The News in Pakistan is celebrating sixteen years in production. One of its writers, Ghazi Salahuddin, reflects on the changes in that short time, and the hopes of the launch team. It’s a thoughtful piece, and shows – if we needed confirmation – how much journalists around the world hold in common. In Pakistan, The News speaks out against “honour killings,” poverty and human rights abuses – and that requires guts.

…sixteen years ago, The News was at the cutting edge of media technology and we genuinely felt proud of being a part of it. I fondly remember the first editorial of the newspaper that I had written, in excitement, weeks before the launching. It was: “Journey of a thousand dreams.” At this time, I would like to quote its two, concluding sentences: “A newspaper has been likened to a nation talking to itself. We would like this dialogue to be conducted at a high and dignified level.”

…In those days, all of us felt very optimistic about the role that we thought an English daily published simultaneously from three cities could play in raising the level of national debate. We were aiming for a younger readership and wanted to be socially responsible. We looked at the media, perhaps romantically, as an instrument of social change.

Now, an English newspaper, with its very limited circulation, could not be expected to make a difference in Pakistan’s largely illiterate and intellectually deprived society. However, this expectation of media being able to move mountains would appear to be more realistic with the advent of news channels in Urdu, with their initially liberating flamboyance in reporting and discussing events and issues.

…What I see relevant here is whether the media, electronic as well as print, has set any direction for this change and has it effectively promoted the struggle for social justice and human rights.

Poverty, disparity in income and crime may have little to do with how media has influenced the minds of our people. But growing intolerance and religious extremism is manifest in the recent rash of suicide bombings and events in the tribal belt. Why has this intolerance, with its sinister consequences, grown in recent years?

…I can recall that sixteen years ago, when the present spread of television channels could not be foreseen, we did have some sense of power in our capacity to make a difference and uncover injustice and corruption. We were aware, then, of such causes as environment and the empowerment of women. I used to rejoice in the presence of our staff of so many young journalists, including women. So much seemed possible.

Perhaps so much is still possible. I sometimes wonder if old hacks like me are a bad example for bright young professionals in the media whose hearts are throbbing with hope and ambition. But my excuse has always been that in spite of all my disappointments, I still hold fast to the ideals of my youth. There has always been this struggle to uphold democratic values. But how long would it take, for instance, to ensure that at least our elections are free and fair? It is something more tricky than making the bomb…

If you want to read more from The News, here’s another columnist on suicide bombers and ‘the cult of death’

Schools and madrassahs determine what a nation is destined to become in the future. For us, that future is here because we have long let our madressahs and schools churn out brigades of death worshippers. Glamorisation of death — not life — and long years of death worshipping degenerate into suicide bombings. To be certain, suicide bombings are getting us nowhere; Muslims are killing Muslims. Our religion gives us al-jihad al-akbar, the greater jihad, the most powerful of instruments to beat non-Muslims through excellence in education, knowledge, schools, universities, libraries, women emancipation, creation and innovation. We have picked up al-jihad al-asghar, the lesser jihad, even before we gave a chance to al-jihad al-akbar.

More power to their elbow.