Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,

35 :4, Summer 2012.

The Role of Media in Pakistan

Dr. Nazir Hussain ·

The explosion of information revolution and the proliferation of electronic media have
virtually converted the world into a globalized village. Now, information, news and
events have no barriers and control to reach anywhere around the world. These
happenings reach to every living room instantaneously even before the governments
can react and control it. The enhanced role of media has impacted the social,
economic and political life. What one thinks, believes and perceives are based on the
images shown on the media. It has penetrated the routine life of all individuals;
commoners, elites, decision-makers and statesmen.

States have often been inclined to use the media as a propaganda tool for political
and military purposes. The decades of 1980s and 1990s have for instance witnessed
the use of US media for politico-military ends. The projection of Soviet Union as an
‘Evil Empire’, the Saddam saga and the ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and the
Osama Bin Laden from ‘Freedom Fighter to a Terrorist’ are some of the examples.
However, now the media has come out of the domain of the state controls, it is the
financiers, the media houses and the media anchors that make heroes and villains,
leaders and terrorists. Therefore, the role of media is growing from an observer to an
active player in political decision making. The political leaders and government
officials have become dependent to convey and defend their policies through the use
of media. The media where ‘more anti-government will earn more business’ is
considered a basic key to success. This over-emphasised role of media has been
theorised as Mediatization” by Swedish media researcher Kent Asp in 1986 and later
by D.G. Lillker in 2006.1

Pakistan, a developing state with multiple social, economic, political and security
issues, is not insulated from the media effects of contemporary world. In fact, the
· The Author is Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam
University, Islamabad-Pakistan. He has been a media anchor during 2000-2006. The research for this
paper was done at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Paris-France, for which the
author compliment the help and cooperation of Dr. Gilles Boquerat, John Seaman and Daniel Marier.
1 K. Asp, Massmedier: studier i politisk opinionbildning (Powerful mass media: studies in political
opinion formation), Stockholm: Akade-militteratur, 1986, and D.G. Lillker, Key Concepts in Political
Communication, London: SAGE Publications, 2006. However, the pioneering work on this issue has
been done by Muhammad Atif Khan, ‘The Mediatization in Pakistan: A Structural Analysis’
Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2009.
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Pakistani media is described as more open, blunt and proactive than before. It now
highlights the social wrong-doings, economic mismanagement and political
inaccuracies prevalent in the country. Over the years, Pakistani media has become a
strong medium of scrutinizing the functioning of state institutions; instead of offering
policy options to the government, it has taken over the task of policy-making.
Therefore, this paper endeavors to highlight the role of media in Pakistan by
analyzing its evolution, present state of affairs, major media houses, the controlling
bodies and its future in the country.

Media in Pakistan
The Constitution of Pakistan Article 19 states that ‘every citizen shall have the right to
freedom of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of press, subject to
any reasonable restrictions imposed by the law in the interest of the glory of Islam or
the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with
foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court,
commission of or incitement to an offence.’ Therefore, the freedom of expression and
speech is enshrined in the very basis and spirit of the legal foundations of the
country.

In the pre-partition Pakistan, there were few newspapers echoing the line of the
Muslims; Nawa-i-Waqat, a right-wing Urdu newspapers was the first one to start its
publication in 1940, whereas DAWN, an English newspaper, followed in 1941, mainly
to counter the anti-Muslim propaganda during the time. There were few other
newspapers, which moved into the newly created Pakistan, these included Pakistan
Times, Zamindar, Civil and Military Gazette, Morning News and Jang. However, most
of the print media remained in the private hands but the government could control it
through advertisement and regulations.

