MEDIA-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
DURING MUSHARRAF, ZARDARI
AND NAWAZ’S REGIMES
Ghani Rahman
Roll No. BG-833376
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
2019
MEDIA-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
DURING MUSHARRAF, ZARDARI
AND NAWAZ’S REGIMES
Ghani Rahman
Roll No. BG-833376
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Mass Communication
at the Faculty of Social Sciences,
Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad
Supervisor: Dr. Saqib Riaz August 2019
Co-supervisor Dr. Babar H. Shah
ii
DECLARATION
I, Ghani Rahman solemnly declare that, this research work entitled “Media-Government
Relations during Musharraf, Zardari and Nawaz’s Regimes” is solely the result of my
own personal efforts under the supervision and guidance of my Supervisor and
Co-supervisor. No portion or part thereof, has been plagiarized, copied or reproduced
from others’ research works or dissertations. I do faithfully believe that this topic in its
entirety, has not been approved and worked for the fulfillment of any academic degree in
any university of Pakistan.
Ghani Rahman
Research Scholar
August, 2019
iii
STATEMENT OF SUPERVISOR
It is certified that this research work entitled as “Media-Government Relations during
Musharraf, Zardari and Nawaz’s Regimes” has been conducted by Ghani Rahman under
my supervision and co-supervision of Dr. Babar Hussain Shah, and is therefore, accepted
and approved for submission in fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree
of Doctor of Mass Communication at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad.
Dr. Saqib Riaz,
(Supervisor)
Chairman, Department of Mass Communication,
Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad
August, 2019
iv
Acceptance by the Viva Voce Committee
Title of Thesis: Media-Government Relations during Musharraf,
Zardari and Nawaz’s Regimes
Name of Student: Ghani Rahman
Accepted by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in the Mass
Communication.
Viva Voce Committee
____________________ Dean
____________________
Chairperson
____________________
External Examiner
______________________ ______________________
Supervisor Co-supervisor
Members_______________ _______________________
v
ABSTRACT
This study explores media-government relations in Pakistan during the regimes of Pervez
Musharraf, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Under the ambit of Framing theory, two generic
frames, responsibility and conflict from Semetko & Valkenburg Model (2000) and some
issue-specific frames i.e. pro-government, pro-media, anti-government, anti-media and
facilitation were analyzed. Dependent variables were the three regimes and coercion,
violence against media, regulation, facilitation, responsible and irresponsible media were
independent variables to see the impact of their relationship. Quantitative and qualitative
content techniques were used to analyze the data with two separate code sheets as primary
instruments. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and multiple regression tests were conducted in
SPSS Version-21 and Nvivo::12 Plus software was used to explain relationship among
relevant concepts in qualitative analysis. The sampling frame of quantitative data of four
newspapers was 2880 days (102 weeks).
Analysis revealed that genres predicting worst media-government relations jointly formed a
sum of 1404 (69.50%) and items signifying good/normal relations were 538 (26.63%) out of
the total 2020 genre. The highest degree of media suppression and interestingly, maximum
media facilitation, both were reported during Musharraf era. ANOVA test with the mean
difference; Musharraf 2.61(lowest of the three), Zardari 3.17 and Nawaz 3.50, supported
the notion of the worst media-government relations during Musharraf era as compared to
the other two regimes. Test of the 2nd hypothesis, “presumed greater media criticism over
Musharraf’s regime”, with mean scores; Musharraf 4.55 (comparatively larger), Zardari
4.11, and Nawaz as 4.19 indicated that Musharraf’s regime was less criticized by the media
as compared to Zardari and Nawaz regimes and hence, the assumption was not supported.
Multiple Comparisons test showing a significant difference of 0.000 between comparison of
Musharraf’s era with Zardari and Nawaz regime and relatively less significant difference of
0.005 between Zardari and Nawaz regime, partially supported the 3rd hypothesis.
Keywords: Media-government relations, violence, coercion, regulation, facilitation
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Al-Mighty Allah, the Greatest Beneficent the Most Merciful, Who
bequeathed upon me, His exceptional and unparalleled mercy, guidance and invisible help
to complete this study. With profound reverence, I pray for my beloved late parents whose
kind parental urge, moral training and all-time support during my entire up-bringing and
educational life enabled me to reach to this position. I render immense gratitude to Dr. Saqib
Riaz Chairman, Department of Mass Communication, Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad for his all-time support, jovial manner, painstaking guidance and professional
supervision as my Supervisor for this study. I am sincerely thankful to Dr. Babar Hussain
Shah Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Allama Iqbal Open University
Islamabad for his always friendly and scholastic counsels and proficient supervision as
Co-supervisor throughout this research work.
I also got valuable input and theoretical & methodological support from Dr. Bakht Rawan,
Associate Professor, Dr. Saadia Pasha Assistant Professor, Dr. Shahid Hussain, Assistant
Professor and Dr. Asad Munir, Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Allama Iqbal
Open University Islamabad. I am obliged to all of them. Furthermore, I offer earnest thanks
to my fellow scholars Ms. Hayyam Qayyum, Abdur Rahman Qaisar, M. Sher Juni, Mian
Muhammad Ramzan and Muhammad Yousaf Alamgarian for their all-time, friendly and
helpful discussions during the entire process of this degree programme. I am grateful to my
entire family members for their continuous support during the completion of this research
project. I am sincerely indebted to all the attached staff members of the Department of Mass
Communication, Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad for their friendly behavior
constant cooperation and procedural support in all official and academic matters.
In the last, let me thank the management and staff of National Library of Pakistan for their
sincere cooperation in collection of newspapers data, and Mr. Maqsood Shaheen of The
American Center, Embassy of the USA, Islamabad for his earnest cooperation and practical
help in extraction of data from the LexisNexis Data base.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents ............................................................................................. Page No
Dedication ............................................................................................................................. i
Declaration ........................................................................................................................... ii
Statement of Supervisor ...................................................................................................... iii
Acceptance by the Viva Voce Committee .......................................................................... iv
Abstract ...............................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. vi
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... xi
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiii
List of Abbreviations......................................................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Historical Background of Media-government Relations ......................................4
1.1.1 Traces of Press-Government Relations in Ancient Period .....................................4
1.1.2 Press-Government Relations in Early Modern Europe ..........................................5
1.1.3 Press-Government Relations in Europe after the 20th Century .............................9
1.1.4 Press-Government Relations in the North American Continent ..........................12
1.1.4(A) Press-Government Relations in America .............................................................12
1.1.4(B) Press-Government Relations in Canada ...............................................................16
1.2 An Over-view of Press-Government Relations in Pre-Partitioned India .............18
1.2.1 Press Acts and Laws Introduced by the British India Regime ............................23
1.3 Press-Government Relations in Post-Independence Pakistan (1947-2000) ........36
1.3.1 Quaid’s Vision of the Press .................................................................................36
1.3.2 Press-Government Relations in Pakistan during 1947-1958 ...............................38
1.3.3 Press-Government Relations during Ayub Khan’s Era (1958-1969) .................42
1.3.4 Press-Government Relations during Yahya Khan’s Regime (1969-1971) .........45
1.3.5 Press-Government Relations during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Era (1972-1977) .....46
1.3.6 Press-Government Relations during General Zia ul Haq’s Era (1977-1988) ....47
1.3.7 Press-Government Relations during the Turbulent Civilian Era (1988-1999) ...49
1.4 Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................52
1.5 Significance of the Study .....................................................................................53
1.6 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................53
1.7 Research Questions ..............................................................................................54
1.8 Delimitations of the Study ...................................................................................54
viii
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 55
2.1 Various Theoretical Approaches and Media-Government Relations .................55
2.2 Media-Government Relations under Different Media Systems/Models .............60
2.3 Media’s Different Roles/Functions and Relationship with Government ............64
2.4 Scale, Techniques and Impact of Media-government Relations Research .........67
2.5 Coverage of Corruption & Media-Government Relations ..................................68
2.6 Media’s Watchdog Role, Accountability & Relations with Government ..........70
2.7 Media-Government Relations in a Suppressed Media Environment ..................75
2.8 Media-Government Relations in Pakistan in a Subdued Media Situation ..........76
2.9 Various Approaches & Tactics to Control the Media .........................................82
2.10 Media-Government Relations & Pro-democratic Media ....................................85
2.11 Responsible Portrayal or Sensationalism & Media-regimes Relations.. .............91
2.12 Media’s Influence on Public and Policy Agendas ..............................................92
2.13 Freedom of Expression & Need to Revisit Pakistan’s Media laws ....................97
2.14 Challenges to the Media Growth in Pakistan ....................................................100
2.15 Calamities & Disasters - A Test for Media-Government Relations ..................103
2.16 Harassment of Journalists and Media-Government Relations ..........................104
2.17 Press-Government Relations in Pakistan (Experiences & Observations of Some
Veteran Journalists/Personalities) ....................................................................107
2.18 Theoretical Framework .....................................................................................116
2.19 Hypotheses ........................................................................................................117
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 118
3.1 Methodology .....................................................................................................118
3.2 Research Designs ..............................................................................................121
3.2-A Quantitative Content Research Design .........................................................121
3.2.1 Population ..........................................................................................................122
3.2.2 Sampling ...........................................................................................................122
3.2.3 Time Frame ........................................................................................................122
3.2.4 The Technique of Constructed Week ................................................................123
3.2.5 Delimitations of the Study ................................................................................126
3.2.6 Units of Analysis ................................................................................................126
3.2.7 Content Categorization Scheme (Quantitative) .................................................127
3.2.8 Coding Scheme .................................................................................................132
3.2.B Qualitative Research Design ...........................................................................136
ix
3.2.9 Categorization Scheme (Qualitative) .................................................................137
3.2.10 Conceptual Model/Map of Key Themes/Concepts ............................................141
3.2.11 Population ..........................................................................................................143
3.2.12 Sampling ............................................................................................................143
3.2.13 Data Collection...................................................................................................145
3.2.14 Procedures of Analysis .......................................................................................145
CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 146
Part-1 Quantitative Data Analysis ............................................................................146
4.1 Newspapers Coverage of Respective Regimes .................................................146
4.2 Regime-wise Frequency of Newspapers Genre ................................................147
4.3 Regime-wise Coverage by Respective Newspapers .........................................147
4.4 Newspaper-wise Number (Frequencies) of Genre ............................................148
4.5 News Impulsion ................................................................................................149
4.6 Regime-wise Impulsion of Genre .....................................................................149
4.7 Newspaper-wise Impulsion of Genre ................................................................150
4.8 News Source-wise Coverage of Regimes ........................................................151
4.9 Topics/Issues Covered by Newspapers .............................................................152
4.10 Regime-wise Coverage of Topics/Issues/Events ..............................................153
4.11 Slant in Newspapers Items ................................................................................155
4.12 Length of Published Items ................................................................................156
4.13 Frequency of Various Genres ...........................................................................156
4.14 Regime-wise Frequencies of Genres ................................................................157
4.15 Placement of Newspapers Items .......................................................................158
4.16 Placement of Topics/Issues/Events ...................................................................159
4.17 Frames in Items .................................................................................................161
4.18 Regime-wise Frames .........................................................................................162
Part-2 Hypotheses Testing Through Quantitative Data Analysis ..........................163
4.19 Testing the Hypothesis-1 (H-1) ..........................................................................163
4.20 One-Way ANOVA to Detect Mean Values of Groups (H-1) ...........................164
4.21 ANOVA test to find out Difference between & within the Groups (H-1) ........164
4.22 Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-I) ...........................................................165
4.23 Testing the Hypothesis-11..................................................................................165
4.24 One-Way ANOVA to Detect Mean Values of Groups (H-II) ...........................165
4.25 ANOVA test to Find out Difference between & within the Groups (H-II) .......166
x
4.26 Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-II) .........................................................166
4.27 Testing the Hypothesis-III (H-III) ......................................................................167
4.28 Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons (H-III) ...................................167
4.29 ANOVA for Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons ..........................169
4.30 Multiple Regression Test for Co-relationship ...................................................169
4.31 Regime-wise Percentage of Ratios of Predictors ..............................................171
4.32 Area Graph of Ratios of Predictors ...................................................................171
Part-3 Qualitative Data Analysis ...............................................................................172
4.33 Nature of Source ...............................................................................................172
4.34 Source Category ................................................................................................172
4.35 Source Credibility .............................................................................................173
4.36 Regime, Source & Category-wise Frequency of Reports .................................174
4.37 Context-wise Frequency of Reports ..................................................................175
4.38 Regime-wise Context of Reports ......................................................................175
4.39 Adjectives used in Reports ................................................................................176
4.40 Regime-wise Adjectives used in Reports ..........................................................176
4.41 Adjectives used By News Sources in Reports ..................................................177
4.42 Tonal Qualities in Reports ................................................................................178
4.43 Government's Treatment of Media ...................................................................181
Part-4 Triangulation (Comparison of Quantitative & Qualitative Results) ...........183
4.44 Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Adjectives in Reports ....................183
4.45 Comparison of Topics/Issues with Government’s Treatment of Media ...........184
4.46 Comparison of Frames in Items with Tonal Qualities in Reports .....................185
4.47 Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Tonal Qualities in Reports .............186
4.48 Comparison of Slant with Adjectives in Reports ..............................................188
CHAPTER 5 FINDINGS/RESULTS, DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION 189
5.1 Discussion over Findings and Results of the Study ...........................................191
5.2 Conclusions .......................................................................................................197
5.3 Suggestions and Recommendations ..................................................................203
5.4 Limitations of the Study .....................................................................................206
5.5 Implications of The Study .................................................................................206
References .......................................................................................................................208
Appendices ......................................................................................................................229
Appendix-A Coding Scheme (For Quantitative Content Analysis) ................229
Appendix-B Coding Scheme (For Qualitative Content Analysis).. ................230
xi
LIST OF TABLES
Table No Table Name Page No.
