KARACHI: Journalists at the 10th Adab Festival on Saturday sounded alarms over shrinking press freedom, financial insecurity, and the rise of digital disinformation, warning that Pakistan’s media faces an unprecedented crisis.
The session, “Truth, Trust, and Tenacity: The New Media Paradigm,” featured Fazil Jamili, Azhar Abbas, Amber Rahim Shamsi, and Azaz Syed, moderated by Nadia Naqi.
Naqi opened the discussion highlighting the stakes. “Speaking the truth carries risks. Journalists face intimidation, and public trust is eroding in an environment dominated by misinformation,” she said. She questioned whether traditional media could survive against social media, YouTube creators, and other digital platforms shaping public opinion.
Abbas, Geo TV Network managing director, said falsehoods have been deliberately amplified. “For over 15 years, social engineering has sown doubt against journalists, activists, and political actors. Trust can be destroyed in minutes,” he said.
Shamsi, Pakistan editor at Nukta, warned that digital platforms create new forms of control. “Algorithms reward outrage over accuracy. Political and commercial interests dictate reach. Even neutral terms like ‘Palestine’ can trigger shadowbans,” she said. She added that click-driven media encourages sensationalism at the expense of rational reporting.
Jamili, Karachi Press Club president, said self-censorship is now the dominant form of control. “Editors once set priorities. Today, algorithms do. Journalists chase visibility instead of truth,” he said. He noted that over half of KPC’s 1,800 members are unemployed, with delayed salaries undermining integrity. “A hungry journalist cannot serve the public faithfully,” he added.
Syed, also from Geo TV Network, said truth is subjective and must be distinguished from facts. “Religious and political groups maintain competing narratives. Our role is to collect facts and separate them from assumptions and opinions,” he said.
The panel highlighted the erosion of editorial independence. Major newspapers no longer publish editorials, reflecting a global trend where media ownership and digital control compromise reporting.
The discussion underscored a systemic crisis: financial instability, self-censorship, disinformation campaigns, and platform biases are curtailing Pakistan’s journalistic freedom. Reporters Without Borders ranks Pakistan 158th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
