DISCLAIMER: This post is only about the credibility of Pakistani media. The authors do not disagree on the fact that money laundering in Swiss Banks is not done by Pakistani Politicians.
THE STORY: A hot issue this day is the story "Pakistan has got $97 billion dollars in Swiss Banks, says Director Swiss Bank"
The Absolute Verdict Team took an overview of this issue, and the results were indeed SHOCKING.
BACKGROUND: A year ago (October 2010), someone in India started a minor disinformation campaign against their government. The message conveyed was about the amount of wealth in Swiss Banks owned by the Indian Politicians. Luckily, their media was not as foolish as ours, and after a couple of months, the talks about this issue had dwindled. There was no name of the Bank, the Director, the exact time and location etc.
Check out the link here (Alot more can be found at Google): http://naenglish.net/?p=489
"One of the Swiss Bank Director Said::Indians are Poor; but, India is not a poor country.He says that 280 lac crores of Indian money is deposited in Swiss bank.The same money can be used for -Taxless budget for 30 years.Can give 60crore jobs to Indians.Can give FREE education to all lndians.From any village to Delhi 4 line road.Forever free Power suply.More than 500 projects built.A citizen can get monthly Rs 2000 for 60 Yrs.No need of world bank & IMF Loans.Think how our money blocked by currupt politicians."
THE FOOLISHNESS OF PAKISTANI MEDIA PROVED:
Pakistani media has been promoting the following newsreport these days:
"BERN - Director Swiss Bank said that Pakistan has 97 billion dollars in Swiss Banks. Director Swiss Bank said ‘Pakistanis are poor but Pakistan isn’t a poor country.’ He added that 97 billion dollars of Pakistan is deposited in respective bank and if this money would be utilized for the welfare of Pakistan and its people then Pakistan can make tax less budget for 30 years, can create 60 million jobs, can carpet four lanes road from any village to Islamabad, endless power supply to five hundred social projects, every citizen can get 20000 rupees salary for the next 60 years and there is no need to see IMF and any World Bank for loans. "
As you may have clearly guessed, the story posted a year ago in India, now made it's way to Pakistani media in a slightly edited form, and the foolish media did not even try to verify it and created hype among the people.
The problem is that not only minor news agencies, but also the "prestigeous" ones showed the same response.
Take a look here:
DAWN: http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/30/foreign-debts-swiss-bank-accounts.html
THE NATION: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/19-Sep-2011/Pakistan-has-97-billion-in-Swiss-banks
NAWA-E-WAQT: http://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/E-Paper/Multan/2011-09-19/page-1
EXPRESS: http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1101335097&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20110919
PAKISTAN TODAY: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/09/pakistan-has-97-billion-dollars-in-swiss-banks-director-swiss-bank/
INTERNATIONAL NEWS NETWORK: http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=183614
COLUMNPK URDU: http://www.columnpk.com/pakistan-has-97-billion-dollars-in-swiss-banks/
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The Absolute Verdict:
Is the media of Pakistan so stupid that it can believe/propagate anything without verification?The news article in question also happens to lack any credible material (Bank name, Director's name, Original Source etc), still it was spread unresearched.
The message is self-explanatory to the media - they need to act more responsibly.
And here is WHAT WE SHOULD DO:
We know that our media has shown irresponsibility at many times (declaring Ajmal Kasab as Pakistani; airing a documentary claiming that Osama was in Pakistan; making a propaganda against doctors and much more)
But we, as a nation, should show some senseof responsibility, and stop trusting everything the media says, in these dire consequencies, to protectour nation from National or International Conspiracies.
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