Manipulated journalism to favor political interests? My 15 minutes to fame from an interview by a ‘drama channel’ who is apparently now reporting on current affairs too, the viral video respondent reached out to ProperGaanda sharing her account.
“I never thought my shoot to 15 minutes of fame would be a choppy cut video from a drama channel (hum channel is now reporting news?) lol #HumNews (is that even a thing?) Since I have given you all the reason to laugh- here’s the other side of the coin (for only those who really wish to flip it!)”
Our insight has revealed that Mahnur Ahmed’s recent interview that has been quite active in the news on ‘foreign funding’ was in fact cropped and distorted to give out the wrong message. She was replying to the accusation of ‘corruption,’ saying “foreign funding does not equate to corruption as they are two different things. Foreign funding is illegal but breaking the law doesn’t necessarily mean you are ‘corrupt’.” She also commented that “it’s not corruption if through foreign funding the money came into Pakistan, since there was no money taken out of Pakistan and spent on personal assets- like the present government is accused of- how can it be deemed as ‘corruption.'”
The reporter has not included the part where she talks about this and only uploaded the middle part of her interview where she is talking about foreign funding and money coming into Pakistan and not going out which clearly seemed to have given the wrong impression and has been portrayed out of context. She further commented, “whether it’s foreign funding or not, it still needs to be decided by the court” (which is also omitted from the end of her interview).
Commenting on the response from the cropped interview, she says, “Most people believe what’s sensational. The brain wants to conserve mental energy and uses heuristics whenever possible. That’s where media manipulation plays its role. The reason Putin’s support in Russia is so high is partly due to its media telling its people about the imperialist West. Echoing the story over and over again causes a rise in Russian nationalism. Similarly, I feel our present government has lost public support and is now using the media to take the support away from Imran Khan and regain people’s support. If important parts are omitted, as they have done in my interview, it promotes a one-dimensional view that the people are led to be influenced by such slanted versions of the truth.”
“Being a Public Law lawyer, I highly stress the importance of responsible media reporting and to refrain from using such tactics on social media to feed on current political agendas. I also want to clarify I am not part of any political party, but being a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf supporter, I still condemn prohibited funding and do not support the party resorting to illegal ways.”
