Thursday, July 21, 2005

Lolliwood sholliwood...who cares?

Here's another oldy...

Although I am not as bitter as Deowl about the whole media outlook, but then again it is simply because I am on the outside, being fed the manure that they (media folk) fertilize our minds with. As sad as it is, we ourselves are to blame for this because, with our qualms about the tools available to us, we choose to ignore the real issues because it is easier. The few who are sincerely dedicated to exposing the truth get silenced by those who would be affected by the truth the most.

I wonder, does the concept of investigative journalism even live in what we believe to be a democratic system? The United States, for example, is the "world leader for democracy" and so they would be the ideal standard for democractic comparisons. I spent five years in the states studying Economics and International Relations. Econ on the side, IR was actually a passion I developed in my last year of college (fortunately left with enough time to actually complete the major). Studying IR, I learnt a lot about the world, foreign policies and so forth, but there was one talent I acquired along the way was to question everything I ordered, be skeptical about the information I was fed and to chew thoroughly before I swallow.

Coming back to Pakistan just a few weeks ago, I was reminded about the skewed media when I was driving towards the Government buildings in Islamabad and came across the guys on the roadside selling their newspapers. Now, they don't know, care or care to care about anything and everything written on the papers they sell, they just keep a commission to survive. Interestingly enough, that is the dilemma with which the printing press thrives. Some poor, low income fool is selling information to people who need their daily gossip read, while the people who own the newspaper enjoy their 7 series bmw's at the cost of someone else's lives. The commission that the poor folks keep is less than half of what they earn from selling the damn papers. Just like the fucking politicians who lie through their naswar infected mouths about giving the villages clean, running water, access to major roads, better education, thriving work opportunities, the big guns running the media don't care cause they are in search of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, in the process it don't matter what it takes to make a quick buck. While the rest of us seek the truth at the end of the rainbow, our rainbow gets harder and harder to reach the end of simply cause of the number of growing obstacles.

For the longest time I wanted to become a journalist in Pakistan, but I thought how would I get into that where I would not have to sacrifice my integrity, values and most of all my hunger for kicking ass. Even momentarily, if you sell out, it is not one's own fault as long as they did everything to avoid it without suffering too much. Now I am just rambling like an experimental monkey, but to put it down simply, I truly believe that the bureaucratic system in Pakistan is far too difficult to get around in order to survive. If you change the status quo or even make an effort to, you will get shutdown and then your career will suffer and perhaps any opportunity you might have had to make it will be delayed even more. It's a dog eat dog world and Pakistan is a definitive example. If this made no sense to anyone, its my fault, not yours, so don't go blaming yourself for being incapable of understanding my daily ramble.

Something needs to go terribly wrong with the bloodsuckers in the system...Something like a revolution...I'm not giving anyone ideas...Just saying...Maybe there should be one...

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