Fake News: A conundrum that demands serious discourse in Pakistan.

MUCH of the discourse on 'fake news' conflates three notions. Misinformation which is unintended, or an accidental mistake in narration. Disinformation is fabricated or intentionally modified content to maliciously harm a person. Mal-information is based on reality but is used to inflict harm on a per-son or to blackmail. I recently visited two institutions in Karachi that are providing much needed service to the poor, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health. There was the usual media talk after the visit, where a reporter asked me what is very clear and audible in unedited video clips that, 'In this city there is a huge crisis of (availability of) wheat, who do you think is responsible...?'. Be-cause no blame had been appropriated until then my reply was, 'I don't know, but I should know.' This short interchange was misrepresented by the electronic media stating that the President of Pakistan was totally un-aware of the wheat crisis in the country, though my answer audibly was in specific response to, who was responsible for the crisis. Presented in this way, the news created a deep sense of surprise and resentment in a population suffering from inflation and poverty. The fake angle was cre-ated in the morning but by the afternoon almost all channels were eliciting, ridiculing and insulting comments on the President's callousness, being unaware of what is happening to the poor. The way my answer was misquoted, it was now actually rubbing salt in the wounds of those who are going through tough times. The social media time-lines were overflowing with negative responses. Many politicians in their press conferences and talk showsheapedfurther ridicule on the President for being ignorant and callous. I decided to write a letter to the media, but as I wrote, it dawned on me that this is a far bigger prob-lem than my personal incident. So without trying to blame the channels, their reporters

or their editorial staff, in a society already reeling under the impact of fake or false news, I decided that public debate must be elicited to confront this challenge for to-morrow. Social media with its increasing omni-presence and impact, reports within minutes, television media follows up within hours, and the print press grabs its bite in 24 hours. Television news is married, some may dare to call it 'a marriage made in hell', to the concept of 'breaking news'. There is a race in the market of...