Assessing the Influence of Violence Over News Coverage of the Policy Issues in Pakistani Media

Abstract

The relationship between government and media is examined in this article concerning foreign policy issues in Pakistan, whereas the influence of violence is evaluated. The content analysis of three selected topics shows that the nature of violence significantly influences media reporting on policy issues that determine the relationships between government and media. The findings suggest that [violent] issues of Kashmir and the attack on the Salala check post shaped highly supportive coverage in selected newspapers, i.e., Dawn, The News, Nawa-e-Waqt, and Express, from a violent perspective. In contrast, the Yemen conflict, which was surrounded by policy uncertainty about whether to join the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia or remain neutral, significantly shaped more critical coverage in a non-violent context in Pakistani media. The study mainly verifies one of the central tenets of media-policy interaction scholarship (Robinson, 2001); however, it also adds that the nature of ‘violence’ is another instrumental factor that determines the nature of media coverage on policy issues in the context of developing countries such as Pakistan.