Table 3.1 Selection of Days and Construction of Weeks 125
Table 4.1 Newspapers Coverage 146
Table 4.2 Regime-wise Frequency of Newspapers Genre 147
Table 4.3 Regime-wise Coverage by Respective Newspapers
147
Table 4.4 Newspaper-wise Number (Frequencies) of Genre 148
Table 4.5 News Impulsion 149
Table 4.6 Regime-wise Impulsion of Genre 149
Table 4.7 Newspaper-wise Impulsion of Genre 150
Table 4.8 News Source-wise Coverage of Regimes 151
Table 4.9 Topics/Issues Covered by Newspapers 152
Table 4.10 Regime-wise Coverage of Topics/Issues/Events 153
Table 4.11 Slant in Newspapers Items 155
Table 4.12 Length of Published Items 156
Table 4.13 Frequency of Genres 156
Table 4.14 Regime-wise Frequencies of Genres 157
Table 4.15 Placement of Newspapers Items 158
Table 4.16 Placement of Topics/Issues/Events 159
Table 4.17 Frames in Items 161
Table 4.18 Regime-wise Frames 162
Table 4.20 One-Way ANOVA for Mean Values of Groups (H-1) 164
Table 4.21 ANOVA Test to find out Difference between & within Groups 164
Table 4.22 Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-I) 165
xii
Table No Table Name Page No.
Table 4.24 One-Way for Mean Values of Groups (H-I) 165
Table 4.25 ANOV Test for Difference between & within Groups (H-II) 166
Table 4.26 Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-II) 166
Table 4.28 Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons (H-III) 167
Table 4.29 ANOVA-Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons (H-III) 169
Table 4.33 Nature of Source 172
Table 4.34 Source Category 172
Table 4.35 Source Credibility 173
Table 4.36 Regime, Source & Category-wise Frequency of Reports 174
Table 4.37 Context-wise Frequency of Reports 175
Table 4.38 Regime-wise Context of Reports 175
Table 4.39 Adjectives used in Reports 176
Table 4.40 Regime-wise Adjectives Used in Reports 176
Table 4.41 Adjectives used by News Sources in Reports 177
Table 4.42 Tonal Qualities in Reports 178
Table 4.43 Government's Treatment of Media 181
Table 4.44 Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Adjectives in Reports 183
Table 4.45 Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Government’s
Treatment of Media
184
Table 4.46 Comparison of Frames in Items with Tonal Qualities in Reports 185
Table 4.47 Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Tonal Qualities in
Reports
186
Table 4.48 Comparison of Slant with Adjectives in Reports 188
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No Figure/Chart Page No.
Model 3.2.10-a Conceptual Model (Key Themes/Concepts) 141
Model 3.2.10-b Conceptual Model (Key Themes/Concepts) 142
Graph 4.30 Multiple Regression Test for Co-relationship 170
Graph 4.31 Regime-wise Percentage Ratios of Predictors 171
Graph 4.32 Area Graph of Ratios of Predictors 171
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviation
APNS
CPNE
CPE
IMS
IFEX
PNEC
PFUJ
PPF
PML (N)
PML (Q)
PPP
RSF
Illustration
All Pakistan Newspapers Society
Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors
Council of Press Editors
International Media Support
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Pakistan Newspapers Editors Conference
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists
Pakistan Press Foundation
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)
Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam)
Pakistan Peoples Party
Reporters Sans Frontiers (Reporters Without Borders)
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Media-Government relations, also referred to as Press-Government relations, have
remained a debatable and burning issue since the birth of the first ever frequently
published newspapers in German cities and in Antwerp (Belgium) around 1609
(Britannica). Stemming initially from minor controversies of criticism over the
regime, ensuing suppression, and competition with rival newspapers turned the
press-government affairs into an endless and inevitable tale of regular antagonism
and mutual interdependence between the two. Later, this interconnection became a
matter of constant concern for philosophers, scholars and the ruling class as well
(Yüksel, 2013).
Despite a long history of tussle with regimes and playing somewhat controversial
part in state’s affairs, the press established its role and worth in human society with
every passing day. That is why the elite class, strategists and policy makers started
thinking as to what should be the possible, proper and acceptable function of the
press in the state and in the social set-up. Under this backdrop, the four popular
normative theoretical perspectives of the press i.e. Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social
Responsibility, and Communist were emerged. These concepts grew out of the
question: “Why there exist different forms of mass media for different purposes and
functions in different states?” (Nordenstreng, 1997).
The scientific and critical research approach that entered into the field of mass
communication after 1950s challenged these normative concepts of the press
systems. Nerone (1995) posited that, these four perspectives are not supposed to
present four separate theories of the press; rather, they suggest a single theory along
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 2
with four different instances. This theoretical advancement influenced the vast field
of media and communication. The concept of media-government relations got more
attention in the 20th century, as media was used for propaganda purposes by big
powers in World Wars to mould public opinion and the novel electronic forms of
media (radio & TV) were established in government’s control.
Importance of the media in modern political systems is historically recognized as
earlier as in 18th century, when its original form “press” had been termed as the
“Fourth Estate”. Carlyle (1993) in “On Heroes and Hero Worship” attributed the
term to Edmund Burke-an Irish politician, who in 1787 said: “there were Three
Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate
(the press) more important far than they all” (McGraw, 2008). Media as a political
institution now speak for citizens and report on and give voice to those on positions
of political, corporate, economic and social life (Schultz, 1998).
Media also play a watchdog role in keeping the government answerable to the
masses, as they depend on the media regarding government’s performance and
conduct (Woodring & James, 2012). The developed (Western) and Third Worlds
have two different concepts of media’s role in state’s affairs. The Western media
concept propagates a watchdog role for transparency and accountability of the
government and its functionaries. The Third World media concept of partnership
(Asian Values) supports a pro-government and friendly media’s role for socio-
economic and political development and stability of the country (Coronel, 2010).
The novel function of press and journalism is its watchdog role, to keep regimes to
be honest, and to protect rights of citizens, (Wodrings & James, 2012 cited Kovach
& Rosenstiel, 2001). But many times, regimes and media have turned as each other’s
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 3
necessities, because, the media have a constant thirst for news about state’s
institutions to fill airtime and newspapers’ pages; the government needs the news-
outlets to express its legitimacy and to foster its relationship with the public (Pratt &
Akhtar, 2013). Hence, this complex and ever changing bond is based on media-
government antagonism on the one hand, and mutual interdependence on the other
hand. Media not only manipulate the domestic socio-cultural, political, economic
etc. issues, but also influence policy matters pertaining to external and diplomatic
affairs. Tori (2006) poised that the media possess potential power to affect the
external policy making process of governments. Thus, media’s role is extended to
and affects all walks of life in modern states.
Pakistan has faced many upheavals in its political history of 72 years (up to 2019).
Sudden changes in regimes, drastic sacking of the civilian governments, and
capturing the rein by successive military dictators have relentlessly affected press-
government relations in Pakistan. Since 1947, the institution of press in this country
suffered all types of doable tactics by the state to bring it under its subjugation and
control. “All governments in Pakistan adopted the same policy to use state-run
electronic media for its own publicity and projection” (Riaz, 2008).
The onslaught of satellite TV channels and revolution of internet-based social media
changed the entire edifice of the Pakistani media in the new millennium. Even the
strongest military ruler, Pervez Musharraf had to give some space, and eventually
decided, what no ruler prior to him was eager to decide, and opened the gateway for
private TV and FM Radio Channels in the country (Peshimam, 2013). Later in 2007,
this newly independent media supported the famous anti-Musharraf Lawyers
Movement and so, democracy was again restored in Pakistan.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 4
In Zardari’s era (2008-2013), “Pakistan’s media achieved some gains in freedom of
expression, but also were labeled with the charges of sensationalism” (Mezzera &
Sial, 2010). The fragile civil structure carried on the momentum for another five
years, and the once mutilated PML (N) won the 2013 general elections under the
headship of the then exiled leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, who became a third time
Prime Minister of Pakistan till his disqualification by the apex court on 28 July 2017
in the famous Panama Papers Case.
1.1 Historical Background of Media-Government Relations
1.1.1 Traces of Press-Government Relations in Ancient Period
Being a facet of human society, the media (press) have also passed through an
evolutionary process, and it took several centuries for them to adopt the present
shape. Till the 16th century, no formal press system as a separate state institution was
existed anywhere in the world. The initial and organized form of information &
communication system mostly remained a royal subject and was directly controlled
by the rulers. To keep a sharp eye on the day to day affairs of the state, the ancient
monarchs had devised a sort of reporting system to collect information from across
the kingdom through specially appointed informers. Important proclamations and
imperial decrees from the royal courts and palaces were also communicated to the
subjects through the informers. In ancient era, information was disseminated
verbally, or in handwritten form on a piece of cloth, leather, stone slab, wood plank
or papyrus., Communication in Greece was made by lighting fire at night or making
smoke at mountain tops. Messages could be sent from 40 to 100 kilometers or more,
through the use of fire at night and the sunlight reflected by mirrors, called as
heliograph (writing with sunlight). The Chinese Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD)
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 5
developed a most effective surveillance and communications system. Royal news-
sheet, “tipao” was used to be distributed amongst court staffers of in the late 2nd &
3rd AD” (Smith, 1979).
