A Foreign Perspective
A Foreign Perspective
Good Morning, America!
Passion, Positivity and Punctuality: these are the three things which center around the people of America which I have observed since the day my plane landed in Washington D.C. on 2nd October. I am one of the 14 journalists from Pakistan chosen for the sixth batch of journalists’ exchange program for three weeks, funded by the U.S. State Department.
I will be spending my three weeks in Chicago at WTTW. I felt quite lucky when I heard that I will be heading to Chicago for two reasons. I already knew that Chicago is a sister city of Lahore, the city where I was born and spent 28 years of my life, and second, I have five cousins living in Chicago. It always helps when you have family members living in the city you are traveling to for the first time.
When I took the flight from Reagan Airport, Washington D.C., I already knew that the windy city had started turning colder, and I thought I was well-prepared with my bunch of warm clothes -- but it turned out, I was wrong. Chicago is much colder than its sister city, Lahore.
It’s my first day at WTTW and reaching the office was the first task of the day. Cities in Pakistan do not have a metro rail system, so figuring out the different colored lines of the rail system was a bit confusing. Even though I am good with finding directions, I accidently took the wrong train and ended up in the suburbs! Google Maps came to the rescue, and I ultimately reached the office 45 minutes late from the time I had scheduled.
I was welcomed into the office by the supervising producer of the show Chicago Tonight, Jay T. Smith. Jay, I have to say did not look like what I had imagined. Even though, he’s sitting on one of the most important posts of the program, he turned out to be one of the most down-to-earth guys I have ever met. The biggest shock came when he told me he is 45, because I had a higher-20s figure in my mind. I was shown around the building, which also included the studios. I was really impressed by the size of the studios and the equipment that they have. In the country where I come from, channels don’t have such big studios.
From the time I have spent here, I feel media in the U.S. is a very different medium from the way it works in my country. In Pakistan, current affairs programs are much more accusatory, with opinions given by the hosts and much less homework. Figures are hardly ever quoted and sources are almost never revealed. The media in Pakistan is often blamed for deliberately finding negativity, and therefore portraying an overall bad image for the country. The defenders of the media try to play this down by saying that they merely show what is going on in society.
In the American media, I can see a quest to improve things through debate and finding the solution, rather than simply finding negativity and leaving the topic there without actually finding a solution.
I have lots of questions, and I’m excited about exploring this wonderful city and its people. I will keep writing about my experiences here in the coming days.
