Be wary of information: Pakistani daily on fake WikiLeaks report
By IANSMonday, December 13, 2010
ISLAMABAD - It is in the Pakistani media’s interest “to be a bit wary of the information suppliers that exist outside their pool of trustworthy sources”, a leading Pakistani daily said Monday following a fake WikiLeaks report that India allegedly played a role in destabilizing this country’s Balochistan province.
An editorial in the Dawn Monday observed that “as if the torrents unleashed by the real WikiLeaks were not overwhelming enough, it seems that now some clever souls are keen to use the opportunity to `contribute’ to the heady flow of information”.
Some Pakistani newspapers Thursday carried a news story which claimed there was sufficient proof of Indian involvement in Balochistan and Waziristan.
“Additionally, in an attempt to cater to a sense of security and superiority not uncommon among Pakistanis, it trivialised matters as serious as the attack in Mumbai in 2008 and resorted to caricaturing senior soldiers on the other side”.
It said that the piece appeared to be based on a series of WikiLeaks cables that American missions had sent to Washington - “only for its publishers to later realise that it may have been planted news”.
“Our idea of patriotism encourages us to promote causes even when the damage such promotion on our part can do to the country should make us extremely careful of what we report and how.
“Today it is one set of newspapers which has been misled into portraying ill-conceived propaganda as information; tomorrow it can be another. This is a warning for all those in the media,” it said.
Commenting on the incident, the editorial said it “In the case of the fake WikiLeaks cables that have now been condemned, the publishing of the news either coincided with, or was preceded by, its release on several websites. Not all these sites are known for their fairness, let alone objectivity.”
“It will only be in the interest of the media to be a bit wary of the information suppliers that exist outside their pool of trustworthy sources,” it added.
