Anjum Niaz: Made to order media

He's a doctor by career but a journalist by profession. How convenient is that! Yet, the maverick who rose to dizzying heights just in a span of eight short years is left licking his wounds. Marey Mutabik fallen hero, Dr Shahid Masood has finally admitted to Iftikhar Ahmad of Jawab Deyh that the might of the state (read establishment) is stronger than all his VVIP contacts put together. He is said to have damning proof on matters most sensitive (too hot to write here), still he's been shown the door at the PTV. The surgeon-turned-media darling got chummy with Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Pervez Musharraf; chatted up retired and serving generals for kiss-and-tell stories; interviewed anyone he so chose to grill and eventually landed as the czar of Pakistan Television, despite not wanting to take the job but took it at the insistence of Asif Ali Zardari!

Opinion slinger Doc Masood got cagey and constrained when goaded by Iftikhar Ahmad to name the people hounding him. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of namelessness and anonymity. If maverick Masood is running like a scared chicken, God help the rest of his tribe. Anyone wanting to do a sizzler must set it aside to cool and wait for power horses to disintegrate before making it public. We live in hypocritical times – can't mention the ethnic party that arm-twists the media from time to time; can't openly write the reasons why the so-called 'Friends of Pakistan' are unwilling to give us money; can't demand from our leaders as to how much money they have stashed away abroad; and most importantly where did that money come from?