Balloting was closed 5:00 Pakistan Time (PST). Five minutes after the closing of the balloting GEO TV Channel has started running a news strip that Jang Group conducted a survey in NA-55 area asking people to whom they will vote.
The question is why they have to run this survey on the balloting day. What were the motives behind this survey? By the end of they day people will know the actual results.
There is no problem conducting such surveys as such but we don’t know whether this was really a survey. This may be a paid service provided to a political party for propaganda. Let us see if some information comes out from any corner of the new arena.
The problem i see is that day before yesterday on GEO TV channel program CapitalTalk Hamid Mir invited a couple of news analyst including Irfan Siddiqui, Haroon Rasheed and one analyst from Karachi studio. Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed accused Hamid Mir that he intentionally arranged this anti Shaikh Rasheed program. Shaikh Rasheed also accused Irfan Siddiqui that he is on the payroll of Noon League.
Anybody and everybody is entitled to have his or her opinion what ever they like. The question is either TV channels should show they are neutral and they bring the news from both sides of table or openly announce the channel is a political activist channel who pays the money they will broadcast the program for them.
GEO TV Channel has played a role of political activism in the media. GEO TV has broadcast the propaganda against Pervaiz Musharraf and now a days against Asif Ali Zardari. Sharif Brothers are not angles but GEO did not say anything about their activities when Noon League was in power and his running away from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia. NRO also made it possible for Sharifs to come back to Pakistan. Now they say they are anti-NRO.
Do GEO get the money from political parties to run the program for or against their opponents.
We don’t know.
This is a big question and very disturbing.