The early postal service was also a sort of organized and official information &
communication activity. Yet another facts & data collection system was the covert
information gathering service, through which the ancient emperors or rulers used to
monitor loyalty of the higher-ranking officials like governors, deputies, revenue
collectors, judges, military heads etc. and watch the enemy. Hand-written
newspapers had started in Europe some 2000 years ago (in Roman Empire before 59
B.C.), which were later called as Acta Diurna (Khurshid, 1964).
The ancient Romans were among the first to develop a written script for
transactions and correspondence (Cohen, 2012). In the East, in China, during the
reign of Tang Dynasty, a royal declaration entitled as “bao” or report was to be
issued to state functionaries, which continued to appear with various names and
formats till the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. As the old information gathering
and reportage system (now journalism or media) remained a royal (state) job during
the recorded human history up to the 16th century, therefore, the matter of media
(press) relations with the royal court or regime remained out of question.
1.1.2 Press-Government Relations in Early Modern Europe
The earliest European printed paper appeared in Cologne, Germany in 1588
(Stephens, 2007). The Times of India (2007) claimed that in 1605, the first printed
weekly “Relation” was published in Antwerp (Belgium), which is recognized by the
World Association of Newspapers & News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and several
researchers, as the world’s first newspaper. Socio-cultural and industrial
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 6
development, enlightenment, conflicts and wars caused a lot of political news in
Europe in 16th &17th centuries. Press was such a development that intensely affected
almost all walks of human life in Europe. The elite class busy in lofty politics, book
traders, merchants, and ordinary citizens were confronted with a phenomenon that
affected their business, their daily lives, and their view of the world. News in printed
form, and liberalization of political information was, in particular, a double-edged
sword for authorities. The ruling class started efforts to control the production and
flow of news by patronizing some sections of the press and the local coranteers
(Groesen & Helmers, 2016).
In Antwerp city, the authorities granted monopoly to a compliant local news
publisher Abraham Verhoeven, who turned the periodical press into a puppet of the
Archducal regime. According to Groesen and Helmers (2016), many European
regimes tried to prevent printed news from publishing. King James I of England
objected to the circulation of critical news on various issues and royal policies, and
resorted to censorship. It was a difficult time for editors and publishers to formulate
a balance between journalistic credibility & professionalism and appeasing their
political patrons to sustain financial expenditures. Carlsson and Pöyhtäri (2017)
referred to philosopher Peter Forsskål of Finland, who wrote in 1759: “A wise
government will rather let the people express their discontent with pens than with
other guns”.
It is an interesting analogy that while tracing out the beginning of the press-
government relations, the first ever printed newspaper was found to be titled as
“Relation”. The first English language newspaper Curanto (1618) was published in
Amsterdam in modern Netherland (McNair, 2003). Although the printed pamphlets
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 7
and newsletters had commenced earlier in modern Europe, but newspapers in their
true sense were introduced around the mid-17th century-the time of great turmoil of
the Civil War (1642-1651) in the UK which had increased demands for news.
Around this time, publications known as “news-books” began to appear as the first
viable method of sharing and spreading ideas & information to a mass audience in
the Western culture.
However, power of the early press was suppressed by the English Ruler Oliver
Cromwell, when he curbed all news-books on the eve of Charles I’s execution in
1649, an early example of political interference and censorship of the press. He
continued to stifle public debate as the news-books were his main target. By 1655,
all publications other than the two state-run newspapers were suppressed (CEA, n.d).
But during 1640 to 1660 (Restoration of English Monarchy after Cromwell’s death
in 1958) around 30,000 newsletters and newspapers were printed, and some of those
copies are available in the British Museum (WAN-IFRA).
The first English newspaper launched on daily and regular basis was “Courant” in
the era of Queen Anne in 1702 (John & Silberstein-Loeb, 2015). The First Copy
Right Act was passed in 1709 in the UK. The initial Stamp Act in 1712 imposed
duties on advertisement, paper and stamp, which were condemned and termed as
taxes on knowledge by critics. In 1835, the Libel Act was introduced and for the first
time, truth was allowed as defence in Britain. The British Newspapers Society was
formed in 1836, and Stamp duty was abolished in1855 in UK. The British Press
Association was re-sat as National News Agency in 1868. In 1889, the First UK
Official Secret Act was enacted.
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In France, the first weekly La Gazette appeared in 1631, and the first national daily
newspaper, Le Journal de Paris, was published in 1777 (Britannica). In the 18th and
19th centuries, French press was confined to the elite class. Prior to the French
Revolution (1787–1799), censorship and many other royal restraints were imposed
on the French press. Changes in censorship laws and authorial rights in Old and
Enlightenment Regimes paved the way for Revolution (Witsell, n.d). The
Revolutionary press acted as a herald for the new mass political culture, but
Napoleon reinstituted the censorship after the Revolution. However, the press
strikingly differed with the Napoleonic Régime as well, and thus played a significant
role in the rise and fall of the French Revolution (Witsell, n.d).
In the last quarter of the 19th century, the French press achieved in its true sense, the
status of a mass medium. Since the collapse of the Second Empire in 1870 to the 1st
World War, it made enormous expansion in terms of diverse titles and increase in
readership (Kuhn, 2011). The closing decades of the 19th century observed a radical
change in relationship between the state and press in France. After a long history of
state’s interference in editorial content and a range of means to ensure a compliant
press, the 1881 Law on the Liberty of the Press began with the words: “Printing and
publishing are free which guaranteed freedom of opinion and the right to publish and
brought a formal end to a variety of anti-press practices, including state censorship,
legal restraints on content and restrictive financial measures,….” (Perry, 2011).
This law was a collective effort from all the political forces in France and the new
parliamentary regime to promote a political culture and encourage democratic
institutions to cope with the conservative forces and impede radical ideas.
1.1.3 Press-Government Relations in Europe after the 20th Century
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 9
Significant developments occurred in Press-government relations in Europe after the
start of the 20th century. In1906, a Newspapers Proprietors Association was founded
for the British national dailies. In the following year (1907), the National Union of
Journalists was formed as a wages-earner union, and in 1931, the UK Audit Bureau
of Circulation was shaped. The Guild of the British Newspapers (now Society of the
Editors) was formed in1946. In 1953, the General Council of the Press was
established (News Media Association, n.d.). In 1955, in UK, the unions, comprising
of 700 electricians and engineers of the newspaper printing machinery, went on
strike for increase in wages. The strike kept newspapers off the presses for 26 days
and cost the industry around £3m (BBC, 2005). In 1959, after a six-week long strike,
workers of the regional printing press got for the first time, 40-hours working in a
week (Eurofound, 2006).
In 1980, the Association of Free Newspapers was formed which was folded in 1991.
In 1993, the Calcutt Report termed the UK Press Complaints Commission less
effective regulator of the press, as it was run by the (press) industry, and was more
sympathetic to the industry. The Report recommended a Statutory Press Complaints
Tribunal (Calcutt, 1993). The Press Complaints Commission replaced the Press
Council in1991. The Phillis Report (2004) recommend more direct, unmediated
communications, positive presentation of government’s policies and the use of all
relevant channels of communication (Parliament of UK., 2004). In 2007, after huge
criticism of the press, media watch dogs and civil society, government in the UK
abandoned strategy to stiffen Freedom of Information laws and squeeze access of
media to coroners’ courts (News Media Association, n.d.).
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In 2013, significant progress was made by the newspaper and magazine industry to
set up the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO) - the new regulator for
the press, called for by Lord Justice Leveson. More than 90% of the national press, a
vast majority of the regional press, along with major magazine publishers, signed
contracts to establish IPSO. Meanwhile, politicians, publishers and global media
freedom organizations railed against the British Government's Royal Charter for
press regulation. The daily Guardian generated rigorous and critical discussions
regarding surveillance of citizens after unmasking of facts from the leaks made by
the then US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden (News Media
Association, n.d.).
Just before the World War-II, when the Nazi Germany and the USSR signed a non-
aggression pact, in response, France banned the pro-Communist press in the country.
When the German forces occupied France in the World War II, several Paris-based
newspapers were dislocated and shifted to the southern part. Many other
newspapers stopped further publication. When Germany extended its sway to the
Southern France in November 1942, the dailies earlier shifted from North were
closed. In the north of France, the Nazi authorized press was mainly consisted of the
collaborationist papers during the entire period of French’s occupation by the
Germany (Perry, 2011). During the war, the pro-Nazi press was to some extent,
offset by the publication of clandestine newspapers sympathetic to the views of de
Gaulle and the Resistance (Kuhn cited Jackson, 2001). Gradually, the under-cover
press turned more active, organized and disciplined. Just before the close of 1943,
when the signs of Nazis’ vanquish turned obvious, the clandestine French press
formed a national federation (Perry, 2011).
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Revolutionary changes were introduced in the French press after the World War
II. Pro-Nazi newspapers and presses were shut down. Consequently, a small number
of 28 newspapers, out of the total 206 in 1939 in France, could resume publishing in
the post-war era (Kuhn cited Guillauma, 1988). A new press system of independent
companies was devised. The 1944-Press Ordinance in France was very distinct from
the press law of 1881, which was now termed as insufficient to ensure a pluralist
ownership of press and diversified content.
Over the period, government-press relations in France witnessed dramatic change.
The 1881 reforms ended state’s repression and censorship which recurred during the
two World Wars and the Conflict of Algeria in 1950s-1960s. Still, the French press
exercised maximum editorial liberty in the 20th century as compared to the 19th
century. The Freedom House (2018), a global media watch-dog also supports this
argument saying that, “France has a strong tradition of independent journalism and a
generally free media environment. However, defamation cases and new security
laws have raised concerns about the media in recent years”.
According to the Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM), the French media regulation
system is multifaceted and potential risks to media pluralism are satisfactorily under
control level. Primary safeguards to the media have been protected, and their
political freedom has been envisioned through several regulatory apparatuses and
bodies which check and ensure law abidance. Some major threats to media pluralism
in France are minorities’ meek access to the media as many communal factions are
given little media coverage … More monitoring, prior judicial controls and adequate
safeguards against abuse of government powers are needed…(Vedel, García &
Durán, 2017).
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1.1.4 Press-Government Relations in the North American Continent
The inception and growth of Press in the North America and press-government
relations across the Atlantic Ocean is a later occurrence as compared to the Europe.
The initial news publishing sheets in colonies on the American Continent were also
hand-written. John Campbell was the first American to start printing his Boston
News-letter in 1704. Atwood (1993) identified more than 250 handwritten
periodicals in Canada and the United States through his research work. Brier, (1959)
noted that the term “newspaper” was first specifically applied to a handwritten
publication in the West (North America) by the editor of The Flumgudgeon Gazette
& Bumble Bee Budget…(it was) filled with political satire directed at the Legislative
Committee of the Provisional Government of the Oregon Territory. The original
birthplace of the American Press was the European migrants’ colony in the
Massachusetts Bay in New England (Northeast America) in early 17th century.
“Tyranny of the class system, regime and church forced most of the people to
migrate to the US eastern coasts and the first small news publications naturally dealt
with these problems, but…were licensed and suppressed if they irritated authorities”
(Zinn, 2015).
1.1-4 (A) Press-Government Relations in America
The first regular American newspaper was published in 1704, about 80 years afar the
establishment of migrants’ colony. Before the American Revolution, some other
regular magazines also emerged which played a key role in struggle against the
British Imperialism. Revolution activists spread the uprising message and strategy
through verbal communication; the press and journalists did so in the printed
material. In the post-revolution era, a partisan press was emerged in the USA and
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 13
various political factions formed their own newspapers. The opposing views in
1790s between the Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton, who represented the
urban mercantile interests of the seaports, and the Anti-federalists, led by Thomas
Jefferson, who spoke for the rural and southern interests and advocated an agrarian
US republic, are examples (U.S. Department of State, n.d.).
