Under the influence
I AM currently struggling to embrace the era of the influencer, especially as it enters the newsroom. This is despite me attempting to convince my previous employer to let us…
Fighting toxic talk
I HAD to step outside social media silos to understand what was happening in Lahore, because my trusted sources — ie, this newspaper and other legacy outlets — were reporting…
Monetising hate
THE unverified news of a young female student being sexually assaulted at a private college in Lahore has shocked the country. The news, that was made viral via social media…
China’s miracles
This week, China has been celebrating its foundation day as the People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949. Comparing Pakistan and China at their births in his…
Moral visions
IN normal circumstances, a party leading the coalition at the centre and possessing a majority in the largest province of the country would not invite immediate question marks over its future. Yet…
Young voters
A GENERAL election is like a democratic health check. In its wake, comes the prognosis: will Pakistani democracy live or die? The widely discredited polling process points to terminal illness.…
Road to perdition
A GROUP of politicians from various parties is trying to put together a kind of floating think tank to sort out the country’s ills — political, economic, governance, etc. In…
The challenge of disinformation
The internet has led the world to an unprecedented revolution, fundamentally transforming how we access and share information. Social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have…
Mental cost of social media
When joke becomes a reality—a cartoon on a person sitting in an addiction treatment clinic. The doctor is asking him what is he addicted to alcohol or drugs? He replies,…
New generation
AT a recent parent-teacher meeting at an elite school, a parent complained of her son’s poor performance in Urdu. The teacher told her not to worry, as all his classmates…
