A number of users are complaining that they are receiving spam emails from ARY News in which, the famous TV channel is advertising about its program “Off The Record” which is hosted by TV anchor, Kashif Abbasi. Email spamming for an already famous TV program by ARY News is yet another third grade, shabby and unprofessional way of getting high ratings.
Pakistani media is being massively polarized in the current political scene on Pakistan. Majority of TV channels are a victim of Advocacy Journalism. Things started to fall off the quality grid swiftly after Hamid Mir, Geo TV anchor survived an assassination attempt back in April.
The Nawaz regime and establishment forces are endowing their support for their favorite channels, which has given rise to open rivalry and unprofessional practices on TV. The trend has made all the programs rating oriented.
The latest mass spamming by ARY News is the depiction of the deteriorating ads ethics upheld by the media.
The spam email ad by ARY News has a signature of “Advert Nama”, an online media ads agency. The poster of the ad brags about ratings and shows ARY having top ratings as compared to Dunya News, Express News and Geo News in the form of a graph. The use of a low grade email marketing service is yet another low point for journalism in Pakistan.
Pakistan Electronic Media Regularity Authority must take necessary action to put an end to ad spamming, which has already overtook TV, and now making its way to internet and social media.
