As concerned citizens of Pakistan with continued interests in the health and wellbeing of the country and its people, we are contacting every major news and media outlet to register our complaint regarding little to no coverage of events, incidents and issues that actually concern the citizens of Pakistan – such as the ever-increasing events of violence and crimes, depleting infrastructure, poor condition of health and education, rising climate threats, and many other human rights and civil liberty issues. Rather space is given to political parties, their concerns and rivalries, covering every 'press conference', reducing the reporting to nothing more than public relations for every major actor in the political marketplace in the country.

In fact, the focus of reporting has become so narrow that even major geopolitical events get dropped out of the news after a few days such as the Russian-Ukraine war, or hardly get the attention and analysis they deserve such as Speaker Pelosi's visit to Taiwan or Julian Assange's trial and persecution. These concerns are not limited to newspapers but extend to TV channels where one after another program regurgitates the same discussions. The only factor that rarely makes each discussion different from the others is the appearance of a different set of guests and the tajziya kars (analysts) – the content remains the same.

We want media outlets to become more responsible and take up issues of actual public interest, playing their fair role in supporting and promoting democracy, and becoming the voice of the people. A few examples of some recent events, events of alarming nature that were hardly given space in the the news are as follows:

• Brief kidnapping of a woman in DHA, Lahore (incident occurred on Jul18, 2022)
• Murder of a Youth, Jazlan, in Karachi (incident occurred on May 26, 2022)
• The stock of destruction and relief efforts in Balochistan
• Shortage of medicines/drugs in the market
• The worsening condition of roads in Rawalpindi

These events did not get enough coverage, besides mere mention in the headlines and even when covered were not followed up for any developments in the cases. On the other hand, the public is kept updated on the developments in the Amir Liaquat exhumation case.

Investigative reporting on matters of public interest*, along with follow-up reporting on the developments of an event falls within the framework of media companies and we, the citizens have taken it upon ourselves to remind the media agencies as well as the journalists of their duties and responsibilities towards the people and their own professions. We encourage media outlets to pay attention to other ways of holding leaders and public office holders accountable, instead of just inviting them to talk shows and asking questions that they then cleverly deflect. We believe this can be achieved through

• Increased coverage of events of public interest including but not limited to health, education, infrastructure, transportation, water, and the likes
• Increased investigative reporting and following developments of crimes, and incidents to maintain pressure on relevant authorities to uphold justice and order
• Increased reporting of the underprivileged people of society, keeping their plight and misery alive in the public discourse as well as the conscience of the people

Public awareness is the responsibility that media outlets should fulfil and therefore, follow-up reporting on issues which directly affect the public will not only help raise awareness but will also increase the likelihood of issues being resolved in a conclusive manner.

*interests as mentioned before: events and issues that directly impact the well-being of the citizens.