In the audio media, Pakistan inherited three radio stations based in Lahore,
Peshawar and Dhaka. More stations were established in Karachi, Quetta and
Rawalpindi. The television services in Pakistan started with the Japanese help in
1964 from Lahore and later more TV stations were established in Karachi and
Rawalpindi in 1967, and Peshawar and Quetta in 1974. Subsequently, the coloured
transmission began in 1974. Unlike the print media, there was complete government
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monopoly over the electronic media both in radio and television. However, the first
signs of private TV channel started in 1989, when the state-owned Shalimar
Recording Company began its own transmission under Shalimar Television Network
(STN), which later leased out its prime time transmission to Network Television
Marketing (NTM), a private sector programming and marketing agency.

The government monopoly on the electronic media was further broken, with the
introduction of dish antenna in 1995-96, through which international TV transmission
could be seen directly without any interruption or control. Nonetheless, due to limited
awareness and cost factors, it remained confined to the elite class and the privileged
segment of the society. The real change occurred when the Geo News began its first
test transmission in August 2002, the era of private channels started in Pakistan.
Between 2002 to 2008 the private electronic media proliferated unprecedently and
the number of TV channels reached to 70. The private media received further boost
with the introduction of Cable Television Networking in 2004; the transmission of TV
services through cable to the large population in very cheap cost. Seeing the success
of private media, the state control electronic media also had to change its substance
and contents.

Present State of Media

In the absence of private electronic media, when people had to rely mostly on the
state-owned PTV, the newspapers were the major source of independent information
and analysis. Therefore, in 1997, there were 4,455 newspapers and periodicals in all
languages with 3,912,301 copies. However, with the advent of private electronic
media, the number of newspapers and periodicals has shrinked. Thus in 2006 there
were 1,464 newspapers and periodicals in all languages but with increased
circulation of 8,208,874 copies. The data available for 2008 shows total number of
2

publications 1199 (1000 English and 1042 Urdu) with a total circulation of 7,205,275; 3

only few papers have more than 100,000 circulation, such as Dawn, News, Nation,
Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt and Express. There were 324 dailies, 292 weeklies, 502
monthlies, 52 fortnightlies and 28 biannual publications in 2008. Out of the total 1199
publications in all languages, the province-wise publications for the same year is;
2Qazi Asif, ‘Newspaper numbers decrease as readership increases’ Daily Times, March 4, 2008.
3Monthly Bulletin of Statistics January 2010, (Islamabad: Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan,
2010), pp. 235-238.
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Punjab 422, Sindh 276, NWFP 48, and Baluchistan 453 (surprisingly 412 being in
Urdu). Out of the total circulation of over 7 million, dailies have circulation of
6,067,988, weeklies 484,282, monthlies 584,215, monthlies 61,290 and bi-annually
7500. Almost all of these newspapers and periodicals are owned by private
4

individuals, joint-stock companies and trusts.

With the introduction of private media, the state-controlled monopoly of the electronic
media almost vanished but Pakistan Television (PTV) was compelled to improve and
enhance its services. It opened two new channels; the PTV-2 and PTV World in
2006. At present it has four TV channels; 1) PTV News for news and current affairs,
2) PTV Home for entertainment, 3) PTV Global for transmission to the United States
and Europe, and 4) PTV National for regional language transmission in Brohi, Pashto
Punjabi and Sindhi.5 TV coverage is expanding rapidly and reaching more than 38
million households; approximately 42 per cent of urban and 16 per cent of rural
population.6 Presently, Radio Pakistan has 69 stations and 19 FM stations operating
in different frequencies all over the country. With 12 million radio sets and 95 million
listeners; the radio broadcast covers 80% of the Pakistani territory. 7

On the other hand, the proliferation of private TV channels is unprecedented; they

rose from zero to 70 by 2008. More than 28 foreign TV channels, including CNN,
BBC, Sky News, Star World, HBO, Cartoon Network etc were given landing rights to
transmit their services. Cable TV (CTV) network became the fastest growing means
of entertainment whereby 8 million households from 2346 registered Cable System
network watch TV transmission. Around 70-80 percent of the urban population has
access to CTV and 40 million people watch CTV. In radio broadcast 129 licenses
were awarded to the private FM radio stations and 108 are functional; these include,
entertainment, educational (including some universities) and commercial. 8

