Unpaid dues – GEO News tweets plight of workers

Social media went into a heated debate after GEO TV’s official Twitter account produced a controversial tweet.

The tweet “Tankhawa Nahi Dey Saktay Tou Kaam Kyun Kerwaatay Ho* (Why do you give work when you can’t pay)” created a great uproar among social media users. Many people understood this to be a genuine comment highlighting the problems and struggles of media workers and personnel.

The conditions and situations of media workers in Pakistan are very common incidents. Terrible working conditions and unpaid dues for months have haunted major media houses. These workers struggle and make maximum efforts for their companies but are hardly compensated properly or on time.

Major media houses are guilty of withholding payments to these workers for months, adding to their misery and struggle. However, some social media users also argue that this was simply a publicity stunt by the GEO News. These users argue that the tweet was meant to attract attention and drive up traffic on all of the network’s social media accounts.

GEO News has taken notice of the events and generated a response accordingly. According to the media house, the account tweeted this since it is synced with the news tickers. Hence, along with the tickers, which were running a report on media workers, the account automatically tweeted the news.

Major media houses must understand that discussion around a sensitive issue such as these must be done in a responsible and disciplined manner. It is their duty to ensure that such tweets and posts are effectively managed and moderated, in order to avoid such incidents in the future.