Media's arm-twisting

The media is once again under fire. The use of arm-twisting tactics is on the rise against it. People in the helm of affairs are bitterly accusing the media, especially the news channels for spreading disinformation among the masses. The anti-free media forces are actively busy in proving that the media is working against national interest; in some cases it is helping those elements who want to destabilise Pakistan. Here the question arises: is it a genuine criticism?
Presently, the television anchors are mostly hated by the government, politicians and especially by those elements of our society who want to hide the truth from the public since it may harm their political, economic, financial and personal interests. They are undoubtedly the most critical of the independent media since it has managed to - boldly - expose their wrong policies.
No government, whether military or civilian, has ever tolerated a free and vibrant media. General Ayub Khan's era introduced the notorious Press and Publication Ordinance to chain the free press, followed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 70s, General Zia ul Haq in late 70s and 80s. Even in the 90s the media was not as free as it should have been. Former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, who claimed that he had allowed private TV channels to operate for the first time in the country, closed them, when they started exposing his wrong and self-serving policies.
When Musharraf imposed Emergency in the country on November 3, 2007, he banned the news channels on the pretext that they had been working against supreme national interest and misleading the masses.