In 2008, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) awarded two

licenses to transmit TV services through the internet, the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV),

4 Ibid.
5 See the official PTV website www.ptv.com.pk
6 Annual Report 2006-2009 of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
7 See the official Radio Pakistan website www.radio.gov.pk
8 Annual Report 2006-2009 of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
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one to Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL), and the other to Sachal Satellite
Communication; both are now operational. In 2009 two foreign mobile companies,
Mobilink (Egyptian) and Telenor (Norwegian) were given TV transmission rights to
show TV services though Mobile TV; the Content Provision Service. Moreover,
through the MMDS (Multi-channel Media Distribution and Data Service); the digital
techniques of wireless distribution of TV channels, 70-80,000 people watch TV
transmission in 5 major cities, such as Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Okara and
Sahiwal. Following is the present state of electronic media in Pakistan; 9
 Satellite TV Channels 77
 Foreign TV Channels 28
 FM Radio Stations 109
 MMDS 06
 IPTV 02
 Mobile TV 02

There are various news agencies both in private and government sectors. The
Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) was established in 1947; and taken over by the
GOP in 1961. Subsequently more news agencies came into being namely; PPI
Pakistan Press International (1968), UPA; United Press Agency (1992), NNI; News
Network International (1992) and ONLINE News. Except APP, all other news
agencies are in the private sector.

Media Governing Bodies

The Press Information Department (PID) is a governmental organization under the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that overall coordinates with newspapers,
news agencies, TV channels, radio and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (PEMRA). It issues official press releases of President, Prime Minister and
other ministers. It is headed by a Principal Information Officer (POI), who is form the
Information Services Group but mostly close to the government. 10
It awards
government advertisement to various newspapers and periodicals, thus has become
a tool for the government to regulate these publications, as the denial of state
advertisement seriously impacts their publications.

9 Ibid.
10 See the official website of PID www.pid.gov.pk
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The Pakistan Newspapers Society was established in 1950, later it was converted
into All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) in 1953, as a premier body of
newspapers publishers, with its headquarters at Karachi, as at that time the majority
of publications originated from there. The APNS watch over, protect, preserve and
promote the rights and interests of the newspaper industry (owners) on matters
directly or indirectly affecting their rights and interests, such as advertisements,
clearance of dues, taxes and duties and newsprint. One of the major rules framed
being the accreditation of advertising agencies by the APNS, introducing security
deposits and clearance schedule to member publications within a specified period. It
has successfully evolved a mechanism of streamlining advertisement and clearance
system protecting the collective interests of its member publications, advertising
agencies as well as advertisers.11

Other media organizations include the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors

(CPNE), which also looks for the interests of the owners; All Pakistan Newspaper
Employees Council (APNEC) that looks into the interests of the employees and All
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) that looks for the interests of the
journalist community.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was set up in March, 2002
mainly to award licenses, regulate the media and keep an eye on the private
channels. However, officially, its objectives are to; 1) improve the standards of
information, education and entertainment; 2) enlarge the choices available to the
people of Pakistan in the media for news, current affairs, religious knowledge, art,
culture, science, technology, economic development, social sector concerns, music,
sports, drama and other subjects of public and national interest; 3) facilitate the
devolution of responsibility and power to grass-root at community level and; 4)
ensure accountability, transparency and good governance by optimizing the free flow
of information. Moreover, PEMRA regulates and promotes the establishment and
operation of all private broadcast media and distribution stations in Pakistan
established for the purpose of international, national, provincial, district, local or

11 See the official website of APNS www.apns.com.pk

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special target audiences. The Authority also regulates the distribution of foreign &
local TV and Radio channels in Pakistan.12

Major Media Houses

There are three pioneer and largest media houses in the country; the Jang Group,
the Nawa-i-Waqt group and the Dawn group. These three groups have the largest
publications (newspapers and periodicals) in English and Urdu and the Jang group
has the largest private electronic media transmission. Other business groups have
subsequently joined the media industry such as Lakhani group both in print and
electronic media and Dubai based ARY group, exclusively in electronic media.