This political antagonism led the editors and publishers to come out of the political
influence and ownership. The Penny Press conceived and introduced by Benjamin
H. Day, founder of “The Sun” in New York around 1833, enabled the lower and
middle class to read a newspaper, and thus journalism became a mass activity. (Its)
low price, dependence on advertisements and out-reach to the masses set a precedent
for the newspapers operate today (Aftab, 2013).
Founding fathers of America consented and endorsed a republic that was to be
accountable and answerable to the citizens, i.e. “Government of the people, by the
people, for the people…Abraham Lincoln” (Epstein, 2011). The people could hold
regimes accountable in such environments, in which they had free and fair access to
information, could make decisions and convey their aspirations and concerns to
those in higher echelons of the US state (Krinsky, 1997). This idea was incorporated
into the American Constitution as the very first of 10 amendments in 1791, around
four years after the endorsement of the Document. Amendment-I ensure a liberal
society, freedom of religion, free expression of ideas and thoughts and independence
of the press (Corwin, 1920).
One of the American founding fathers, Principal Author of the Declaration of
Independence, and two terms President (1801-1809), Thomas Jefferson, viewed the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 14
press as such: “If I am left with the choice to have a regime with no press, or the
press but without regime, I will accept the latter option without a moment” (Online
Library of Liberty, 2018). Ironically two decades later, inside the White House,
Jefferson seemed to be totally ignorant of values of the press. He wrote: “Anything
published in a newspaper is not believable….Truth itself becomes suspicious by
being put into that polluted vehicle” (The New York Times, 2018). In 1861, President
Abraham Lincoln allowed the military officers to muzzle certain elements of the
press who were impeding the Union’s war efforts. Later, he remarked that if it was
unavoidable to cut a limb to save the whole body, it must be imputed immediately to
save one’s life (Maihafer, 2001).
On foreign policy issues, the US media have mostly upheld and propagated the
official stance. Critics say that during wars and US military operations, this Fourth
Estate and watchdog, has proved to be a lapdog. Right from the World War-I (1914-
19) to the Afghanistan expeditions, the US has excessively used media-outlets as
propaganda tools to mould the masses in favor of war. Aday, (2017) posits that the
US media coverage on foreign policy is based on racial stereotype of enemies, elite-
driven, uncritical (run-up to & early stages of war), and episodic (usually cover other
states when senior US officials travel to or otherwise prioritize them)… There exists
counter-argument to this. The Vietnam expedition (1955-1975) was initially
supported by the US Media, but when some souring facts were reported, the media
changed stance on the war and thus altered the public opinion in the US. The
American media absolutely played a role to alter masses’ opinion and losing
Vietnam War (Čihánková & Hana, 2014).
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Despite constitutional guarantees and charming lures of press freedom, every US
regime tried to tame the media. During the era of Bush Jr., all possible attempts were
made to manage the media, and the pre-packaged propaganda disclosures, were key
part of that trend. The White House managed the media in day-to-day state business
and policy with several tactics i.e. making payments of thousands of US dollars to
selected journalists to prop-up state’s policy; utilizing the services of film/TV actors
as dummy journalists; manipulated news packages; false & fabricated news reports,
and plagiarized articles.
However, the US media have many times locked horns with several regimes on the
domestic front, mainly over issues of larger impacts on masses. In the famous
Watergate Scandal (1974), the media forced Nixon to resign (The Washington Post,
n.d.). Other mega political scandals getting extensive media attention and coverage
in recent US history are: Iran-Contra Affair Scandal of Reagan’s selling arms to Iran
(1985-1987), investigation into the real estate investments of Bill & Hillary Clinton
(1992) and Clinton & Monica Scandal (1998).
Since, in his office from 20 January 2017, relations between President Trump and
the media have stayed tense. Many events of Trump’s snubbing the reporters or
fixing allegations against the media have occurred. CNBC (2018) reported ban by
the White House on CNN Reporter Jim Acosta after a row with Mr. Trump. The
CNN sued President Trump and multiple White House aides for revoking press pass
of its White House Correspondent, and violating his fundamental rights guaranteed
under the First and Fifth Amendments. Reporters Without Borders-RSF, 2018)
degraded the US media’s level on its Freedom Index from 43 in 2017 to 45 in 2018.
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1.1.4 (B) Press-Government Relations in Canada
At first, newspapers to Canada were transported from the European migrants’ initial
settlements at the Eastern Atlantic Coast. History of the Canadian Press and its
relations with government has four periods. During the First Period (1752-1807),
John Bushell, a printer in Boston issued the first ever Canadian newspaper, The
Halifax Gazette on 23 March 1752. The press was totally submissive to the regime
which was the only source of revenue for newspapers in this era. News contents
were official statements, messages, and foreign news. These early news leafs were of
four pages and published once in a week (Kesterton, 1967).
In the 2nd Period (1807-1858), the arrival of settlers from Europe and America raised
the number of news-sheets in the Upper, Lower and the Maritimes Canadas. The
press found an egress from government’s influence by getting revenue from
advertisers and consequently, self-reliant editors also emerged. However, many
newspapers leaned to different political parties as several politicians also became
editors. They labeled their papers as per their political thoughts and stands (e.g.
Reform or Tory). In 1835, Joseph Howe, a Nova Scotian journalist argued in his
own defence in a trial for having printed a sarcastic criticism of the Halifax police
and magistrates in his newspaper. At last, the jury acquitted him, “as responsible
government evolved (in Canada), a new climate of intellectual tolerance and
newspaper freedom was introduced” (Granatstein, 1968).
In the Third Period (1858-1900), the Act of Union-1840, and the Canadian
Confederation-1867 swelled the quantum of political and foreign news. The press
expanded towards the West of Canada with the constant arrival of fresh settlers. In
1858, the discovery of gold in the sands of the Fraser River in the interior British
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 17
Colombia (The Canadian Encyclopedia) attracted more people to the Pacific Coast
region, and as a result, more newspapers emerged in the east of Canada. The
Montreal Gazette was founded in 1855 by P.D. Ross (News Media Canada, 2018).
Press freedom became clearer in the newly framed statutes.
Revolutionary changes occurred in Canadian Press in its Fourth Period after the 20th
Century. Newspapers formed a co-operative body, the “Canadian Press” in 1917 to
ensure availability of news in all parts of the country. In 1938, daily newspapers
reached to 138. By the mid-1980s, there were 110 dailies in Canada; today (2018),
this number is 105. The combine circulation of French and English languages
newspapers reached beyond 5.7 million in 1989. A recession in newspapers’
circulation occurred in 1990’s with the outburst of other means of communication.
The current subscription of daily newspapers is around 5.2 million per day (News
Media Canada, 2018).
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) placed Canada at 18th position in its 2018 World
Press Freedom Index improving its ranking by four points as compared to 2017. It
observed that free media is guaranteed under Canada's 1982 Constitution, but despite
recent positive steps, (forming an Inquiry Commission to investigate Quebec police
surveillance of many journalists, adoption of a federal press-shield law to protect the
secrecy of journalists sources etc.), disappointment exists over court proceedings
against two Canadian Journalists. A draft controversial Bill C-51 uses national
security as an excuse to chill the free flow of information online, while the recent
closure of more than forty independent newspapers following an agreement between
two of the country's largest publishers, risks media pluralism in the country (RSF,
2018).
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1.2 An Over-view of Press-Government Relations in Pre-
partitioned India
The thread of Press-government relations in pre-partitioned India can be stretched to
the time of East India Company (EIC) in the 18th century. No press system was
existed prior to the European nations’ trade and colonial adventures into the region.
The Sanskrit language ancient book “Arthasástra” mainly authored by Kautilya-
Chankya (deputy of Chandra Gupt Moria) mentioned in detail, about a stately
organized espionage & information system (Shamasastry, 1956) to collect
intelligence for both internal and external security purposes (Jackson, 1906).
Many worldly renowned travelers like Megasthenes also mentioned about this
Information and espionage system in their travelogues. In Ashoka’s period (273-232
B.C.), those officially designated informants (spies) enjoyed greater socio-economic
and courtier status. The Muslim rulers, especially Mughals had further organized the
spying structure and also developed the Postal system and both these worked as a
sort of reporting system. Some researchers have mentioned about private
handwritten newspapers during the reign of Aurengzeb and Alamgir who had given
those papers both freedom and patronage (Khurshid, 1964).
After their first arrival at the start of the 18th century, the British merchants of East
India Company rapidly established their position in the Southern coastal regions of
India. At the close of the 18th century, after annexing most of the Southern Indian
peninsula, the Company’s occupation had been stretched up to Delhi till the
dethroning of the last Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar in 1857 (Marshall, 2011).
Initially, Newspapers from the UK were to be brought to India for reading by the
Company’s officials, which would take months to reach here.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 19
In the last quarter of the 18th century, some retired and dissenting employees of the
EIC started publishing news pamphlets, mostly criticizing its wrongdoings. The
Company’s loyalists also responded to critics in similar pattern, and thus newspapers
were pioneered in India. William Bolt was the first Englishman who, after having
served the EIC for 13 years and resigned in 1768, tried to bring out a Newspaper in
Calcutta. He had nailed down a poster on the Council Hall of Calcutta in September,
1768, instigating someone to launch the printing press and also offering secret news
to the English people at his home. “Bolt tried to launch his paper in India in 1776 in
order to beat a retreat under the disapproving gaze of the Court of Directors of the
Company” (Padmanabhan, 2011). Bolt was arrested and then expelled to Europe.
Niazi (1986) argued that since its inception, journalism in the United India was of
non-conformist nature and the pioneers paid heavily. Even the first ever idea of
launching a newspaper in the Sub-continent was thought upon in prison by James
August Hickey. He is also credited with the pioneering of scandalous reporting and
outright vulgarity. The first issue of Hicky’s Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General
Advertiser went on 20 January 1780, with a promise to revolutionize news in the
Sub-continent with neutrality and strict adherence to facts and accuracy in the
prevailing circumstances of the Company’s rule (Thomas, 2018). When the EIC
sponsored the launching of a pro-Company newspaper to counter Hicky’s
newspaper, and also allowed its free post, Hicky thought that he was being punished,
and after a week, he launched a very harsh campaign against the Company with
publishing of anti-Company stories (Otis, 2018).
Critics have questioned Hicky’s claims of truth and neutrality, as he drastically
attacked most of the pro-EIC Englishmen, but spared Sir Filip Francis, a key
supporter of Hicky, the leading opponent of Governor General Warren Hastings
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 20
(1773-1785), and a member of the four-man council appointed by Prime Minister
Lord Frederick North to rule British possessions in India. Hicky’s two-sheet
newspaper devoted large space to scurrilous attacks on the private lives of EIC’s
servants including the Governor General Hastings (Natarajan, 1955). Hicky was the
first-ever journalist and editor in the Sub-continent to be fined and imprisoned, and
so was his newspaper to be seized and finally closed.
Hicky also assaulted the first Church Missionary at Calcutta, John Zachariah
Kiernander, whom Hicky blamed for selling of printing type machine to his
opponent and a pro-EIC newspaper, India Gazette which was jointly owned by two
British merchants B. Messenk and Peter Reed. India Gazette worked as a
spokesperson for the EIC, vehemently responded to the allegations of Hicky’s
magazine and even counterattacked him. Hicky’s Gazette ceased publications from
23 March 1782 after Warren Hastings issued orders to confiscate his printing types.
According to Wadhwa (2018), Hicky’s Bengal Gazette lived for a brief, if eventful,
span from 1780-1782.
