Urdu Journal 200 Years : An Analysis

اردو صحافت کے 200 سال : ایک جائزہ

Abstract

Urdu Journalism in sub-continent shall turn 200 years old after few years. It has transformed tremendously in terms of news writing, vocabulary, lay-out, make-up and visual appeal. Internet and searchable Urdu (Unicode) have successfully introduced the language and the Urdu journalism internationally. Apart from a number of these revolutionary positive measures Urdu Journalism bears numerous signs of bad journalism. The concepts such as objectivity, balanced news, right to reply, fairness, professional editor, libel and other laws related to a professional and responsible practice of journalism are still alien up to quite a large extent. Press Release still finds a convenient way to the print and few reporters trouble rechecking the facts. Agenda Journalism, hero driven reactionary narrative rule the roost. This paper claims that Urdu newspapers, in general, have failed to satisfy their readers with the quality of news and information they provide.