Misuse of TV in Pakistan

Good, bad, indifferent, there are about ninety channels which are beaming TV programs including news, current affairs, talk shows, soap dramas, pop music etc twenty four hours a day. These include TV plays, films and certain other programs from India minus news and some English language programs including news, films and all types of entertainment items in English acquired from English and American TV channels. There is no censorship as such and Indian and English programs are shown directly from the source. Mostly all programs are televised through various cable networks which are regulated by an authority under government control, named PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority).

For quite some time this authority lay dormant not using its regulatory powers, with the result that most TV channels went berserk, particularly in reporting the news correctly based on facts rather than speculation and sensation to earn more advertising revenue and gain greater popularity. Likewise some religious channels spread fanaticism and sectarian hatred through fake molvis who distorted the teachings of the Holy Quran. Some others promoted the western culture at its worst through semi nude dances and pop music. The Urdu language was also corrupted through indiscriminate mixing with English words. Suddenly PEMRA seems to have woken up imposing heavy fines on some channels for reporting false news in clear violation of PEMRA code. It also took serious note of excessive use of advertising beyond the prescribed limit of 12 minutes per hour and airing indiscriminately harmful and deceptive advertisements during their program and newscasts. It is hoped that PEMRA will continue to take action against such channels and cable operators who violate with impunity the code laid down by the authority using as much advertising and as little programming as possible during their transmissions. In fact some popular channels have turned into full advertising channels with minimum possible sprinkling of program content in between. There is so much greed for money and so little concern for the viewers and the national interest that they are showing all kinds of junk that advertisers choose to dish out. There is no internal or external censor on ads or for that matter on programs.

PEMRA which was previously named EMRA came into existence during the caretaker government of Malik Meraj Khalid in 1997, subsequent to the dismissal of Benazir’s Government by President Farooq Leghari. The EMRA bill was piloted by veteran journalist Mr. Irshad Ahmad Haqqani who died recently. This Bill was of historic significance as it allowed Radio and TV to originate news and current affairs programs independently for the first time in Pakistan. As happens with authorities under the government control, PEMRA became sluggish and inactive in many ways. Gradually private TV channels started playing havoc with advertising in collaboration with major advertising agencies. They started churning out good, bad, indifferent commercials which TV channels started using excessively in their programs without any self censor. The result was an avalanche of mostly damaging and indiscrete commercials corrupting the morals of the younger generation flooded the TV screens in Pakistani homes. The cell phone companies which have emerged as major players in the TV channel market with billions to squander are playing a very dirty game in a cut throat competition to corrupt the morals of the teenagers. One such ruse is the offer to the youth of free packages for night long chatting with their friends or beloveds, not realizing that such gimmicks may destroy both health and education of the country’s younger generation. If the callous advertisers are not worried about this nation, why do the TV channels accept these dangerous commercials? Probably they too don’t bother as long as they are earning advertising revenue.

Since advertising has grown into a major source of income for TV channels, they are tempted to give more than one third space of their prime time to commercials. The viewers are naturally frustrated with frequent commercial breaks which are not only irritating but also adversely affect the charm and continuity of programs. Likewise, TV channels and largely circulated newspapers give as much as fifty percent of their space to advertisements. In their quest for maximum advertising revenue, they do not hesitate to put on air indecent and offensive ads which are not suitable for family viewing. The dream merchants of advertising are weaving a web of false and deceptive mirage of prosperity in Pakistan where millions of people are living in abject poverty. Another form of advertising is puffery which is an American slang for false and deceptive advertising which could mislead the consumer. In the United States, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been empowered by the Supreme Court to stop the false and deceptive advertising as “representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer and lure him to buy such products which may be harmful to his health”. FTC has now been empowered to impose fines or altogether ban deceptive advertising. It has formulated specific regulations to stop false and misleading advertising of products for children’s’ markets. These actions have resulted in considerable reduction in the incidence of gross distortions and misrepresentations. Similarly, advertising of such products as cigarettes and certain brands of drugs and hard liquor which can cause terminal diseases, have been banned altogether on the electronic media in the United States and the majority of countries of the world.

Pakistan is probably the only country in South Asia where products which are recognized health hazards are being advertised unchecked through “puffery” and false and misleading claims. There is no agency, official or otherwise to check and control such harmful advertising, nor are there any pressure groups in society to provide protection to the unsuspecting consumers.

The Pakistan Advertising Association incorporated under Companies Ordinance, carries a clause in its Memorandum of Association calling for “protecting the art and trade of advertising and sales promotion from unethical practices and monopolies of foreign and house agencies”, but in the present scenario it seems that this clause is not being implemented, but in fact is being willfully ignored by the advertising agencies themselves. There is need for print and electronic media in Pakistan to join hands in launching a vigorous education program to protect the consumers of the country from: a) Deceptive claims of producers of goods and services and misleading sales promotion by advertisers. b) To avoid excessive spending under the influence of advertising. c)To protect children from the harmful effects of advertising through resistance techniques. The government may consider setting up a watchdog commission to protect consumers from misleading and undesirable advertising.

This article was originally published by Pakistan Observer and written by Burhanuddin Hasan.