When Perception Becomes Power: Media, Misinformation And The Politics Of Narrative |
Pakistani Twitter/X has been awash for the past 24 hours with the Sky News interview of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sons and then of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi. In fact, it would be fair to say that discussion and debate on the portion of Sky News anchor Yalda Hakim’s interview with Imran Khan’s sons has been overshadowed by that on the exchanges between her and Mr Zaidi.
Much of the criticism of Mr Zaidi has come from supporters of the PTI and of the former prime minister, attacking him personally and calling him a sell-out to a military-controlled dispensation. Many have also taken issue with his former tweets, in which he strongly criticised Imran Khan’s arrest, compared to his defence of the same now, simply because he is working as a spokesman for the current government.
Whatever side of the story you stand on, certain things are plainly clear: that in today’s world, perception is everything; getting your narrative out there, especially on social media, is crucial, even for governments; and information is a weapon. And if information is weaponised, that also necessarily means that disinformation is weaponised, as we saw in the aftermath of the tragic Bondi Beach shootings.
But let’s stick with the Sky News interviews first, in particular that of its news anchor, Yalda Hakim, with Mosharraf Zaidi. Opinion on who did well is strongly divided, mostly along party lines, and it seems that those who support Imran Khan and his party have gone all guns blazing for Mr Zaidi. One lawyer who has represented the party’s founder has even tweeted asking his followers to draw up a list of all those who have tweeted in support of the Government of Pakistan spokesman.
Any opinion on how well or poorly the Government of Pakistan spokesman did on Sky News has to be a subjective matter and will vary from person to person. However, certain things are........