The Jang group has the largest Urdu and English publications; Urdu newspaper Jang
is the largest and most popular being published from Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and
Rawalpindi/Islamabad. They have the largest English newspaper; The News being
published form Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad. The largest evening
newspaper in English The Daily News is also credited to them. Besides they have the
largest, most popular and widely read weeklies; MAG (English) and Akhbar-e-Jehan
(World Newspaper, Urdu). In the electronic media, the Jang group also dominates,
they have four channels; Geo News, for news and current affairs, Geo Entertainment,
Geo Sports and AAG, a multi-purpose channel for young generation. They also have
the license for Geo English but due to limited English audience in the country, the
channel could not go on air. The group follows a centrist approach and has moderate
political views; however, they follow strict nationalistic approach in their Urdu
publications. They tend to remain close to the government of the day, however, at
present there is a serious tug of war between the government and the Jang group
apparently over compensations of Geo closure during Musharraff regime, and over
who decides what in a ‘state vs the media’ powers.

The Nawa-i-Waqt group is the second largest media house in Pakistan. It has the
second largest Urdu newspaper Nawa-i-Waqt (Voice of the Time) published from
Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and English daily The Nation
from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Besides it publishes widely read

12 Annual Report 2006-2009 of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
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Urdu monthly Nida-e-Millat (Voice of the Nation) and Urdu weekly for children Phool
(Flower). They are the new entrant in the electronic media with only one channel
Waqt (Time), which covers news/current affairs and entertainment. The group
espouses the rightist political approach and is considered close to the Nawaz Sharif
camp.

The third largest media house is the Dawn group, which publishes widely respected
English daily DAWN from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and widely read and
respected English monthly Herald, which covers current affairs, entertainment and
fashion. Like the Nawa-i-Waqt group, they are also comparatively new in the
electronic media but they have the first-ever English channel; Dawn News, which
transmits news/current affairs and entertainment, besides they also have a radio
service FM89. In May 2010, due to limited audience, the Dawn News was converted
into Urdu from English language. They follow liberal/moderate political views and are
regarded as projecting unbiased, balanced and objective views. Though the group
has remained critical to the governments but presently is considered close to the
government.

The other two important groups that have made tremendous strides in the Pakistani
media in a very short span of time are the Lakhani group, a well established Karachi-
based business family and the ARY group, a Dubai-based business group, headed
by Haji Abul Razaq, which deals in gold; commonly known as ARY Gold. The
Lakhani group first launched Urdu daily Express from 8 cities challenging the
monopoly of Jang and Nawa-i-Waqt and then launched two TV channels Express TV
in Urdu broadcast and Express English, covering news, current affairs and
entertainment. In June 2010, it also launched the English daily Herald Tribune from
Karachi and Islamabad, in collaboration with the Herald Tribune London. The group
follows the moderate political approach and instead of being aligned with any political
party looks after its business and commercial interest. The ARY group is the largest
and popular media house after the Geo TV. It has five TV channels; ARY One World,
Urdu transmission in news and current affairs, ARY Digital for entertainment, ARY
Zouq for household, QTV for religious programs and ARY Shopping, the first-ever
shopping channel in the country. Through these various channels, the group covers
almost every segment of the Pakistani society and therefore, makes a significant
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impact in the opinion-building. Although the group has rightist-religious tendency but
it follows the business and commercial approach, however at present it is considered
close to the government.