Another prominent Anglo-Indian paper Bengal Journal and its American-origin
editor William Daune, also got fame in locking horns with the EIC rulers. On his
arrival to Calcutta, Duane associated with the Bengal Journal – launched in 1785 by
Thomas Jones. In the beginning, Duane was more conciliatory. He made a
commitment with Hastings to print official ads in return for concessional postage
rates. The French Revolution of 1789 also affected French colonies in Asia. On 3
May 1790, in Chandernagore, at a distance of few miles from British Calcutta, the
French administrators were ousted by an instantly structured citizens’ assembly
which is called as “Petit Revolution” by the historian Nigel Little, (2015).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 21
At that time, Duane wrote in support of the French Revolution. He also published an
unverified report of the British Commander Lord Cornwallis’ death in a campaign
against Tipu Sultan, a news item Duane attributed, in turn to Canaple-a French
commander (Kumar, 2018). Hastings’s successor, John Shore (1785-1786) took fury
over it and asked Duane to express regret before Canaple, failing which; he was
arrested and confined to a cell at Fort William for some time. Duane fervently
protested the connivance of the local British and French chiefs, to suppress press
freedom in British India…(Tise, 1998). Duane left the editorship of Bengal Journal
and launched another paper titled as Indian World. He continued objective, upright
and professional journalism, and frequently published news about the offenses of the
EIC, but was ultimately forced to announce auctioning of his assets including the
newspaper. On 17 December 1794, he published the last issue of Indian World.
Duane was detained, his house was searched, all his property was confiscated, and
he was finally deported back to England in 1795.
Critical of EIC’s policies, Dr. Charles Maclean, editor of the Bengal Hurkaro was
also exiled from India in 1798. The Madrass Gazette launched in 1795 by R.
Williams was disliked by the EIC chiefs for its fairness and criticism over them. In
1795, censorship was imposed over the Madrass Gazette and the Madras Courier
founded by Richard Johnson, a Government’s Printer. All sorts of official
instructions were to be scrutinized by the Military Secretary prior to publication.
Their complimentary postage was halted. On protest of the journals, the levy was
imposed at the delivery side to be paid by the end readers (Chaudhuri, 1955).
The Bombay Gazette launched by W.S. Cooper and the Bombay Herald, commenced
in1790, propagated interests of the British nationals. They evaded any spar with the
regime, always tried to get official recognition and favour, and thus survived
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 22
(Somasekhara, 2018). Another non-Indian, James Silk Buckingham launched a bi-
weekly Calcutta Journal which was recognized as a finest newspaper, both in term
of content and presentation. He also exposed crimes of the EIC and its officials
through a reasonable and well-founded criticism. Buckingham elucidated
responsibilities of an Editor as “to admonish Governors of their duties, to warn them
furiously of their faults, and to tell disagreeable truths”… Buckingham’s license was
revoked and he was deported to England in 1823 (Reddi, 2017).
The EIC had happened to be more than merely a trading company. Between 1780
and 1800, 24 weekly or monthly magazines came into existence … The total
circulation of English-language publications was put at 3000 (Sonwalkar, 2015). In
1795, R. Williams started the Madras Gazette, followed a few months later by the
India Herald, which was published without authority by one Humphrey, who was
arrested for unauthorized publication, but escaped from the ship on which he was to
be deported to England (Natarajan, 1955).
During the period of Richard Wellesley as Governor General (1798-1805), the EIC’s
regime interpreted any criticism in journals as lurking Jacobinism (Sonwalkar,
2015). In 1799, new press regulations were introduced stipulating that, no newspaper
be published until the proofs of the whole paper, including ads, were submitted to
the government and approved; violation invited deportation to England.
Padmanabhan (2011) added: “its (EIC’s) officials were suspicious of journalists and
newspapers from the very beginning and were also intolerant of any kind of
criticism”. The early press in India somewhat succeeded to function, just because, it
was at the hands of Englishmen who obtained strength and inspiration from the
UK’s free press.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 23
1.2.1 Press Acts and Laws Introduced by the British India Regime
Despite facing a lot of punitive measures, the pioneer English press acted freely and
fearlessly during the initial three decades. The Vernacular Press emerged in the 19th
century, also contributed to the 1857 War of Independence. It was intensely involved
in assembling the people against the ever expanding EIC’s Raj. Native newspapers
played a key role in setting the stage for a nationalistic revolt. Until 1799, the
British-origin press was handled and controlled without any press laws. When the
number of these publications increased, it was felt necessary to have certain laws to
regulate them. Some important are mentioned below:
i. The first ever law initiated by the foreign rulers was the Censorship of Press Act
brought forth by Lord Wellesley (1789-1805). It required all newspapers to carry
the names of the proprietor and editor, and examine the content in advance.
Journals, pamphlets and books were also brought under the ambit of this law in
1807. Non-compliance to this act would lead to instant deportation. Lord
Hastings revoked this act later.
ii. In 1823, John Adam (January-August, 1823) enacted the Licensing Act, making
it mandatory for all publishers to obtain a license from the authorities, failing to
which would cost them Rs. 400 fine. In addition to fine, the government would
also cease the press. This act ended the press freedom granted by Lord Hastings.
It was repealed by Charles Metcalf (1835-36).
iii. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act-IX was launched by Lord Litton (1876-1880)
to block such content which would interrupt peace or result into security threats.
A security guarantee of a certain fixed amount was compulsory to be paid by the
Indian-origin publishers and the English Press was exempted. It was a
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 24
discriminatory law and hence was also named as Gagging Act. It was later
abolished by Lord Ripon (1880-1884) in 1882 (Worldatlas, 2018).
iv. The 1908 Indian Newspapers Act empowered magistrates to impound press
equipment and property if they published objectionable material. Authorities
could cancel declaration of any newspaper found violating the Press &
Registration of Books Act of 1867. However, the right of appeal in the High
Court within fifteen days of the penalty was granted.
v. The Press Act of India was enacted in 1910 to enforce a strict censorship and
restraint on every kind of publication. This law was excessively used against the
press. Many Muslim leaders and journalists like Muhammad Ali Jauhar,
Muhammad Hussain Azad, Zafar Ali Khan drove a consistent campaign against
this draconian law. At the close of World War I, a Press Committee, under Tej
Bahadur Sapru was formed. On its proposal, the Press Acts of 1908 and 1910
were repealed in 1921 (Mitrasias, 2018).
vi. In 1931, the Indian Press (Emergency Powers) Act, was employed which
bestowed upon the provincial governments, extensive powers to curb any move
for launching civil disobedience movement. In 1932, all other political activities
to challenge authority of the British regime were also brought under the domain
of this law, which further amplified it.
vii. During the World War II and to overpower the Congress-led Quit India
Movement, the Press Regulating Act was launched in 1942 to curtail propagation
of announcements about civil disobedience and prevent actions of disruption.
The Colonial regime was all empowered to censor any type of content it deemed
necessary (Worldatlas, 2018).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 25
Apart from taking on the Colonial rulers, the initial Muslim and Hindu-owned
newspapers were also patronized for social reforms, enlightenment and against the
religious bigotry. Two prominent of these pioneers of reforms and journalism were,
Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan in U.P. and Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal. After
complete sway over India by the British Raj, Sir Sayyed was the first Indian Muslim
to be a vocal and practical spokesperson for socio-cultural and religious reforms in
the Indian Muslim society. When he launched “Tehzeeb-ul-Akhlaq”, in its very first
edition, he described the prime purpose of this journal as to motivate the
Muslims to reform their society and culture with modern scientific education.
When Sir Sayyed sat up the Scientific Society, he was given the epithets of Kafir
(atheist), Zindiq (sceptic), Anglophile, apologist and propagandist of the Colonial
masters (Naeem, 2017).
Mohan Roy sat-up Sambad Kaumudi (Bangla), Mirat-ul-Akbar (Persian), English
Magazine Brahminical and united both the Indian and European editors to force
Lord William Bentinck to liberalize the existing press laws (Padmanabhan, 2011).
He filed a petition in the Supreme Court and next to the Privy Council against the
1823 Press Ordinance, and went further to close his Persian journal Mirat-ul-Akhbar
as a token of protest. He organized the native laureates against any intrusion on the
press or people’s basic rights. He also struggled against the Jury Act, which
legalized judicial discrimination against the press. Roys’ petition is remembered as
“The Charter of the Freedom of the Press” (Niazi, 1986).
The beginning of 19th century also witnessed rigid control over the press by the
Colonial regime. Lord Wellesley (1798–1805) was personally very harsh on the
press. Regulations of his era required newspapers to scribe printer, editor and
proprietor’s names, proving their identity to the Regime’s Secretary, and to put
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 26
forward all publishing material to him for prior scrutiny. Newspaper’s publication on
Sunday was barred. Non-compliance to laws was swift exile from India. Re-printing
of European papers’ content was also prohibited. The press could not progress
during Wellesley and Minto’s times (1807-1813), (Nataranjan, 1955).
Personal attitudes of the British rulers played a pivotal role in press-government
relations during the Imperial rule. Lord Hastings (1813–1823) having liberal and
progressive views relaxed restrictions over the press and education. Hastings
introduced some general rules for editors to avoid publication of news affecting
royal authority or damaging general public interests (Grover & Mehta, 2018). The
situation reversed when John Adam, the ex-Chief Censor of the EIC, succeeded
Hastings as the new acting Governor General (January-August, 1823). He withdrew
government’s leniency towards the press (Crane, 1966).
When the Bombay Gazette and Bombay Courier augmented their anti-Company
coverage, Adam had to introduce the 1825 press regulations, barring employees of
the EIC to have any type of connection with the press. Like Adam, Lord Amherst
(1823-1828) also continued to gag the press viewing that the Court of Directors of
England never liked a free press in Indian Colony. The press witnessed another
period of respite when, William Bentinck (1828-1835) succeeded Adam in 1928. He
initiated reforms in press regulations. He was also in favour of the Indian languages
press. When his popularity as a reformer for the press grew, the vernacular press of
India also started flourishing (Karkhanis, 1981).
Lord Metcalf (1835-36) also believed in the press freedom. On his invitation and
initiative, Lord Macaulay, a renowned liberalist drafted a Press Act supposedly to be
amalgamated into the code drafted by the Law Commission. On August 3, 1835,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 27
Metcalfe, unanimously supported by the Council, passed the new Press Act, which is
termed as the most liberal Press Act in Indian history. It supported the development
of press in India. Lord Auckland (1836-1842) also liked the liberal press and kept a
harmonious relationship with editors in Calcutta. Since 1870, the Colonial regime
continuously carried on the Indian Penal Code for coping with the law & order
issues created by the press. Some of its vital features have lasted beyond a century
and are still a part of the law (Karkhanis, 1981).
The vernacular press played a vital role in the political struggle of Indians against the
Colonial occupation. The Hindi language Patriot formed in 1853, the Mirror, the
Bengali Weekly Amrita Bazar Patrika vehemently criticized the British Raj for its
excesses, highlighted hardships of the masses, and demanded for political rights and
share in top government positions. “…It is credited as the first Indian-owned,
(Bengali language turned into) English newspaper to foray into investigative
journalism” (Press Institute of India, 2018).
The 1857’s Mutiny resulted the Gagging Act by Lord Canning (1856-1862)
imposing all types of curbs on the press, and equally affecting the Anglo-Indian and
Vermicular papers. Canning, feeling to improve his reputation in India, permitted the
Gagging Act to expire on 13 June 1858 (Karkhanis. 1981). The tragic episode of
1857 also led to a clear-cut racial division among the British Press and the Indian
Press. “English journalists with one voice, cried blood for blood after the Mutiny”
(Narain, 1970). It caused the native press to turn nationalistic and caught attention of
the Indians, as it offered news in the Indian languages (Agrawal, 1970). A few
restraints were put on the Anglo-Indian Press and the Vernacular Press was sternly
gagged. Some native papers also backed restrictions on the anti-regime press, which
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 28
included the Punjabi, Lahore Chronicle, Mofussilite and Bengal Hurkaro (Khurshid,
1963).
