Khyber Agency blast and media attitude

Blog Monday, March 30th, 2009

More then 50 persons have been killed and above hundred injured by a suicide bomb blast in a mosque during Friday prayers at Khyber agency.

This is a big tragic happening however the TV channels gave so little coverage to it as if it were an immaterial event. Few days back a suicide blast at a police check post in Islamabad where only a single person was killed but that event was discussed and highlighted for several days by the media while most gruesome terrorist events taking place in NWFP are neglected and set aside in hours. On such attitude of the media few questions do arise. Does this type of attitude mean that victims of terrorism belonging to this part of the country is less important before the media ? Are all parts of country and its people not the components of Pakistan and thus do not deserve to be treated and mourned evenly?

A perception is rapidly developing among the common masses in NWFP that when even a minor bomb blast take place some where in a city of Punjab the same TV channels postpone all its routine programmers and start covering and commenting on it as if heavens have been fallen while a severest terrors tic blasts in this province are ignored by them within hours .Such discriminatory attitude on the part of media does cause creation of frustration and feeling of alienation among the masses of NWFP ., Better the managers of the media do take note of such attitude and policy in the larger interests of national solidarity