28 Oct Offbeat reporting on marginalized communities can keep journalists relevant
Islamabad—Speakers at a media workshop said reporting on religious minorities had long been challenging in Pakistan, urging journalists to pursue offbeat stories about marginalized communities to make their work relevant in the age of social media.
The media experts and academics spoke at the workshop, ‘Reporting Rights Violations and Faith-based Persecution in Pakistan’, organized by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) at a local hotel.
Mainstream journalists and social media content creators took part in the sessions, which provided an opportunity for them to share experiences and adopt best practices for balanced and impactful reporting on rights violations and instances of faith-based persecution and hate speech.
Through interactive discussions, they were sensitized about how to identify, document and report incidents of faith-based violence and hate speech. They were briefed on techniques for identifying fake news on social media.
Asad Baig, media trainer and founder of the digital media startup incubator—the Media Lab, said the space for mainstream journalists had shrunk due to social media. “Report the system behind the suffering and move beyond individual hardship to examine the policies, budgets, and institutional practices that enforce exclusion,” he said. He said journalists could survive in an era when information about a single incident was readily available across multiple social media platforms by offering distinctive and in-depth reporting.
“To capture a complete picture, you must engage directly with those outside established networks. Seek out diverse perspectives, including younger voices and women, to ensure your reporting reflects the full range of lived experiences within a community,” Baig said.
Dr Khalid Masud, ad hoc member of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court, said they should move from exclusionary identity politics to an integral, pluralistic framework. “Journalism can help society towards bringing integration and pluralism,” he added.
Referring to data compiled by rights organizations, Masud raised the alarm over 2,793 incidents of faith-based mob executions reported across the country between 1987 and 2024. “Media’s role is to pivot the lens from sensational identity traps to rights-based, public-interest reporting,” he said.
Zafarullah Khan, civic educator and expert on parliamentary affairs, said the Constitution of Pakistan was a unifying force, and it ensured certain guarantees and fundamental rights to all religious minorities and marginalized groups living in the country. “We need to coexist with our respective faiths and freedoms,” he said. He said they had no choice but to implement the Constitution, warning that failure to do so would lead to anarchy in society.