11
YET another trailblazer of independent journalism in Pakistan has closed down. There was a feeling of inevitability about the news of Newsline stopping its publication after the closure of Herald a few months ago — a sign of the times and the fast-changing media scene in the country. It is the end of a remarkable 30-year journey of objective and professional journalism, a fast-vanishing commodity now.
It was in 1989 when a group of young dedicated journalists, all of them women except for me a token male, under the leadership of the indomitable Razia Bhatti set about taking out the country’s first publication run by a journalists’ cooperative. The team did not have any financial resources, but the determination was there. Putting together personal savings, they began work from a small hotel room with chairs, desks and even teacups from home.
Armed with little other than human resources and enormous goodwill, the first issue of Newsline appeared in July 1989. With a cooperative ownership it had complete editorial freedom not enjoyed by any other Pakistani publication. The launching of Newsline itself was an act of defiance against status quo.
In her first editorial Razia wrote: “Newsline is the venture of a team of working journalists who want to serve this nation in the way they know best: to seek the truth, to spotlight injustice and to fight for redress. We hope not only to appeal to the reason but also to touch the heart.”
With a cooperative ownership, ‘Newsline’ had complete editorial freedom not enjoyed by other publications.
The magazine kept the pledge throughout its publication, making it a powerful voice of resistance and hope. Over the years, the Newsline published trailblazing stories including exposés on corruption at the highest political level, plunder of the country’s financial institutions, the role of intelligence agencies, the drug mafia, state and street terrorism, and extrajudicial killings carried by the security forces.
Newsline ventured to tackle the subjects which powerful media houses would not dare to touch. There were no sacred cows. While exposing the bungling and misuse of political power under various civilian governments, it also raised a voice against the usurpation of power by the generals.
Newsline’s outspoken and fiercely independent policies became the writing on the wall for all governments. The scathing editorials in the magazine did not spare those who were guilty of misusing public trust. As a result, it earned the disfavour of every government.
The worst came in August 1995 when police raided Razia’s home at 2am and later the Newsline office, and the government filed a criminal case against her for publishing a critical article on the then governor of Sindh. The cases were withdrawn after protests by journalists and civil society. Political parties like the MQM targeted the magazine for exposing their fascistic tendencies. That was the period when the media in Karachi had become hostage to the militant wing of the MQM.
In a landmark editorial in April 1990 Razia wrote: “In what has now become organised terrorism (and very often state terrorism), armed political activists storm newspaper offices to avenge perceived sins of omission and commission in terms of coverage. Today, the Kalashnikov rules the newsrooms as surely as it rules the streets.”
It was about a press besieged some three decades ago, but it may also be true for Pakistan today, though the method of intimidation may have changed. Having survived repression under various military and civilian rules, the press in Pakistan faces perhaps the most serious threat to its freedom. Razia’s editorials showed she compromised neither on freedom nor on the truth.
One example of objectivity and impartiality that had become the creed of the magazine was its August 1990 issue. Initially, the issue was focused on an investigative report on a financial scandal involving people occupying high government positions. But the government was dismissed before the magazine was out and a supplement was added with a scathing criticism of what it described as a constitutional coup against a democratically elected government.
There were two covers — one titled ‘Shadow military state’ taking notes of the development; the inside cover was titled ‘Take the money and run’. There was a criticism from some people whether it was fair to assail the civilian leadership when it was ousted. Razia’s response was that it was not a binary.
“The question overlooked one basic fact. The truth does not change when a government does. Like freedom, the truth is open to misuse, but like freedom it cannot be withheld on that count.” It was her response to the criticism. Unfortunately, many journalists today forget this basic lesson in journalistic impartiality.
Razia’s untimely death came as great setback. But the dedication and commitment of Rehana Hakim who succeeded Razia as editor kept the magazine running with meagre resources. She kept up the original pledge on which the magazine was founded. She virtually ran it on a shoestring budget until it became impossible to keep it alive.
While being a journalists’ cooperative may have given the Newsline undiluted editorial freedom, financial constraints remained a major problem for the publication. In this situation, there was no option but to sell the magazine just to keep it alive. The Hum media group took control of the magazine in 2012 on the condition it would maintain editorial freedom.
But it also needed to change the magazine in order to make it relevant in the fast-changing media scene. It is a very different scene than what it was even one decade ago. The rise of the electronic and digital media has made access to information much faster. That is the reason why newspapers and magazines around the world have gone through radical change. But closing the magazine is not a solution. There is a need to revive the spirit of journalists’ cooperatives.
The closure of Herald and Newsline may not be the consequence of curbs by the state, but it certainly is a great setback to the independent media. Both magazines were great training centres for young journalists and one hopes and expects that their legacy will be carried forward.
The writer is an author and journalist.
Twitter: @hidhussain
Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2019
