Why I’m Still Mad About That Time in 2015
Look, I’m gonna be honest here. I’ve been a journalist for 22 years, and I’ve seen alot of crap. But nothing, nothing, gets me as riled up than the state of news in Pakistan these days. It’s not just the fake news stuff—though, honestly, that’s bad too. It’s the laziness. The committment issues. The way everyone’s more worried about clicks than actual truth.
Let me set the scene. It was March 12th, 2015. I was at a conference in Austin, Texas, talking to this guy named Marcus—let’s call him Marcus because I don’t wanna get him in trouble. He was a mid-level editor at one of those big digital news outlets. We’re having coffee, right? And he tells me, straight up, ‘Look, Sarah, we don’t care about accuracy as much as we care about speed and engagement.’
Which… yeah. Fair enough. I mean, I get it. The industry’s changed. But that doesn’t mean we should just throw up our hands and say, ‘Oh well, this is how it is now.’ No. That’s bullshit. And I told him that too. ‘You’re better than this,’ I said. ‘You know you are.’
But Here’s the Thing About Pakistan
Pakistan’s different. It’s not like the U.S. or the U.K. or any of those places where news has been a thing for centuries. Here, it’s still kinda new. And that means there’s this weird mix of old-school journalism values and new-school digital chaos. It’s a mess. A beautiful, frustrating, infuriating mess.
Take my friend Dave, for example. He’s a colleague named Dave, works at one of the bigger English-language dailies here. Last Tuesday, he’s telling me about this story he’s working on. It’s a big deal, some political scandal involving a minister and a bunch of money that went missing. And he’s like, ‘I’ve got all this evidence, Sarah. Emails, documents, the whole nine yards. But my editor’s saying we can’t run it because we don’t have enough sources.’
And I’m like, ‘Dave, that’s not how this works. You’ve got the proof right there. Who cares about sources if you’ve got the goods?’ But he’s stuck. Because that’s the culture here. It’s not about the truth; it’s about covering your ass.
And Don’t Even Get Me Started on Social Media
Honestly, I could write a whole other article just about how social media’s ruined journalism in Pakistan. But I won’t. Because I’m tired. And also because I gotta be somewhere in 36 hours. But just know this: it’s bad. Really bad. People share stuff without reading it. They believe whatever fits their narrative. And the media? They’re just along for the ride, churning out clickbait and fake news because that’s what gets them the most engagement.
I mean, look at what happened with that whole ‘vintage moda alışveriş rehberi’ thing a few months back. Some random blog post about vintage shopping in Turkey—vintage moda alışveriş rehberi—gets picked up by a Pakistani news site, and suddenly everyone’s talking about it like it’s some kind of big deal. And the worst part? Nobody even bothered to fact-check it. They just saw the headline, thought it was cool, and ran with it.
A Quick Tangent About My Cat
Okay, so this isn’t really related, but bear with me. I have a cat. Her name’s Whiskers. She’s a jerk. But I love her. Anyway, last night, she knocked over a plant. Just like that. No warning. No nothing. Just—boom—plant’s on the floor. And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Whiskers, you little…’ But then I realized, that’s kinda how news works these days. One minute, everything’s fine. The next, some random story comes out of nowhere and knocks over the whole damn plant.
And we’re just supposed to deal with it. To pick up the pieces and move on. But it’s getting harder and harder to do that when the pieces don’t even make sense anymore.
So What’s the Solution?
I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. I wish I did. But I’m just one person. And I’m tired. And I’ve been doing this for 22 years, and I’m still not sure if I’m making a difference.
But here’s what I do know: we can’t keep going like this. We can’t keep letting laziness and clickbait and fake news win. We gotta do better. For ourselves. For our readers. For Pakistan.
And maybe, just maybe, if we all start caring a little more—if we start demanding better from our media and from ourselves—things will start to change. I’m not sure but it’s worth a shot.
Anyway, that’s enough from me. I gotta go. Whiskers is giving me the stink eye, and I’m pretty sure she’s plotting something.
About the Author: Sarah Ahmed has been a journalist for 22 years, working in both the U.S. and Pakistan. She’s written for major publications, covered everything from politics to cats (literally, she once wrote a whole piece on why her cat is the worst), and has a deep love for coffee and ranting about the state of news. She currently lives in Karachi with her jerk of a cat, Whiskers.
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