This media-on-media story adds another dimension to the Pakistan power struggle.
“The crackdown had been long coming. Three months earlier, in March, GEO-TV’s offices were the scene of a defining moment for the journalists in Pakistan’s independent television news business—when their struggle against government restrictions itself became news, and helped them glimpse their untapped potential as a force for political change.” (CJR)
I wonder what the championed Bhutto would do with the press if they turned on her?
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November 14, 2007 at 4:41 am
Brian Lehr spoke this morning to Ali Ahsan, the son of a prominent Pakistani lawyer-activist. Ahsan is very critical of Musharaff, but also suspicious of Bhutto. Towards the end of the interview, he expresses the fear that Bhutto will use the groundswell of popular opposition to Musharaff to leverage a power-sharing deal, leaving these protesters in the lurch.
Here’s the show:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007/11/13
November 14, 2007 at 5:20 am
My reason for posting this is because the American media is following the Bhutto house-arrest so closely and making her into a saint, and some news organizations are just now looking into the corruption surrounding her previous stints in power.
I think it’s especially interesting that her story — a woman lobbying for power — is juxtaposed with Hilary Clinton’s race for the Democratic candidacy. Maybe that’s one of the chief reasons why this story, in addition to other factors like including Bush’s involvement with Musharaff, is being covered so heavily.
November 21, 2007 at 4:28 pm
The media has ’selective amnesia’ with the Bhutto family. It seems to me that Washington policy dictates what/how/who the media will cover.
There has been very little about the opposition leader Imran Khan, who was just released from prison. He has been a political force in Pakistan for over a decade ( not to mention an international cricket star). Yet, he is virtually an unknown in the US.