Besides the above major media houses, there are three other media groups, which
have made important contribution in the Pakistani socio-political landscape namely
the Media Times, the Business Recorder Group and the News Network. The Media
Times is owned by business-cum-politician and assassinated governor of Punjab
province, Salman Taseer. The group launched the Daily Times, an English daily from
Lahore, in 2003, which became most popular/respected among the English-speaking
community of Pakistan. Later, they launched two TV channels; Business Plus for
business, trade and commerce and Wikkid Plus for children entertainment. However,
the group could not make any important impact in the electronic media. The Business
Recorder Group has the credit of first-ever exclusively trade/commerce and business
daily in English, The Business Recorder from Karachi. They launched the AAJ
(Today) News, news/current affairs and entertainment channel, which due to its
balanced and objective reporting/analysis became a popular TV, however, it could
not match the Geo, ARY and Express popularity. The News Network is a Lahore
based group that deals in education and is owned by a former mayor of Lahore, Mian
Amir, it launched Dunya (World) News TV, which became very attractive and popular
because its management hired the existing media names from different channels. All
these groups have moderate political approach and apparently they do not follow the
line of any particular political party/group in the country, however their interests are
more focused on commercialism.

Government-Media Relations
Media has played a very effective role against the suppression of political dissent and
military/civil dictators. On the other hand all successive governments in Pakistan
have tried to cage the media. The Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) was
promulgated in 1962 by Gen. Ayub Khan to control and cage the media. During the
time of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, who promulgated the Revised Press and Publication
Ordinance (RPPO) in 1980, the media and journalists met with the worst kind of
treatment; tortures, jails, public lashes and closer of dailies. Media led by newly
established English daily from Islamabad; The Muslim, (Mushahid Hussain and
 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
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Maleeha Lodhi, as editors) valiantly fought against the dictatorial policies of Gen.
13

Zia. During the Nawaz Sharif rule there was a severe tug of war between the
government and the Jang group over testing of the state vs media authority, as both
tried to undermine the other. However, ultimately both resolved the issue through a
compromise.

Later, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who is credited with the opening of media 14
also
promulgated the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance (PCPO) in 2002. Again in
2007, media was suppressed and several private channels were put off the air and
some anchors of current affair programs were barred from conducting their talk
shows; it was due to criticism of government’s internal/external policies, especially
against Gen. Musharraf by the media. Surprisingly, the man who was credited to the
proliferation of media in the country tried to suppress and control it when it became
too much to digest for him. However, the media’s role was exemplary; it not only
fought against the dictator but compelled him to undo the black laws. The most
significant and proactive role of media was witnessed when Gen. Musharraf imposed
the emergency and deposed the sitting Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Again media played an important role, not only in voicing against the emergency rule
but also in the restoration of Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Though the present government undid some of the previous black laws
restricting/limiting the role of media in the country such as repealing the PPO and
PCPO but some officials and ministers tried to cage the media. However, the
resentment form within the ruling party and strong media reaction compelled the
government to withdraw these restrictions. Once again in August 2010 during the
visit of President Zardari to the UK, Geo News and ARY transmitted the alleged ‘shoe
throwing’ on him resulting in the closure of these channels. There was strong protest
by the journalist community and the political parties, ultimately the Supreme Court
had to order the opening of these channels on August 13, 2010.

13 Mushahid Hussain was Information Minister in the Nawaz Sharif government (1997-99), presently
he is Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, close to Gen. Musharraf, and Dr. Maliha Lodhi
was editor of The News, and has served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the USA and UK during
Musharraf era.
14 Pervaiz Musharraf, On the Line of Fire: A Memoir, London: Simon & Schuster, 2006.
 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
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Role of Media in Pakistan

Ideally, media should be impartial and free from the propaganda mechanisms. It
should provide balanced account to the people. Media educates and keeps the public
informed about the national and international political and other human realities
taking place in everyday life. The purpose of media is to highlight the trouble spots in
the society and press the government and public to devise suitable mechanisms to
eliminate these troubles. At the national level, the responsibility of media is to build a
bridge between people and governments. Media serves as a checkpoint by ensuring
that the government is working within its mandate. However, following the
globalization, the responsibilities of media have also widened. It has to play a role for
preserving and pursuing the national interests of the state and highlighting its
perspective along with the global issues. It has to examine the conduct of
international relations and to highlight the trouble spot at global level in lieu of global
security.15

