Backlog Brilliance is a segment that takes you back in time, to the Synergyzer of Yesteryear. This particular piece is from 2004, the third issue, ‘The Brand Builders: Special Feature,’ written by Aamir Iqbal Dhakan
In the light of ethical morality, Aamir Iqbal Dhakan, compels us to contemplate the adverse effects of fraudulent advertisements in some low-image newspapers.
Sitting in my hairdresser’s shop waiting for my turn. I started flipping through the pages of a couple of foreign Magazines. Turning towards the pile of newspapers and magazines, I spotted a few Urdu newspapers and began flipping through them, hoping to find a funny rumour about a local celebrity. Instead, a few eye-catching ads grabbed my attention.
It was the same old story all over again: people claiming to cure everything from bad marriages to bad jobs. From bad luck to bad physique, using a variety of media. Including consultations by so-called “Aamils”, “Hakims”, doctors, palmreaders, and magic pills.
This was not some isolated issue of some isolated newspaper; rather, this is a general trend. A multitude of low-class Urdu newspapers can be continuously seen displaying and promoting such fraudulent and potentially harmful claims made by unscrupulous conmen. Moreover, such claims do generate a substantial response from the audience. Since these newspapers are targeting the lower-income and relatively less educated classes, who give in to such wild claims.
In order to understand the implications of such acts, we have to first understand the role the media can play in shaping the perceptions of people. A society is shaped by the mindsets, values and beliefs of people. Which makes up the society. A key determinant in shaping these mindsets, values and perceptions is the sources of exposure that these people receive. Of which the media is perhaps one of the most significant. Thus, the role of media in this aspect cannot be understated.
Given that the majority of Pakistan’s population falls within the lower classes. Their access to print media comprises mainly of lower-range Urdu newspapers. Therefore, the role of this particular range of media is even more emphasised in shaping people’s perceptions and mindsets. Another question that we should perhaps ask ourselves is. Why do people, specifically those in the lower classes, fall for such obviously false and deceptive claims? The answer again lies in the relative lack of education and the exposure they have had during their lives. Every person is a product of their environment. And the environment around these people has consistently pushed them, through fabricated stories and exaggerated instances, to believe and give in to such fanciful claims.
So then, the question becomes one of ethics and morals. Is it not unethical for these newspapers to engage in this form of unfair profiteering? Should they not display a higher degree of responsibility, knowing full well the fraudulence of these claims? And the dangerous impact that they may have on the population at large? Isn’t this responsibility shared by the makers of these ads? Along with the newspapers that promote them? Or does the responsibility fall on someone else?
In my opinion, the question of ethics starts from the very makers of these products. However, every country and every society has its fair share of conmen or otherwise unscrupulous characters. Who will seek to profit at the expense of others? Having established that, on whom does the onus in this particular case fall now? Both the makers of the ad and the publishing newspaper must share the responsibility. Both of them need to deny their services to these shady characters and products. But then again, this is easier said than done. Newspapers and these ad makers do not really have objective criteria to evaluate the validity of these claims. They will have to engage in a process through which such criteria can be developed. So that refusal to entertain these ads is not subject to the whim of certain key people.
Given the limitations that newspapers and ad makers face. The role of other bodies takes on increasing importance: the government and government bodies. In weeding out these types of ads. The importance of government bodies in terms of developing laws, regulations and standards. To curb these acts and also put limitations and increased accountability on the ad makers and newspapers is critical.
However, the question of morals and ethics goes beyond following the letter of the law. There will always be loopholes in the laws and other ways to circumvent these restrictions. So we revert back to our original question: What responsibilities do newspapers and the ad makers share in this regard? There is no doubt that both these bodies have to start pulling their weight. They should engage in a conscious effort to differentiate between genuine products and dangerous scams. Rather than have other external bodies impose rules and restrictions on them, they should venture to control their own actions and define their own standards.
But hey, wait a second. Before we trip on ourselves coming down hard on these small Urdu newspapers, what about the big players in the market? The big advertising agencies and newspapers? Don’t major multinational corporations and other nationally and internationally reputed companies continuously use these platforms to promote their products, even after being involved in multi-million dollar scandals at one point or another? Where is the accountability there? We also have to ask ourselves whether the reasons for these small scams appearing in the Urdu newspapers also appear in larger newspapers. Is it because these newspapers do not allow them or is it because the makers of these products cannot afford to place their ads in these newspapers? I am sure the answer is the latter. So again, where i the accountability here?
On a broader level, the question becomes one of large-scale attitudinal and institutional change. Throughout history, the role of the media and, more generally, the role of freedom of speech and the freedom of the press have been worthy in bringing about change. If anything, this very fact speaks out for the importance of the role of media in our society and the importance of defining their actions within an ethical framework. Everyone has to play their part; big fish and small fish included.