An English daily Friend of India in Seerampur was warned over publishing of an
essay on the centennial anniversary of the Battle of Plassey. License of the Hindu
Intelligencer of Calcutta was cancelled. Urdu and Persian Newspapers Doorbeen,
Sultan-ul-Akhbar and the first Hindi daily, Samachar Sudhavarashan, were also
prosecuted for inciting of mutiny. License of Gulshan-i-Naubahar was cancelled and
the equipment was ceased (Padmanabhan, 2011). By and large, the Urdu newspapers
had adopted an anti-British and pro-Rebellion attitude throughout the struggle.
Governor General Lord Canning commented on their tone as such: ‘The vernacular
press has inculcated the bold and aggressive attitude in the Indian people under the
guise of publishing news’…(Shodhganga, 2018).
Talik launched a Marathi Weekly Kesri in 1881, which was very vocal for the cause
of freedom. The Sedition Ordinance was critically opposed by Talik and Agarkar
that led to their convection and subsequent exile for six years. This laid the
foundation of the Indian nationalism, and Hindu nationalist leaders like Raja Ram
Mohan Roy, Subash Chandra Bose, C.R. Das, Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath
Banerjee, Moti Lal Nehru, M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru used it as a tool for
instilling, provoking and mobilizing nationalist sentiments in the largest chunk of
Hindu public across the entire India (Shodhganga, 2018).
Maulana Muhammad Baqir, Editor of the Delhi Urdu Akhbar was the first Muslim
Journalist who was shot by the British Raj on the suspicion of having killed an
Englishman, Principal of Delhi College Mr. Tailor (Qadir, 1947). Editor of Sadiqul
Akhbar Jamil-ud-Din was tried and jailed for three years. The Muslim Press was
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 29
severely hit by the uprising of 1857. Many of the papers were forcefully closed
either by the Colonial regime, or purged due to fiscal crunch. Nataranjan (1955)
figured 35 Urdu papers in 1853, and after the Mutiny in 1857, this number reduced
to 12 only. Just one paper was under the editorship of a Muslim (Khurshid, 1963).
Tahir and Baloch, (2009) stated that before the War of Independence, the total
number of India’s Urdu newspapers including printing presses was 103, while
according to them, another scholar Dr. Tahir Masood, listed this figure as 122 all
over India prior to the uprising of 1857.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the number of vernacular newspapers multiplied
rapidly, that helped a lot in creating national consciousness. From 1910 to 1914, in a
short period of four years, the regime opened around 355 cases in the form of
cautions, security confiscations and trials. Gopal Krishna Gokhali, during his trial,
depended freedom of the press, termed it as custodian of the public interests like the
government and suggested that any legislation to restrict freedom of the press would
have a fall back over the government itself (Nataranjan, 1955).
The Press Association of India cited: “From 1910 to 1919, the British Raj proceeded
against 991 papers and Presses, 286 papers were warned, security was claimed from
705 press outlets, and 173 new presses and 129 fresh papers could not be launched
due to this act which virtually stopped growth of press in India” (Khurshid, 1963).
Maulana Sirajuddin Ahmed, launched Zamindar from Lahore in 1903. After his
death in 1909, his son Zafar Ali Khan gave it a new direction making it a Muslim’s
voice. “Gaining an unprecedented popularity, it became a daily in 1911, but
displeasing the colonial rulers resulted into imprisonment of the editor followed by
ban over the paper’s publication” (Parekh, 2011).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 30
During the Caliphate Movement, Muslim journalists and editors such as Maulana
Muhammad Ali, Maulana Shoukat Ali, Hasrat Mohani, Abul Kalam Azad, Zafar Ali
Khan etc. were house arrested. Zamindar was again started in 1919 , but during the
Caliphate Movement, its security was confiscated, its Editor Zafar Ali Khan was
arrested due a controversial speech at Hazro (District Attock, Punjab), and after
some days, Akhter Ali Khan and Maulana Abdul Majeed Salik were also taken into
custody. In 1921, the Muslim Printing Press was also seized and around one dozen
editors of the Zamindar were arrested. (Khurshid, 1963).
Zafar Ali Khan even went to the UK to convey sentiments of Indians to the British
regime. Siasat was censored on the pretext of supporting the Caliphate Movement,
and its editor Maulana Syed Habib was jailed for three years. Later, Zamindar,
became an arch advocate of the idea of Pakistan and robustly supported the League’s
course of action and demands (Khan, n.d). Another pro-Congress paper Pratab, in
Lahore was closed after a few days of its publication in 1919, and its editor Mahashe
Crishan was jailed. The paper had to suspend its publication many times between
1919 and 1936 (Shodhganga. 2018).
Pro-Khilafat newspaper, Zamana in Calcutta, edited by Muhammad Akram Khan,
shelved publication in 1920, as the regime ordered a surety of Rs. 2,000/. Its editor
had to launch another newspaper Al-Asrar. Tarjuman from Calcutta by Gholam
Hyder Khan was coerced to deposit a bond of Rs. 1000/- and to change its title as
Sadaqat. Rozanma-i-Hind started by Abdul Razzaq Malihabadi in 1930 from
Calcutta, received a lot of warnings along with confiscation of its security. As an
anti-communal paper, it advocated Hindu-Muslim unity and constantly criticized the
British regime for its divide & rule policy. Hind-i-Jadeed published from Calcutta
by the same editor since 1932, was of the same line (Shodhganga. 2018).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 31
Milap of the Arya Samaj in Lahore, edited by Gauri Shankar was a pro-freedom
Hindu newspaper. Feeling the brunt of the 1947’s partition, it was shifted to Delhi.
Editor of Jamhoor was expelled from Bengal under the Defence of India Act (Iqbal,
2005). Editor of Aligarh-based Urdu-e-Moalla, Hasrat Mohani, was jailed for two
years along with a fine of Rs. 500. He in his book, Mushahidat-i-Zindan, he wrote
that the local authorities were very well aware of his poor financial status to pay a
huge fine of Rs.500, so the paper and his precious library were seized. About 5000
valuable books were stuffed in gunny bags without making any inventory, and
auctioned for a paltry sum of Rs. 50 only (Niazi, 1986).
The Urdu press played a pivotal role to stir nationalism, inculcate the fervor of
freedom, and buttress determination in masses (Siddique, 1988). The editors,
publishers and owners of the Urdu newspapers suffered massive hardships from the
British rulers in the struggle for freedom, as the Urdu press had been the explicit
target of the Colonial regime. Niazi (1986) stated that, from 1923 to 1930, the press
functioned without many restraints. But according to (Shodhganga, 2018), during
1920 to 1946, the British regime made intense surveillance of the native press
especially the Urdu newspapers and magazines. Newspapers were fined on lame
excuses and their securities were frequently forfeited. Court litigations were order of
the day. The very survival for the Urdu press was at stake owing to an unending
witch-hunt and terrible oppression. Multiple methods, direct or indirect, were
applied to penalize the Urdu Press at every cost.
In the famous Meerut Conspiracy Case, 26 persons and five journalists were arrested
on 20 March 1929, on charges of conspiring and waging war against the emperor
and preaching Communism. Editors were, Muzaffar Ahmad of Bengali Janvani
(People’s voice), Calcutta; S.A. Dangi, of Socialist (English daily), Bombay; Sohan
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 32
Singh Josh of Punjabi Kirti (Worker), Lahore; S.S. Mirajkar of the Marathi Kranti
(Revolution), Bombay; and P.C. Joshi of the Hindi Krantikari (Revolutionary). It
was a longest case in the judicial history of British India. The trial ended on 3
August 1933. Muzaffar Ahmed was given life term. Under the Public Safety
Ordinance & Press Ordinance of May 1930, 131 papers were struck. The Secretary
of State for India on 4 July 1932 informed the House of Commons that, actions were
taken against 109 journalists and 98 printing presses. In 1935, 450 papers ceased
publication, because they could not deposit the security money. From 1937 to 1939,
over 1000 newspapers were victimized. In August 1942, 92 journalists were stifled
during the Quit India Movement (Niazi, 1986).
On the eve of World War II, the British regime passed the Defence of India Act to
enhance its powers in dealing with seditious content, and sat-up a Censorship
mechanism under a Chief Censor & other censors and advisory committees in all
provinces. Printed substance was strictly scrutinized by the regime (Shodhganga,
2018). To suppress the Quit India Movement, further restrictions were placed on the
press and newspapers offices were stormed by the police.
At the dawn of the 20th century, around 70 Urdu newspapers and journals were in
regular or interval publication in United India. In 1921, this figure rose up to 151. In
the first quarter of the 20th century, Muslim publications reached to 220 in nine
languages, majority of them in Urdu across the Sub-continent (Niazi, 1986). Maulvi
Mohammad Inshaullah Khan started Watan from Lahore in 1902. Being a
nonpolitical magazine, it followed a moderate policy. As Watan had commercial
interests, hence it kept cordial relations with the regime and always evaded all sorts
of conflicts with the administration. Monetarily, it was a sound newspaper.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 33
Another veteran campaigner Muhammad Ali Jauhar launched two newspapers,
Comrade in English from Calcutta on 1st January 1911, and Hamdard in Urdu. On
the start of the World War I, Maulana in an editorial in Comrade, under the caption,
“Choice of the Turks”, supported Turkey in the Balkan War. On this pretext, the
Regime forfeited the security of both Comrade and Hamdard and Ali Brothers were
proceeded under the Defence of India Ordinance. Comrade again twilighted for a
little while, but ultimately, it had to shut down (Rao, 2018).
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad started Al-Hilal from 13 July 1912. During the World
War I, due to publishing of some articles in favour of Germany, the security of Al-
Hilal was forfeited. Moreover, it was directed to deposit another sum of Rs. 10,000
as security, which ultimately resulted into closure of the newspaper. Maulana Azad
launched another weekly, Al-Bilagh which soon closed in 1916, when he was
expelled from Bengal (Hasan, 1986). Agonies of the Muslim Press by the Imperial
Raj can be judged from Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari’s address to the 11th session of
the All India Muslim league at Delhi in December, 1918, who lamented strangling of
the Muslim press at the hands of the rulers preventing it to convey the message of
Muslim leaders to the public and formation of the Muslim public opinion (Niazi,
1986).
At the dawn of the 20th century, the Hindus-owned press had primarily focused on
Hindu revivalism and Hindu-Muslim antagonism which had alarmed the Muslims.
This Hindu revivalist conception was practically adopted during the Congress Rule
from 1937 to 1939 in many of provincial governments, which was reported in detail
in the Sharif and Pirpur Reports published in 1938 and 1939 respectively (Buur,
2017). This led to a marked change in Muslims thinking and struggle. By then, they
came out with a clear stance and demand that was made in historic 23 March, 1940’s
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 34
Lahore Resolution. The Muslim press also adopted a new tone and mood. Despite a
harsh strangulation by the British regime and strong opposition from the Hindu-
owned press, the Muslim Press, particularly the Urdu newspapers transformed its
role and became a voice for the Muslims and the Muslim league.
Founded in 1940, Nawa-i-Waqt played a dynamic role in the Pakistan Movement.
