Zainub Market i am must have carpets and bedsheets, no one thought of taking them out and putting them to save the poor guy. The entire 20 min the mentally sick awam was having fun with the guy taking his last breath and no one thinking about any measure to save his life.

This act is the saddest thing, its just proves and give a confirmation how deadly we have become.

Maheen, i think we know each other but barely. After i saw the link to your piece on my timeline, i was mislead to think it would be focusing on media ethics; what they are and what level of ethics we follow in Pakistan.

However the entire piece seems like Owais chose you to convey what he wanted from Nimco, or which Bollywood jingle he wanted to dance to. As a journalist it is our prime responsibility to Inform the audience accurately. While your piece surly draws ones emotions out, it is also mostly flowery writing that makes me wonder where the Ethics went..

It is not a journalists’ (reporter or cameraman) job to organize and facilitate a rescue operation. It is not a journalists job to leave his prime responsibility and start thinking about the greater good. No Cameraman (regardless of where in the world he is working) can take the decision of not filming someone jumping out of a building, or to turn his camera off instead of filming the last moments of a man bleeding to death. (For reference please cue footage aired by US News channels from back in Sept 11th 2001, and for a closer to home taste, cue the May 12th bloodbath in Karachi).

You might also remember the footage of Sarfaraz Shah being shot by a rangers personnel in Karachi. Should that footage not have been shot ? Should the cameraman have said to himself “hey wait a minute, filming this man as he breathes his last might offend a few pseudo journalists and couch activists. No, he shot that footage because he was doing his duty. He was capturing life, unadulterated in anyway by him.

Similarly all those people who were standing around the building, watching Owais as he clung to the window pane for dear life – who were not there to capture events as they happened so that you may be better informed – could have and should have stepped up and used their common sense. Maybe they could have cushioned his fall. Maybe they could have held a big net or one of those parachute covers custom made for cars (i know there are lots of such covers on lots of cars parked in the area). Maybe the secretary that Owais and Maheen did not like should have informed the fire department sooner (ir she did at all). Maybe Maybe Maybe… I should not say much more because i am stepping into the same filth that i started this rant to condemn.

Understand, that it is not the journalists ethical nor moral responsibility to leave his primary task and go galavanting as a superhero, nor is it his responsibility to decide whether to stop filming or to continue (in any case, not just the one in question). The responsibility lies with the Controllers who are sitting back at network Headquarters. However i think you only mentioned them once in your entire piece that too in passing through a comment that was made. Which leads me to ask you this. How do you know what the “boss” said to his cameraman ?? You were there ?? If you were, then please be bold enough to identify who this sick man is; however if you wrote that just like you made up the bit about Bollywood jingles and Aaloo ke Samosay i must say “They don’t really care about us.” is a beautifully written piece that achieves nothing more than poking holes in the same platter that you eat from.

Please, before we go around raising fingers and throwing blames, lets first understand what Ethical Journalism is. What ethical journalism challenges we face in Pakistan and maybe then you will be able to put the blame in the right place – and hopefully get some results.

Please do not blame the doctor because he did not leave his operation table to run and catch you as you slipped and as a result broke your hip. Again, my intentions were not to offend or attack you Maheen. We pride our independence as journalists, at least those who understand what journalism is.