Its a very old saying that 'The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword'. In today's generation i think that's more applicable than ever. With the deterioration in mob culture and the uprising of the media what is said and written is given a lot of importance. Maybe its just my fascination of crime shows but definitely today if your gonna hurt someone, cause violence or spread terror around the world YOU ARE GOING TO GET CAUGHT!!. Recent killing of Osama Bin Laden have shown this in true effect. Even though it took 9 long years but finally they got him. Words on the other hand are another different thing. In newspapers,magazines and books around the world so many things are said everyday which cannot be stopped. Call it freedom of speech or the right to ones own opinion but these words at times leave a lasting impact on peoples minds. No wonder today twitter does so well, unlike other social networking sites where people want to meet others twitter is all about putting your thoughts out there. In facebook language, its a constant status update portal. But we all follow our liked celebrities to know what they are thinking, we ourselves tweet about every thought that crosses our mind.We all wake up in the morning to open the newspaper with a cup of tea and dive into the world of journalists point of views. An editorial column will always let you know whats the ideology of the employees at a particular newspaper. Many a times different papers have varied opinions on similar topics. News channels broadcast different stories..Some may appeal to us and some may not. But you don't realise than unconsciously they leave an imprint on your mind. Even what i am doing at the present moment-blogging. This is my space,my niche to say what i want to and no one can stop me from that. Here i don't have to justify why i like certain things, why i oppose certain leader or why i follow certain cultures. If i stand in the middle of the street and scream out or protest, yes i am breaking laws and can be arrested for it. But if i write about it in a newspaper what are you going to do about it? Caricatures are another very modern way to ridicule things we don't believe in. Day in and day out cartoonists draw up strips to make fun of current affairs and we all have a good laugh at it. They aren't causing any trouble, are they?
A few days ago in Pakistan a journalist who wrote about certain sensitive matters was killed. That's how much the written word impacts people. If you can pick up your sword because someone picked up their pen it is very clear that you are agitated about it. I do understand that there are times when in the field of journalism people take advantage of power and write what they want to without considering other peoples feelings. But sometimes you think, isn't that the safest way to put your point across. If we think that is acceptable for each person to have a different opinion then it should be acceptable to voice this opinion.
A few years ago when i was considering journalism as a profession i read through different newspapers and magazines and since my genre was more into personal opinions than current affairs i was exposed to different styles of writing. Some write with an undertone of sarcasm, some see the world in black and white and some wake up every morning to the smell of roses. No matter if its this months issue of cosmopoliton or The Sunday Times, no matter if it talks about how to get a guy better in bed or if the carbon tax should be legalised in Australia, if you write it you can be sure someone out there is going to read it. And with each word that they read they think. And according to me if you can influence someone to think in a particular way, You seriously have created an impact.
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