When you tune into a Pakistani news channel at 8:00 p.m., you will typically see four or five individuals in small boxes on the screen, all screaming at each other. You are not too certain of what you will see. Usually, four or five people in small boxes on the screen are yelling at each other. The music one plays in the background is loud; the breaking news notification constantly evokes it, and at the conclusion of the hour, you tend to be more stressed than enlightened. This is what we have been taught all these years: that this is the only method of keeping people’s attention. We heard it said that no one has the patience nowadays to carry on with long, silent discussions.
But something has changed. In recent years, thousands of Pakistanis began to switch off their televisions and plug in their headphones. They are taking up to two or three hours to listen to one episode of a podcast. It is being supplanted by deep listening, whether it is a history, mental health or economic debate. The shouting match is being replaced by deep listening. It is not merely a novel technological phenomenon, but it is an indication that we are fed up with all the noise we make, and we are seeking something authentic.
The failure of the shouting match
Failure to receive service by the mainstream media is the largest factor that has made us turn to podcasts. The complicated matters are addressed as a circus on television. When a guest attempts to discuss something complex, such as the causes of poverty or one particular legal case, his or her host will often interrupt him or her to go on a commercial break or switch communities to something more stimulating.
This has left a massive cultural loophole. Our information is great, and we understand little. This has been bridged by the use of podcasts. The conversation can breathe since there are no producers screaming in the ear of the host to make it more dramatic. People are actually completing their sentences in a long time.
The new digital baithak
In several aspects, the podcasts are quite comparable to Pakistanis since they recall a baithak. Spending hours and hours sitting together and drinking tea – that is our tradition. The podcast is essentially a digitalisation of that.
It is also much more intimate. When listening to a podcast, the impression is that you are in the room together with the speakers. You can tell from the sound of their voice and blanks in their thinking. This forms a feeling of trust that is lost by television. These audio shows are like a student in a small town or even a professional in a Karachi traffic jam getting a chance to participate in a worldwide discussion which he/she might not have been able to otherwise.
Listening to the voices which the TV ignores
The other factor that has led to the boom of podcasts is that they are much more difficult to regulate or censor. There exist numerous red lines and things on mainstream TV, which people are scared to speak about. Some analysts or activists can hardly be called upon to appear on the large news stations for the discussion, as their presentations may be considered too controversial. Podcasts have revolutionised the game. They have turned out to be the place where we can discuss something that we tend to overlook. We hear young thinkers, minorities and scholars who would never have the opportunity to talk on a prime-time sitcom. Positively impacting the fact that we get to see the human face of any issue, podcasts give these people an hour or two to narrate their stories.
It is a danger of remaining in our bubbles.
Naturally, there are issues with this new trend. Since we have the freedom to decide on the type of podcasts to listen to, we may as well listen to individuals with whom we are already in agreement. You could inadvertently hear some other opinion on television. On a podcast application, you are the boss.
We are not learning; we are just creating a wall in our heads by merely spending our time listening to people who support the things that we are biased about. As listeners, we are faced with the challenge of ensuring that we are employing this new tool to expand our horizons rather than seeking refuge in it to avoid people with a different way of thinking.
Conclusion
The fact that we have long-form audio content is evidence of the fact that we are not losing our attention. We simply were tired of being screamed at. Pakistanis are reclaiming their own time and their own minds by deciding to listen to podcasts rather than watch them.
The radio has re-emerged, but now on our terms. We are selling the head-banging news ticker, the breaking news ticker, for profound and substantive conversation. That, perhaps, is precisely what we need in a country as complicated as it can be, to finally begin to deeply understand one another.