The national media in Pakistan, both printed and electronic media, must ensure that national interest is kept in view while disseminating news of sensitive nature. All these stories about the law and order situation, security concerns, war on terror, sectarian violence and the tensions in some cities must not be fanned and projected out of the way. They only add up to the prevalent misery and it only aggravates the ground situation for the ones who are trying to cool the things down.
The role of electronic media is more important than ever. Their access has become prompt and their effects are immense. They have gained control over the minds of the people and people believe them and blindly follow them. They must exercise control and restrain and they must be their own account. But that is very hard to happen in the nascent and immature democratic Pakistan, which is likely to be hit by this wave of tension.
Media persons should make sure that gory scenes are not aired because they may cause psychological problems among the viewers who belong to different age groups. Similarly, producers of religious programmes should ensure that no sensitive content is telecast which could hurt the sentiments of a particular sect or party or ethnic group or any one at large.
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