Foreign economic interests influencing media, affecting policies: Dr Wizarat.

KARACHI -- Foreign economic interests are impacting on Pakistan's media which affects Pakistan's strategic, economic and politico-social interests, says noted economist and chairperson of economic affairs division of Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Professor Dr Shahida Wizarat. In a paper read at an economic forum, she said foreign economic interests can be classified into three broad categories, she said, the influence emanating from foreign governments, the influence emanating from the corporate sector abroad and the influence from international financial institutions. She said although these are three different sources, their origin is the same: they all represent foreign imperial interests. She said the impact of these foreign economic interests on Pakistan can also be divided into three broad categories, i.e. strategic interests, economic interests and socio-political and cultural interests.

Answering the question that what role the media is playing in promoting foreign imperial interests which are impacting on our strategic, economic, politico-social and cultural interests, she opined that the media promotes its role first through disseminating news that promotes foreign imperial interests. Second, the media achieves its objectives through suppressing news that will have an adverse impact on foreign imperial interests. Third, local agents appointed by foreign imperial powers are portrayed as heroes and fourth, those standing up against such foreign imperial interests and domination are marginalized and their message is suppressed.

Dr Wizarat said Pakistan's media was more open and objective till the 1990s. The 1990s was the first decade of the liberalization and privatization era and heavy borrowings from the IFIs. The resulting decline in the growth rate had a decelerating effect on personal incomes, business profits and government revenues. De-industrialization manifested itself in the closure of 5000 industrial units, downsizing and restructuring of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), decline in investments, migration of industrial units that became non-viable due to escalation in their cost of production rendering millions unemployed. She said the per capita income which was more or less stagnant during the first few years of the 1990s decade declined in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999. As a result of decline in the growth rate, employment rate and per capita income overall poverty increased to 50% and in rural Sindh to 85% according to the...