Starving journalists and their millionaire colleagues

Starving journalists and their millionaire colleagues

BY : Afshan Bangash

The rising disparities between the salaries and working conditions of current affairs celebrity anchors and the rest of journalistic staff in Pakistani TV channels has already become a serious issue. The current situation is that the so called 'star' anchors are getting astonishingly lucrative packages, while the rest of the news staff and their families are virtually being “starved” by the proprietors of news TV channels, with hopelessly low wages and agonising delay in salaries.

Ironically, these starving non-anchor journalists are not only often equally, if not more, qualified and skilled than their millionaire colleagues working from air-conditioned studios.

This starving lot, working on the news desks, post-production, transmission and technical departments, work day and night without much specification of working hours. News reporters and cameramen, the most under privileged class of TV journalists, risk their lives to generate real news to feed their 'star' anchors with, so that they could prepare a few often inadequately researched questions for a couple of politicians everyday in exchange of a hefty cheque from their employers every month.

As a result, massive cost-cutting and frequent down-sizing of employees in most of the TV news networks seems to be today's most favoured way of absorbing 'star' anchors' salaries.

Ironically enough, salaries are not the only money-making option for TV anchors. Other lucrative income sources are the paid speeches and lengthy monologues mostly at the beginning of a show. A significant number of the so called columnists and senior analysts are on the pay-rolls of political parties and domestic and international intelligence services. Some big media names, have affiliations with international players, such as, Iran and Saudi Arabia based on their religious and sectarian beliefs. By promoting such agendas, these ‘prominent’ journalists usually get financial incentives, positions, plots, jobs for relatives and money as well as “professional bribes” like exclusive news and accessibility to information. These top names are usually in the employment of media organisations which usually are themselves the beneficiaries of the media-management and propaganda policies of similar national and international players.

The unbelievable disparities between the rich anchors and the starving non-anchor TV journalists and the former's blind and rather unethical approach to switch the channels every other day for even higher salary packages, reflects the deterioration of moral values and commitment in the society in general. This class-divide and economic injustice within the news media, symbolises the growing gap between celebrity anchors and the public they proudly claim to "serve".

Is there a legal remedy to address this high-scale discrimination and exploitation? I asked Amjad Malik, Solicitor-Advocate Supreme Court (England), who highlighted a few points without going into detail.

"..i think under discrimination and equality ensured by constitution (art.25) , steps can be taken to challenge this disparity first with employer then through union in higher courts but support staff in a group action of most of the networks should join hands and claim equality and proportionate directions from high court..."