From its earliest days, journalism has striven to preserve an identity grounded in authenticity, responsibility, and truth. Across the world, including Pakistan, those committed to this noble craft laboured to ensure that the news reaching the public remained uncoloured by personal motives or sensational distortions. It was a profession that demanded integrity, patience, and respect for facts. For decades, it remained rare for journalists to feel compelled to embellish or cloak their work in unrealistic hues merely to attract attention. The craft stood firmly upon the pillars of credibility and public trust.

However, as technology advanced with unprecedented speed, doubts gradually arose about the very foundation upon which journalism was built. The emergence of digital manipulation and artificial intelligence brought with it a crisis that the world had never before experienced on such a scale. The old lines separating truth from falsehood became blurred—not due to the failure of journalism itself, but because of tools that enabled falsehood to travel faster than truth and to appear more convincing than reality. Voices could be mimicked with startling precision, images altered without detection, and entire incidents fabricated with a few strokes of digital ingenuity.

The age of fake news dawned quietly at first, but soon its echoes were heard across continents. Initially, it led to severe blunders. False reports spread like wildfire, shaping public opinion before the facts could even surface. It was exploited to launch negative trends, destroy reputations, and weaken social harmony. Personalities found themselves accused of actions and statements........

© Naya Daur