The Muslim-owned Press in the Punjab province, except the daily Ehsan, was in
control of the Unionist Party. The British and Hindu Press were strongly opposing
the Muslim League leadership. Nawa-i-Waqt under the editorship of young Hameed
Nizami worked very hard to contest on this front of the “war of words and ideas”.
Another Muslim paper Ehsan, founded in 1934, and run by Maulana Murtaza Khan
Maikash, mustered useful support for the Pakistan Movement. Muhammad Shafi,
popularly known as “Meem Sheen” and T.K. Durrani amply projected and
consolidated the stand of Muslim League, despite strong opposition from the Hindu
Press and the British Regime (Khan, n. d.).
Quaid-i-Azam founded Dawn newspaper which was published from Delhi since
1942 to meet the pressing requirements of the Muslims, and to compete with the
Hindu press. In the interim government formed in 1946, Vallabhbhai Patel was
Incharge of Information and Home ministries, who had clear designs to crush the
Muslim Press by making three consecutive but abortive attempts. Lord Wavell,
Viceroy of India recorded in his journal:
26 November (1946): Earlier I had seen Patel who was frankly communal as usual.
To him, control of the press means suppression of Dawn….; 2 January, 1947- (In)
Cabinet meeting….We had discussed the Press Ordinance, which was directed
mainly against Dawn and seemed unnecessarily drastic; 21 January (1947)-Three
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 35
hour meeting of the Cabinet. The matter of a Press Ordinance…took nearly one and
a half hour,…The Muslim League is convinced, that it is simply a device of Patel’s
to muzzle Dawn…(Niazi, 1986).
Dawn gained significant Muslim readers in the North of India and went stronger
day-by-day. Before equipment and record of Dawn could be shifted from Delhi to
Karachi ahead of 14 August 1947, the office and printing press of Dawn were burnt
by Hindu and Sikh hooligans. What was actually brought over, were the name
Dawn, and the editor, Altaf Hussain (Ispahani, 1967). On September 6, 1947, the
Dawn Delhi office was ransacked by a Hindu mob to erase its existence permanently
from the soil of post-partitioned India (Aziz & Hasan, 2008).
Delhi-based Al-Aman and Wahdat edited by Maulana Mazhar-ud-Din played a
pivotal role in promoting the cause for Pakistan with fervent exhibition of the idea of
the two distinct nations, (Muslims & Hindus). It led Maulana Mazhar-ud-Din to
meet a martyr’s death. Abdul Jabbar Waheedi editor of Asr-e-Jadeed, Calcutta was
killed in 1946 (Niazi, 1992). Two Staff members of the Tribune were also killed.
Ranbir Sing, editor of Milap was also stabbed (Parthasarathy, 1989).
Alongside the main centers of the Muslim Press in Lahore, Bombay and Calcutta,
other hubs of Muslim newspapers and periodicals were Quetta, Karachi, Lyallpur
(Faisalabad), Sindh, NWFP (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and Baluchistan. The
Muslim Press was quite active for the Pakistan Movement and remained engaged in
an enduring and fierce battle against the British Raj as well as the pro-English and
Hindu press (Khan, n.d.). It became a vanguard of the freedom movement and
operated as a crusader against the British rulers (Niazi, 1992). Muslim and Hindu
journalists awakened their own communities for distinct purposes before them.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 36
1.3 Press-Government Relations In Post-Independence Pakistan
(1947-2000)
Relations between the government and press in Pakistan after its independence on 14
August 1947 remained profoundly affected owing to the constant political instability
that not only inflicted very negative effects on the Pakistani press, but also
influenced the entire social fabric of the country. Being a remnant slice of the
combating press in the British India against the Imperial rule, while crusading the
cause of a separate Muslim state, the early Press in Pakistan carried the legacy of
constant struggle and criticism.
1.3.1 Quaid’s Vision of the Free Press
The press in Pakistan also got inspiration from the great leader Quaid-i-Azam, who
once advised a young editor (Aziz Beg, Weekly Star Bombay) who had shown him a
transcript of his editorial, as such: “My dear boy! Write in the light of your own
thinking; don’t take instructions from any one, write with truth and fearlessness”
(Zeshan, 2012). Jinnah was an ardent and life-time advocate of individual liberties
and freedom of the press. Niazi (1986) termed him as a practicing lawyer, who
appeared before courts to contest the cases of journalists, and unequivocally spoke
for freedom of the press on several occasions. Being a member of the Imperial
Legislative Council, Jinnah very strongly and plainly lamented curbs over the press
and forcefully spoke in its support in 1913 with these words: “I remember Sir, when
the Press Bill was introduced at Calcutta much as we felt that our most prized
liberty, mainly the liberty of the press was going to be curtailed, our hands were tied,
our mouths were closed” (Niazi, 1986).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 37
Quaid-i-Azam had vividly opposed the British Indian Government’s decision in
1919 to deport editor of Bombay Chronicle, B. G. Horniman (Pirzada, 1989). Niazi
(1986) quoted Altaf Hussain (former Editor of the Daily Dawn) that being a
founding father of the (Dawn) paper; neither he interfered in its affairs, nor issued
any directive. He considered disloyalty to the Quaid’s fundamental principles (one of
them-the freedom of the press), a grim betrayal with his soul, and a major cause of
the bisection of Pakistan in December 1971. On 12 March 1947, a few months
before the creation of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam in a speech to the Bombay Provincial
Muslim Journalists Association expressed his vision regarding the fundamental
duties of the press. He remarked:
You have great power. You can guide and misguide people. You can make or mar
the biggest personality. The power of the press is really great, but you must
remember that this power, which you are wielding, is a trust. Look upon it as a great
trust and remember that you are guiding honestly and sincerely the progress and
welfare of your nation. At the same time I expect you to be completely fearless. If I
go wrong, or for that matter, the League goes wrong in any direction of its policy or
program, I want you to criticize it…. (Khan, 2008, para.24).
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in an interview with Mr. Weldon James of the
Collier’s Weekly Magazine, on 25 August 1947, said: “…As I have said many times
before, Pakistan guarantees the just and equal treatment of all citizens, Muslim or
non-Muslim, with freedom of worship, speech, press and assembly” (Pirzada,
1989).
Such was the level of a firm and clear commitment shown by Father of the Nation
for freedom of the press in this new country.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 38
1.3.2 Press-Government Relations in Pakistan during 1947 to 1958
According to Aziz and Hasan (1991), although Quaid-i-Azam (Founder of Pakistan)
all over his life had remained a staunch advocate of freedom of speech and civil
liberties, mala-fide intentions had surfaced to gag the press even during his Governor
Generalship era. Recalling the Quaid’s speech of 11 August 1947, which is also
termed as a policy statement about individual liberties, they referred to Zamir Niazi,
a veteran journalist saying that, immediately after it (Quaid’s Speech) was over, the
Principal Information Officer (PIO) of the newly established Government of
Pakistan Col. Majid Malik phoned the (Daily) Dawn Office (at Karachi), that the
portion relating to citizens rights and religious beliefs should be omitted (from the
story to be appeared in next day’s issue). It was the first ever “Press Advice” in our
history, which was originally perpetrated by Chaudhary Muhammad Ali, the
Government’s Secretary General even during the Quaid’s life. Dawn foiled this
malicious attempt with utmost bravery and success.
Niazi (1986) mentioned that on 11 September 1948, only one month after the
Quaid’s death, the Public Safety Ordinance was enacted in October 1948. It was
legitimized as Public Safety Act in 1952 and then excessively used against the press,
editors and journalists during the 1950s. Later, through a well-suited amendment in
this Act, the Ayub’s regime took over the Progressive Papers Limited (PPL) in 1959.
Niazi also quoted former Dawn’s editor Altaf Hussain’s views that, prime pretexts to
gag the press were the two hoax dangers i.e. “Communism” and “India”. The
Government also tempered with the Quaid’s sister, Miss Fatimah Jinnah’s message
over the radio on eve of his 3rd death anniversary in 1951. Fatima Jinnah’s speech
over Radio Pakistan was suppressed owing to her criticism on Liaqat Ali Khan’s
government, which infuriated her so much, that she decided not to speak over the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 39
radio again. Z.A. Bukhari, former Director General Radio Pakistan apologized in
writing to Miss Fatima Jinnah while trying to prove this engineered censorship as a
technical fault. Fatima Jinnah vehemently rejected Bukhari’s explanation (Baloch,
2015).
The first ever action taken against a newspaper in Pakistan was the Civil & Military
Gazette. In May 1949, it had carried a story from its New Delhi reporter that, both
the premiers of Pakistan and India (Liaqat & Nehru) in their Dehli meeting had
agreed to divide the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The Pakistani press in a bid to
demonstrate its patriotism, turned very angrily against the newspaper; published a
joint editorial on the issue, and called for a strict action against it …The government
on 13 May 1949, promptly banned the paper for six months. It never fully recovered
from the blow (Rahman, 2017). Closure of the Civil & Military Gazette turned to be
a precursor for an endless campaign against the free press in Pakistan (Aziz &
Hasan, 1991).
Although an instance had already and informally happened while Quaid-i-Azam was
still alive, the “Press Advice” system in Pakistan was formally initiated by Khawaja
Shahabuddin, Information Minister of Premier Liaqat Ali Khan, through direct
approach to the newspapers editors for asking them which news stories were to be
prioritized and which were to be ignored (Niazi, 1986). Nawa-i-Waqt was targeted
by the Daultana rule in Punjab over a minor technical fault in 1951 and its
declaration was cancelled. Its editor tried to start another newspaper Jihad, but the
printing press was coerced not to print it. Nawa-i-Waqt was restored after a hard
struggle and facing heavy financial costs. The regime ended the conflict in June
1952, and Nawa-i-Waqt re-started its graceful publication (Abbas, 2012).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 40
Z.A. Sulehri, editor of the Evening Times was arrested over a controversial essay and
a cartoon. The Sindh Chief Court termed him innocent after four months trial. The
intra-magazine rivalry between Chatan and Asia led the government to close both of
them for one year. Zamindar, Al-fazal, Azad, Tasneem, and Tameer each were closed
for one year on charges of creating incitement in people during the Khatm-i-Nabbout
Movement. During 1952-1953, around 50 dailies and journals were issued warnings
over publishing of objectionable content (Khurshid, 1963). Official advertisements
to such antagonistic newspapers were also denied. Dawn faced similar situation in
November 1953, when it criticized the Interior Minister over his failure in search for
assassins of Liaqat Ali Khan.
The government denied newsprint quota to all the critical newspapers. The Pakistan
Observer of Dhaka criticized the Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin in February
1952 on the language issue and provincial autonomy. Under the Provincial Safety
Act, its owner, printer and editor were arrested. After two years of litigation, they
were absolved from the charges, but during this time, the paper could not be
published.... In the early 1960’s, again the same newspaper was black-listed and was
deprived of government’s advertising by the regime of General Ayub Khan (Alam,
2017). Periodicals such as Saveera edited by Zaheer Kahsmiri, Naqoosh edited by
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and Adab-i-Lateef edited by Mirza Adeeb were also
proscribed in 1948 as the Leftist (Progressive) Movement in Pakistan, leftist
ideologists and the progressive press faced a constant and systematic suppression by
the establishment in the past (Usmani, 2016).
From 1947 to 1954, after getting freedom, 31 newspapers were proscribed in Punjab
only. In an official statement on the floor of Constituent Assembly, it was disclosed
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 41
that around 50 newspapers were warned in 1953 and 1954. The provincial
government of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan conducted a merciless crack-down
against the press in the NWFP (now KPK), except some pro-Muslim League
newspapers. Consequently, Mujahid, Al-Jalal, Azadi, Sarhad and Naujawan-i-
Sarhad ceased publication (Niazi, 1986).