When the electronic media boom occurred in Pakistan, there was a severe lack of
qualified manpower; anchors, experts and technicians from the sate-owned PTV
provided the bulk of this manpower, as many people left PTV to join financially more
lucrative private media. On the other hand, as the exiting major media houses
opened their own TV channels, automatically people from the print media joined
these channels. The young people who became the initial bulk of reporters and
journalists, joined the media after their terminals degrees in Mass
Communication/Journalism or International Relations, having little or no practical
experience in the electronic media. Therefore, right from the very beginning the
electronic media started its functioning with many handicaps, which was reflected in
their transmissions. Moreover, the joining of non-professional business/commercial
groups into the electronic media further undermined the professionalism, experience
and responsibility. Therefore, currently, the role of media in Pakistan is what Noam
Chomsky notes “it would hardly come as a surprise if the picture of the world they
present were to reflect the perspectives and interests of the sellers, the buyers and
product… the product being audiences willing and able to spend.” 16 The approach of
15 See Nazir Hussain, ‘The Role of Media in Internal Security of Pakistan’, The Journal of Political
Studies, (Research Journal of Political Science, University of Punjab-Lahore), Issue XIII, Summer 2008.
16 Aroan Stark, ‘Noam Chomsky on Media, Politics, Action’ available at www.chomsky.info
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media in Pakistan is business oriented where sensationalism is used as a tool to

attract the financier and buyers.

The rapid developments taking place in the media are due to deregulation, foreign
and domestic investment and increased viewer-ship along with easy access to
technology. Therefore, media receives funds from the unknown private financiers,
may be from the political parties or anti-government lobbies. Ultimately, the views
projected on media are not of public neither of the professionals but of those who
finance it. This is the reason that media in Pakistan is mostly critical to the
government and there is a controversy between the government and the media.
Currently, media resort to sensationalism for profit purposes irrespective of its
implications for stability and image of the country.

This over-emphasised role of media has given immense leverage to the media
anchors, who through political debate and the popularity among the masses, have
become to influence the policy-making and conversely have tried to become the
decision-makers. Also through live broadcasts and ‘breaking news’ there is no role of
the editors and government control; the news is shown as it happens, has a
tremendous effect on the people. Moreover, with commercialization of media, the
major clients of these new media are not governments but the corporate companies
doing business in consumer’s goods.

The media is a double-edged sword; it can work positively as well as negatively.

Through the use of innovative techniques and new technologies such as the ‘sound
bites’ that is the out of context use of words, the media has a complete leverage over
what to show and how to show it, thus undermining the authenticity of the reporting
event. Investigating reporting in the print media is another tool to highlight the
different angle of a particular event or story. Through these techniques certain
section of the media also blackmails individuals, business groups, politicians and
government officials. However, in certain cases the investigating reporting has been
very effective in highlighting the wrong doings. There are two important examples;
one was the ‘Farh Dogar Case’ in which the daughter of the former Chief Justice of
Supreme Court of Pakistan was given extra marks by the Federal Board of
Education, Islamabad to make her qualify for admission into the medical collage, and
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the other was ‘Rental Power Projects’ that exposed the present government’s
purchase of rental power plants at a very high price and its fallout on the power
consumers.

However, in its positive role, media is an important source of information and news,
whatever happens around the word is shown right on the TV screens. The new-found
role of media has also provided it a chance to create social and political awareness
among the masses, thus making people aware of their social, economic and political
rights. It scrutinizes the government working both in the domestic and foreign affairs,
thus is a watch-dog over the government policies. Moreover, media has become a
full-fledged industry and an important source of revenue generator. There has been
$2.5 billion investment in the media industry by 2009. The print and electronic media
together earn around $2.5 billion (Rs. 20 billion) with a 40 to 60 ratio from the
advertisement. The FM Radio advertisement was $17 million in 2007-08 and was
expected to be around $50 million in 2010. The media industry provides employment
to over 150,000 people.17

