Media coverage: A distorted agenda?

Weeks before I left, reports of contact killings, bombing threats, riots and kidnapping had pebbled the press like a hail of automatic gunfire. The situation in country, described by client in Karachi, was "tense and fluid." A difficult pronouncement to dissect.

The fact that this was my third journey into Pakistan didn't make me feel any easier. In fact, three weeks before my first excursion into the country in 2009, the hotel I was booked to stay in was bombed. Added to this, was the ominous security briefing document I received on arrival - enough to make even the strongest of mortals second guess themselves.

The security guidelines, ominously tucked into an inconspicuous medium-sized envelope, provided a gamut of emergency contact numbers - ranging from Vigilance Supervisors to Security Managers across all the regions of the country.

But the one criterion that gave me pause for thought was the instruction to travel "under requisite security cover." And true to the security checklist, I was whisked away from Karachi International Airport by a designated driver, with an armed policeman riding shotgun. The fact that neither of us could converse in a mutually understood language made things even more strained.

I lost count of the number of security check points, booms and armed personnel - and that was just on exiting the terminal building. More of the same awaited us as we drove through the midnight streets of Karachi.

Reading the rest of the checklist under the light of my mobile phone, I was instructed to avoid markets, shopping centres, public gatherings, "well-known expatriate meeting points" like restaurants, and "western-branded" chains such as Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Under the strict directive to "never display a high profile," I spent the rest of that very uncomfortable road trip huddled as low as I possibly could on the back seat.

Well, I'm ashamed. I was seeing things through the eyes of the western media, tainted by barrage upon barrage of negative press coverage. More disturbing perhaps, is the fact that Pakistani journalists seem to echo the distorted views of their western counterparts.

Writing in the daily newspaper Pakistan Today, columnist Imran Husain penned a harrowing account of his country in his February 16 column entitled: "Inside the volcano."

"Last night, it came to me," he said. "This feeling of unease, insecurity, uncertainty gurgling within like burning rocks, melting earth, sounds of guts spewing, imminent disaster. It's like being inside a volcano. That's Pakistan today, a recipe for disaster, waiting to spew its bowels. "

Now, if that is the view of the local media on the ground, then the west cannot be entirely blamed for their poisoned pens. And apart from the violent language of political instability, wide-spread corruption and visible military intervention, there are also a lot of other factors to consider. Unemployment is still alarmingly high, inflation is a cause of great concern, and GDP growth doesn't seem to anywhere near an upward trajectory.

But all this being said, life - even in a war zone - just goes on. Like everywhere else, people go about their business, doing their best to eke out a living and get on with things. The outdoor restaurants - catering to expats or not - still make money, as do the hawkers selling their wares on the dusty street corners.

Motorists skillfully traverse the chaotic street, jockeying for position with multicoloured buses and trucks. Old motorcycles - seemingly a preferred mode of transport - also find a way to their destination. Layers of soft fabric shroud the pretty faces of female passengers precariously riding pillion on these motorbikes, their impossibly dark eyes peering at their surroundings.

The locals are faultlessly polite, smiling graciously at the slightest hint of a greeting. In fact, during my week-long stay in solidly walled-off hotel in the city centre with the requisite armed guards and dogs, the staff was almost too obliging, almost falling over themselves to be of assistance.

It was evident during my client's Media Training programme, that the leaders of business in this city have earned their stripes. Their grasp of their country's precarious position almost impossible to argue with.

Has Pakistan earned its nefarious reputation in the media? Maybe. But then, maybe not.