Post by Cheesed Off on Jul 28, 2010 21:41:19 GMT
Margalla Air Crash and Pakistan TV Channels
Flight ABQ202, a regular, scheduled commercial flight from Karachi to Islamabad operated by Pakistan’s private airline Airblue crashed in the Margalla Hills a few minutes before it was to touch down at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, on the morning of 28 July 2010.
All on board, 152, including six crew members, perished in the crash. It is the single most devastating air crash in Pakistan’s history to date. Pakistan’s TV channels have minted money from it.
News of the crash hit the air-waves a few minutes after 10 a. m. Pakistan’s private TV channels were quick on the draw. They cooked up meaningless “special live transmissions” about the air crash, got busy on their phones calling media buying houses, advertising agencies and advertisers, offering “special” packages for the “occasion”.
Some of these TV channels carried more than FIVE times the advertising they usually carry.
Good business; but is it ethical to make money out of a human and national tragedy?