On the other hand, due to intense competition to break the news first, media often
resort to sensationalism; without confirming the news and event, it flashes the news
and starts discussion thus creating unseen fears and panic. Now the popular TV
anchors such as Dr. Shahid Masud (previously Geo now ARY), Kamran Khan (Geo)
Hamid Mir (Geo), Javaid Chaudhry (Express), Kashif Abassi (ARY) discuss, analyse
and scrutinise the government policies, they set the agenda and they form the public
opinion. These anchors discuss and debate major political issues in their prime-time
broadcasts (8-10 pm), when most of the people are glued to their TV sets. Therefore,
just 5-6 TV anchors dominate the public policy issues; often promote sensationalism
because of ungrounded speculations and unfounded theories. 18
However, some
anchors such as Najam Sethi (Dunya News now Geo News), Talat Hussain (AJJ
News now Dawn News) and Moueed Pirzada (Dunya News) are more balanced and
suggestive to the government policies. Another confusing trend by the anchors is the
switching over from one TV channel to another, which often smacks of
17 See ‘Newsweek Eyes Pakistan Media Market’ available at www.southasianinvestor.blogpost.com of
March 12, 2010, and Annual Report 2006-2009 of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority
(PEMRA).
18 See ‘Between Radicalisation and Democratisation in an Unfolding Conflict: Media in Pakistan’ a
report by the International Media Support, Denmark, July 2009.
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unprofessionalism and creates doubts in the public mind about their credibility.
Therefore, media in Pakistan play both positive and negative role. It depends on its
level of maturity, experience, professionalism and training that it would play a more
effective and constructive role in the nation building.

Future of Media in Pakistan

Given the potential in fast growing media industry of Pakistan, it has bright future
ahead. Both state-owned and private media are employing new technologies such as
Direct/Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting (DTB). The Direct TV service though radio
frequencies to the household antenna rather than to dishes. This technology is in use
by more than 50 countries in the world. The Cable TV Network is being converted
into digital technology, to be completed by December 2011. There are plans for more
Mobile TV, Internet TV and MMDS to be extended to 33 cities; major newspapers
have lunched their own channels and converted their dailies onto internet online
availability. The future prospects can be gauged from the fact that the Newsweek
Magazine has launched its Pakistani Edition from June 2010 with 30,000 copies. It
would be Newsweek eighth local brand in the world. 19

In a country where educational and socio-economic development is very low, the

presence of female journalists is a real achievement. Previously in the print media
there were very seasoned and educated journalists, now they have also joined the
electronic media. More and more young females are joining the media that can bring
a better soft image for the media and the country.

Various media houses and non-governmental organisations as well as the state-

owned PTV have introduced in-house training of its professional and technical staff.
PTV has an academy where professional and technical training are provided in
different fields. The Lok Virsa, a state-owned cultural organisation, has also started
media education and training. Seeing the tremendous boom in the media more and
more people are eager to join the media industry.

19
See ‘Newsweek Eyes Pakistan Media Market’ available at www.southasianinvestor.blogpost.com of
March 12, 2010.
 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies,
35 :4, Summer 2012.

The growing role of media has enhanced the importance of disciplines like mass
communication/journalism, and some of the private educational institutions have also
introduced these subjects in their syllabus. The government has also announced to
establish a media university in the country to meet the growing demands of
professional education and training. With these measures, it is hoped that media in
Pakistan would have more maturity, responsibility and professionalism.

Conclusion
Over the years, Pakistani media has seen many ups and downs in its growth and
progress but the media boom in the beginning of 21 st century has unfolded
tremendous opportunities and challenges to it. In its very brief life of just 8 years, the
private electronic media has played an important and effective role in national
politics. From opposing the black laws and media restrictions of the governments to
the restoration of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it has been bold, proactive, vibrant
and penetrative both for the government and public. However, it is young, and lacks
professional training, maturity and responsibility. Nonetheless, given its potential role,
it would be an important source of positive and constructive socio-economic and
political change in the country.