Re-launching Viewpoint (online)

"Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently", says Rosa Luxemburg. Those thinking differently, however, are almost always denied this freedom. Even in countries where free speech is a birthright, dissidents and critics have their views strictly restricted by paucity of capital. Hence, what is abstractly granted by the statute book is snatched by real life market forces. In the first place, running a newspaper, radio station, TV channel or a publishing house is a costly affair, often beyond the means of the working and middle classes. The media monopolies have made it even harder for non-profit ventures to penetrate the 'marketplace of ideas'. Pakistan is no exception.

A license from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA ) to launch a TV channel costs 30 million rupees. This flies in the face of the assertion that Pakistan now has a vibrant and free media. True, a number of TV channels have come up since government ended its monopoly over the airwaves. Unlike state-run PTV, these channels would also cover the opposition instead of showing state functionaries ad nauseam.

This is indeed a welcome change. The change, however, has proven to be pretty cosmetic. Most of these channels were launched by Pakistan's major media houses. Similarly, most of the talk-show hosts/anchors, a new breed of arrogant celebrities, remain busy peddling basically the same views, ideologies and information that the PTV used to disseminate. In an age of neo-liberalism, state indoctrination has been privatised. Thus, the 'free media' in fact has only benefited the media monopolies, offering them new business opportunities translating into huge profits. Meantime, media "celebrities" have offered more confusion than clarity. A breed of Taliban-minded televangelists and conspiracy theorists, ridiculed by liberal circles as media mujahideen, has in fact delivered a severe blow to rational thinking and journalistic ethics.

The print journalism is no exception. Anti-minority and antisemitic outburst, hate-India material, 'anti-Western' demagogy couched in jihadist phraseology, misogynist thinking, contempt for democracy and scientific thinking, in short all sorts of reactionary thoughts have become the hallmark of editorial pages particularly in the Urdu press.

Badly edited and poorly composed "news stories" offer nothing but frivolous scandals, idle gossip or hollow statements by soulless politicians. A perfect delineation of corkscrew journalism. But this perhaps is not the case merely with Pakistan. The mainstream media have, in general, all over the world embraced absurdness. However, in Pakistan the concerned activists and committed journalists have not yet started exploiting the opportunities that social media provides. Mercifully, social media (twitter, SMS, Facebook, email, blogs, websites, You Tube etc) offer an escape from the tyranny of capital as well as a refuge from iron-fisted autocratic regimes.

This reality can be best understood by the success of projects like US-based Znet and the innovative use of social media by Iranian activists. Even in Pakistan, a rough-and-ready video footage showing Taliban flogging a girl in the Swat valley, circulated last year, was an excellent example of social media beating the media monopolies. The "Swat video" forced the mainstream media to break their silence on the Taliban barbarities. It played an important role in exposing Taliban otherwise glorified in the Pakistan media. Similarly, blogs and Facebooks but most importantly email lists have helped connecting activists across Pakistan. Many email lists and some websites have become important forums for information exchange, debates and experience-sharing. However, e-zines, online dailies, or electronic-theoretical journals remain a novelty. In an effort to fill this void, we are re-launching Viewpoint.

To the old hands, Viewpoint is a familiar name. Launched in 1975 by the late Mazhar Ali Khan, Viewpoint became a major voice of the opposition during the 1980s under the Zia dictatorship. Viewpoint's commitment to democracy once landed it's entire senior staff in Lahore's central Jail. Viewpoint was closed down in 1992 but it left a permanent mark on the consciousness of an entire generation of activists. By re-launching Viewpoint, we not merely want to revive a tradition of resistance set by Mazhar Ali Khan and his worthy editorial team consisting of great journalists but we will also strive to revive quality journalism and set new traditions of activism as we don't see a future for Pakistan under capitalism.

In doing this, however, we will name the names, we will take sides, and we will be partial when it will come to justice, truth and democracy. Also, we will not be silent onlookers. We will be active participants in organising street fights. We will be at the forefront of every struggle against all sorts of exploitation, discrimination, aggression, violation and militarism. We will not prove merely a band of dissidents who merely "think differently", we will also act differently.

In this uphill task, we are not relying either on big capital or any kind of state sponsorship. We are counting on your moral, intellectual and financial support. Hope, together we can!