Syed Qalbe Muhammad
Every year, 2nd July is observed as World Sports Journalists Day. Journalists and journalism are a pillar of society — the backbone of public education, truth, and recognition for talented people.
Pakistan’s sporting success has always been highlighted through journalism. From hockey to cricket, squash to snooker, all of Pakistan’s key achievements have been a glory on the sports pages of different newspapers since 1947.
The Golden Era
Around 25 to 30 years ago, dozens of sports magazines and weekly newspapers were published in all major cities. If you could not purchase them on time, they would be gone from the stalls due to high readership demand. People waited for weeklies and monthlies, and even after reading morning and evening dailies, they remained hungry for more.
The major decline began with the boom of electronic media, when media groups launched separate sports channels and spent millions to secure transmission rights for a single series.
The Digital Decline
In the digital era, we now have only a few YouTube channels. Quality websites and magazines are scarce, and weekly papers no longer exist. Most journalists live in fear of job loss or have been forced to change professions.
Many leading newspapers have shrunk their sports staff. Colour sports pages have turned black and white. Black-and-white pages have been reduced to half or a quarter. Only a few important sports stories are now published.
Impact on Sport
This is a key reason for the continuous decline of sports in the country, and for the falling quality of Pakistan’s leading sport, cricket. Sports bodies previously offered journalists and broadcasters tours and access. That no longer exists.
Earlier, reporters went to the field, watched matches, noted every moment, and gave credit to deserving players. Today, reporting is often limited to phones, SMS, WhatsApp groups, or emails. The concept of on-ground and research-based reporting is sinking. Journalism has been reduced to press releases.
There is no specific training for journalists by most federations or associations, except for the PCB, PSB, POA, and PHF. Journalists’ associations organize some training, but it is not sufficient. The country also suffers from a lack of quality broadcasters and radio commentators in both English and Urdu.
Continuous Job Decline
This has also led to a continuous decline in jobs for Public Relations Officers, corporate communications departments, and leading PR agencies.
Conclusion
Empowering journalism and the right journalists is the key to the betterment of sport. Including journalists’ ideas can help build a stronger financial and playing structure in the country — a need of the hour.
Even developed countries are working on new ideas to keep journalism alive in the era of Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT, because these platforms still do not provide complete or reliable information.The need of Journalism remains alive until coming centuries.