Quake emboldens Pakistani TV

Television anchor Hamid Mir may have crossed the line in the town of Bagh, at a school under which 1,500 boys lay either dead or injured along with 100 teachers.

"I'm asking the only surviving teacher, putting pressure on him for a sound bite. At the same time, I hear 'Help!' coming from the rubble," recounts Mr. Mir, a prominent anchor with GEO TV, one of Pakistan's new private television channels. "So we started digging with our bare hands, and then again I'm asking the teacher to continue with the interview, but he's crying and shouting that the government is not there."

Raw moments like this have made reporters like Mir both heroes and villains, at once praised and scorned for broadcasting the truth. NATO troops would later tell Mir they came to Bagh because their officers saw his report. But Pakistan's military-dominated government would later accuse him of inciting anger against it.

Pakistan's earthquake, while at once a story of national tragedy, is also the coming of age story of the country's fledgling private television channels. Their unflinching coverage of the disaster, beamed into millions of homes on a scale unseen in Pakistan's history, showcases an era of unparalleled media freedom and influence. But it has also, by creating rifts with the government, underscored the very limits of that newfound freedom.

It is an irony worth noting, media analysts say, that the Musharraf administration, although not prompted by altruistic intentions, must be credited with expanding media freedom. State-run television used to rule the airwaves, but in 1999, seeking to counteract Indian satellite television in Pakistan, the administration gave out licenses to Pakistan's first private television operators.

Since then private television, which today reaches 35 percent of the country's 150 million people, has broken political and cultural barriers, offering a level of debate, including critiques of the government, that viewers have never had before.

As the earthquake highlights, that newfound freedom has proved something of a genie the administration cannot force back into its bottle.

Television reporters have for weeks been trudging up mountainsides and walking for miles on foot to broadcast this story. Their images are indelibly pressed into the national consciousness, offering a vision of Pakistanis united in response to the tragedy.

But not all of those indelible impressions have been positive. Their coverage, whether intended or not, has also pointed out the shortcomings of the government's response, particularly through clips that featured angry villagers lambasting the military.

"Private television has brought out all sides of the story - both the successes and shortcomings," says Adnan Rehmat, executive director of Internews Pakistan, an organization tracking media freedom. "And that's generated debate about the performance of the Army."

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