Senior journalists perplexed at attacks
ISLAMABAD: Senior journalists have slammed some media houses for hammering Geo TV instead of giving it credit for bringing an exclusive footage of the full court reference for Chief Justice (retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Renowned journalist Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Shami said a reporter is supposed to bring newspaper. He said instead of criticizing the reporter for the good work of getting an exclusive story, those who failed to get it should be given warnings.
Talking to The News, senior journalist Mazhar Abbas said if Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui has obtained the video of the full reference in honour of the chief justice, he should be given credit.
“I remember the day when during the hearing of an important case, we brought the mobile phones hidden under our belts and then we broke the story from inside the court. So giving an exclusive story should be the passion of a journalist,” he remarked.
He said that he wonders why every media organisation was criticising Geo TV.He said if the Supreme Court management had barred journalists from making footage of the event and the reporter had obtained the footage through his sources then he should be given credit.
He said that Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ) was the first organisation to condemn and oppose the sacking of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.“If relatives of missing persons are shedding tears and if the top bureaucracy and high-ups of the political leadership are celebrating the retirement of the CJ, then it means he must have done something very good,” he said.
Editor Investigations The News Ansar Abbasi said that some of the ‘experts’ on some TV channels are venting their anger against Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He said that if their views are to be believed, Abdul Qayyum Siddqui should be hanged for his competence.
“If a reporter stops bringing exclusive news then what would be the difference between a state-run media and private media. It would be press release journalism,” he commented.Geo TV anchor Kamran Khan said that it was an honour for Geo News to exclusively cover the event. In fact, it was a professional issue and no TV channel should be criticised for its competence, he added.
Senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir said that some TV channels were speaking against Geo TV out of jealousy.
He said that the critics should have read a column by a senior Pakistani journalist Rauf Klasra, who in the recent past, criticised reporters for misquoting Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and caused great embarrassment to the veteran politician.
Klasra had lamented unprofessional attitude of some journalists.He said that in the latest event, Geo News took the lead due to the professional skills of its reporters and others had missed the train. The critics should improve their abilities and skills to compete with the biggest media group instead of indulging in blame game.
The critics should not overshadow the departure of the most celebrated chief justice by their blame game.Justice Chaudhry was the man whose name was well known to even a child, a phenomena, which was rare in this great country, he said.
Senior journalist and anchorperson Sohail Warraich said that exclusive stories are like trophies for a journalist and those who work hard are always rewarded with such rewards.He said that if other groups are not coming up with exclusive stories then should Geo also stop bringing exclusive stories?
Senior journalist Iftikhar Ahmed said that there should be an atmosphere of competition and instead of criticising others for covering such a big thing they should bring reforms in their own ranks.
Bureau Chief of Geo News Jawad Rana said that other TV channels should reprimand their reporters for missing such an exclusive footage. But instead of doing this, they started attacking Geo, which was beyond understanding.
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