely in a predatory climate, where they are attacked for their views.”

Analyst Zahid Hussain criticized the media for accommodating the militant narrative saying, “Uniquely, in Pakistan, mass-killers are allowed to appear on TV shows and their statements are given a wide coverage in the national newspapers. Such glorification of the terrorists, in effect, legitimizes the militancy.”

Mr Hussain said media, nevertheless, has a genuine excuse.

“To be fair, one cannot pin the blame on media and journalists alone for succumbing to the threat, when the national leadership has surrendered to the militants. Who would want to put one’s neck out, especially when there’s little faith in the state to provide security,” he added.

Public policy analyst, Barrister Mehreen Khan, said that the media needed to realize that it is their professional duty to report everything; however, they are not ethically bound to carry the extremist views.

She said the extremist influence in media started with the rise of TV journalism.

However, Lal Masjid Operation, she noted, was the turning point as it gave the militants a voice and further in-roads into the media.

International law expert, Ahmer Bilal Soofi, referred to a number of legal provisions that prevented media from carrying the extremist side of the story.

“The time has come for a debate on journalist-source privilege, in the context of their contact with the militants,” he underscored.

Defence analyst, General Syed Owais, said that it was not the media’s job to “define national interests”.

He said that limits have to be set for reporting on national security, particularly vis-à-vis relations with India, and the journalists should take that objectively.

Executive director Strategic Vision Institute, Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema, noted the absence of a narrative on national security discourse.

He said that such a narrative would provide the framework for media deliberations on national security.

Country representative of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Ronny Heine, in his remarks, said, “National security is, by far, one of the most sensitive and contentious issues that Pakistan faces today.”

He said, “A comprehensive national security policy must fulfil three national security goals; enhance security, promote domestic prosperity and strengthen democracy.”