LAHORE: (Monday, June 01, 2015): Punjab University (PU) Institute of Communication Studies (ICS) organised an interactive session on the topic “Role of Media in Axact Fake Degree Scandal” here on Monday.

Senior journalist and Jang Magazine Editor Sohaib Marghoob was the keynote speaker who said BOL media group was bound to fail because of its flawed economic set up and market dynamics. He answered questions related to media and its role in portrayal of the issue. ICS faculty members, including Shabbir Sarwar, Shazia Toor and Fahad Mehmood, and MPhil scholar and other students of the institute also participated in the session.

Sohaib Marghoob said it was an understood fact in the media industry that no matter how many new media outlets open, the business of the current media leaders would not be affected. It was wrong to assume that it was a grand conspiracy against Axact by the some Pakistani media channels, he added.

Marghoob said that Pakistani media did not break the Axact scandal; it was after the report of New York Times and the action taken by the government – through Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – that the media picked up this story.

Answering a question, he said the BOL media group was bound to fail because of its flawed economic set up and market dynamics. He said the journalists who joined BOL did so on their own free will, and now they would rejoin the market as per their potential. He said that there was no divide or rivalry among journalists as most unions were defending BOL and its employees on the issue.

Sohaib Marghoob thanked the faculty of ICS for organising the event and given a chance to interact with students on this current media issue and also appreciated the students for their understanding of media issues. He said that he had a strong affiliation with ICS as his father, Marghoob Siddiqui, was a teacher here and he was the one who introduced the first degree programme at the department.