During the Musharraf era in early 2000s, Pakistani media industry experienced a new sense of liberation and rejuvenation. Several new private channels burst out on the media scene, putting entertainment and round-the-clock, updated news on the fingertips of masses.

There was a natural competition for higher viewership ratings — and this is where things went out of hand. In the absence of an active watchdog, the immature industry crossed all boundaries of ethics and rationality to feed the constantly growing appetite of masses for breaking news. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight to this unabated trend of sensationalism.

Take for example the reaction of Pakistani media to the Imran Khan-Reham divorce affair. As the news of their decision to part ways began to circulate, the media went into a frenzy. Ignoring the personal and painful nature of this matter, the channels decided to make it national headlines and dedicated high level of airtime to it.

There was endless and mindless commentary on the couple’s relationship, different conspiracy theories and, in some cases, doubts were raised even over Reham’s character. The ex-duo’s divorce suddenly became more important than local government polls, war on terrorism and other economic development issues pertaining to the common man. The shameless insensitivity of media in Pakistan once again laid bare for all to see.

Coincidentally, Reham had described the local media as “a wild child who has grown up on the streets without the benefits of good upbringing” in a recent interview. The way media covered this news validated Reham’s point of view.

This is not to question the right to freedom of expression and speech as guaranteed by Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution. But, there is certainly a need for media to adopt a more responsible attitude. The media today is a powerful tool to shape public opinion and share information. It should not be misused as a platform for breaching privacy of individuals, spreading propagandas, compromising national security and hate-mongering against different groups.

There is a dire need to improve the media industry’s professional capability by attracting good talent to it. These well-trained and qualified professionals can improve the quality of journalism content and potentially transform the working culture by rejecting senseless reporting and settling personal scores through media organizations.

Reasonable laws and restrictions should focus on establishing a check and balance mechanism to promote media ethics. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has introduced a new code of conduct for media channels, but they have been widely dismissed as vague and aimed at increasing censorship to protect the ideology of Pakistan. The government should engage all relevant stakeholders to draft media laws and code of ethics that meet the realities of today’s free media age. There have also been calls to establish a self-regulatory, non-governmental body to monitor media ethics and implementation of the code of media ethics in Pakistan.

It can only be hoped that Pakistan’s self-proclaimed independent and pluralistic media attain more maturity to play a more pivotal role as one of the key pillars of the state. Only then it will be able to truly play its role in the country’s progress of democracy and economy.