Pre-censorship, press advice system and all other techniques of choking the press
prevailed during Governor General Ghulam Muhammad and President Iskander
Mirza’s eras. President Ayub Khan further tightened screws over the press with the
introduction of Press & Publication Ordinance (PPO) in 1960. Unfortunately, a
section of the press and some journalists also got stuck as stooges at the hands of a
hoard of opportunists and anti-democratic elements. Prime Minister Khawaja
Nazimuddin was slashed with anti-Qadiani riots and famine scare through a press
campaign, calling him as “Quaid-i-Qillat” (Leader of Scarcity).
Hameed Nizami’s Nawa-i-Waqt even demanded resignation from Nazimuddin, and
yet went further suggesting that, if he refuses to resign, the Governor General should
sack him. Thus, a very unlucky and unconstitutional demand came forward from a
veteran editor (Hamed Nizami) and his popular daily (Nawa-i-Waqt). This fatal
demand was ultimately fulfilled by the opportunist and power-lusted Ghulam
Muhammad and the hostage section of the press conferred upon him the title of
“Mohafiz-i-Millat” (Savior of the Nation). This action also divided the press, as
newspapers in West Pakistan except Dawn, hailed the decision, while the press in
the East Pakistan strongly condemned the unconstitutional act of the Governor
General. During 1956-57, around 39 newspapers and magazines were forced to
deposit security deposits, while issuing their declarations (Niazi, 1986).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 42
The 1956 Constitution in Article-8 guaranteed liberty of thoughts and views to the
entire population of Pakistan irrespective of religion, sect, colour, sex etc., except
rational restrictions entailed by the law. I.I. Chundriger, the then Law Minister
during a debate on the said article in the Constituent Assembly had explained that,
the press freedom was included in the term freedom of expression. Various famous
judgments of courts conserved in PLD folders, prove that whenever the press found
a noose around its neck, it always sought protection from the judiciary under this
article. Chaudhary Muhammad Ali, in a foreword to a book wrote that, the press in
Pakistan enjoyed much freedom in the initial 11 years (1947-1958) of the country’s
history, than it has ever been since (Niazi, 1986).
1.3.3 Press-Government Relations during Ayub Khan’s Era (1958-1969)
Field Marshall Muhammad Ayub Khan had a horrific opinion about the press and
journalists while terming them as money-makers, opportunists and black-mailers.
Inam Aziz, a journalist, during a visit to Turkey to cover the tour of Iskandar Mirza’s
visit, also met Ayub Khan and noted his negative outlook about the press. Leveling
the ground for the 1958 coup, Iskandar Mirza and Ayub Khan, met Alaxender
Symond, the British High Commissioner and told him two main reasons for the
planned takeover. The second one was that, nine out of ten dailies were on the
payroll of the Communists (Aziz & Ḥasan, 2008). Out of the two alleged culprits,
was the treacherous press whose combine circulation in both East and West Pakistan
was not more than 100,000 copies daily (Niazi, 1986).
The first martial law of 7 October 1958 resulted into censorship on every printed
word, and all sort of criticism was totally prohibited. The Colonial era fighting spirit
of the press had already eroded in the first decade after independence. Hence the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 43
press did not raise any major concern over the Martial Law of General Ayub Khan in
1958 (Iqbal, 2010). Editor of Lial-o-Nahar Syed Sabt-e-Hasan, editor of Imroze,
Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, and editor of Pakistan Times, Faiz Ahmed Faiz were
detained under the Safety Act. The lone voice and source of remedy for civil
liberties and protection of the press from the ruthless martial law was Justice M.R.
Kiani, who ordered release of above detained editors in February 1959. “His fight
for freedom of expression and against the rule of Ayub Khan was very fierce, and
he hardly missed a chance to point out the dictatorial policies under the martial
law in an interesting and extemporaneous way” (Pirzada, 2015).
Mian Iftikharuddin, a former comrade of India’s Communist Party had founded The
Progressive Papers Limited (PPL). Its Editors and writers were mostly hailed from
the Progressive Writers Movement (1936).When Pakistan joined the anti-
Communist Bloc, the PPL was targeted. “In 1953, Communist Party was banned;
from 1947 to 1953, almost 58 magazines and books were barred and removed from
the market” (Mushtaq, n.d). The Progressive newspapers, i.e. Lail-o-Nahar, Imroze,
Pakistan Times and Sports Time were dealt with the pre-censorship and the press
advice system, but the Ayub’s regime was still not contented. Thus, on 18 April
1959, these publications were captured by the regime. “The whole group was stood
accused now of receiving policy guidance from foreign sources and of endangering
the security of Pakistan” (Saeed, 2011).
In 1964, a body, National Press Trust (NPT) was created that purchased the PPL
newspapers, which by that time had become the mouth-piece of the military rule and
later, carried forward this nasty job. The long-ailing Associated Press of Pakistan
APP) was also brought under the official control on 15 June 1961. It also met the
same fate as the PPL. Ayub’s regime is credited with introducing the first ever media
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 44
laws in Pakistan with the Press & Publication Ordinance (PPO) in 1960. “A
considerable corpus of laws had already been introduced in the Pakistan Penal Code,
all of them prescribing punishments for communication activities that were deemed
harmful to the stability of the country” (Batra, 2012).
PPO was released on 26 April 1960 after proposals of the Press Commission headed
by H.B Tayyabji ex-Chief Justice of Sindh Chief Court. Its provincial versions for
East & West Pakistan were issued in 1963 (Pan, 1972). Prior to PPO, many laws and
regulations were already existed to deal with the press and journalists like: Section
124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) punishes authors & publishers for seditious
writings; Section 153-A penalizes writings that promote hatred or enmity; Sections
499 & 500 fix libelous publications; Section 295-1 forbids writings to outrage
religious feelings; and Section 505 protects the armed forces. Niazi (1986) termed
the PPO as “the blackest of the black ordinance”.
After a period of seven years, Ayub Khan in 1964 felt it necessary to legitimize
himself. Therefore, 2 January 1965 was fixed as date for presidential elections.
Miss Fatima Jinnah was nominated as presidential candidate by majority of the
opposition parties. Her election campaign in Presidential Elections of 1964 in the
Western Wing was mainly led by the Urdu daily Nawa-i-Waqt, with the discourse
focusing on the revival of parliamentary system, adult franchise, and the
restoration of fundamental rights of the people (Tariq, 2016).
However, the press at large was used as a tool for Ayub Khan’s presidential
campaign. A formal organized campaign was launched in his favour. The ruling
party used officially controlled print and electronic media to their favour and
expanded the charges leveled against the Combined Opposition Parties (COP)
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 45
(Hussain, 2018). Thanks to the overwhelming control over the press and all other
state resources, using the anti-woman religious sentiment and support of the Basic
Democrats, Ayub Khan got elected himself as President. Press advices were
conveyed to the newspapers offices on phone from the Information Bureau. They
were to be transcribed on a piece of paper which later became unmanageable, so,
Niazi (1986) records, “a register was maintained in the newspapers’ office and all
advices were transcribed into it date-wise”.
This murky environment dejected journalists, and their mental & professional
nourishment and growth of a healthy & competent journalism in the country was
seriously hampered. On the contrary, a sort of sponsored, partisan and pro-regime
press system emerged. Journalists were also bribed as disclosed by Altaf Gouhar, a
former civil servant & writer, during a trail in 1972. A clear division in the press led
to two distinct groups of editors. Pakistan Newspapers Editors Conference (PNEC)
was headed by Altaf Hussain and the Council of Press Editors (CPE) was led by
Hameed Nizami. Corrupting the press was also started during Ayub’s era.
1.3.4 Press-Government Relations during Yahya Khan’s Regime (1969-1971)
When the faded and ostracized Ayub Khan handed over power to another Military
General, Yahya Khan in 1969, journalists and newspapers under the shade of the
PPL welcomed the new military ruler. The PPL had acquired nine other more
newspapers along with the former four newspapers (Mezzera & Sial, 2010). Khalid,
(2015) recorded that media censorship during the tenure of Yahya Khan led to the
bisection of Pakistan in December 1971. However, Sydney H. Schanberg with his
article titled “Pakistan Changes Under Yahya” which was carried by the New York
Times on 6 April, 1970, stated that Yahya Khan had relaxed the press. The reporters
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 46
would even dare to ask President Yahya Khan very tough questions. According to
Schanberg (1970) “No reporter would have dared to ask such questions during the
10‐year rule of Ayub Kahn”.
Yahya Khan’s era was a replica of previous regimes for the press in Pakistan. Inam
Aziz, recounted the climax of East Pakistan Crisis when as in-charge of the Daily
Jang at London, no credible source of news in Pakistan was available to him.
Eventually, a telephonic talk between him and his Editor-In-chief, Mir Khalil ur
Rahman was arranged by the Pakistan’s High Commission in London and in the
General Headquarters Rawalpindi. A communiqué of the Defense Ministry was read
out to him detailing perpetual victories of Pakistan’s troops on all fronts. Based on
this, he wrote the lead story under the headline “Pakistan Winning the War” for Jang
London, and set the paper for printing. At late night while returning from office to
his residence, he entered the King’s Cross Tube Station London to board a train.
Aziz narrates, “I noticed the next day’s issue of the Time….One glance at the
headline and I felt as if a slab of ice had fallen on my head. The headline (of Times)
said, “Pakistan Army Surrenders” (Aziz & Ḥasan, 2008).
1.3.5 Press-Government Relations during Z.A. Bhutto’s Era (1972-1977)
According to Zeeshan (2012), the popular civilian ruler Z. A. Bhutto also could not
tolerate any type of criticism and directed clamp down against the press by closing
some newspapers and jailing pressmen, editors and publishers. He further noted that
the period of Bhutto’s rule (1972-1977) was full of anti-press actions. “The Pakistan
Press International (PPI) met the same fate like the National Press Trust (NPT). Just
one English Newspaper had been allowed to start publication in Bhutto’s rein”
(Zeeshan, 2012). Editors and publishers of newspapers critical of his (Bhutto’s)
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 47
policies were often roughed up and threatened (Zaidi, 2017). The government also
captured the Pakistan Press International (PPI) on lines of the Associated Press of
Pakistan (APP). The Opposition was denied press coverage by coercive means.
During the first civil “Peoples Martial law”, despite the greave challenges caused by
the splitting up of Pakistan in December 1971, Bhutto did not spare the press to go
its own way. Niazi (1987) said that this unanticipated assault on the press by a
civilian government compelled him to compile his work (the Press in Chains).
During the civilian era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1972-1977), the practice of corrupting
journalists continued on a wider scale.
According to Reza (2012), a single phone call from Press Information Department
was enough to hype a small issue or to totally drop a news story or photo that
annoyed the government. Bhutto pledged full press freedom at the start of his
“Awami Raj-(Peoples’ Rule)”, but his first act was suspension of two editors of the
National Press Trust (NPT). He was not happy with the coverage of the news agency
Pakistan Press International (PPI). Initially, its official subscription was halted.
Failing to bow the PPI before official dictates, its management was replaced with the
appointment of a Bhutto’s friend as its boss (Reza, 2012).
1.3.6 Press-Government Relations during Zia ul Haq’s Era (1977-1988)
Zia ul Haq’s regime (1977-1988) was another dark period for the Pakistani press,
although, at the beginning, he had promised for a free press in these words:
No restrictions can be imposed on publications of facts and the press can take
anyone to account….And I will be happy if our national press also makes
constructive criticism on the martial Law Administration, so that we could overcome
our shortcomings if any (Dawn, Karachi, 1977).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 48
But the story of press in his rule describes the opposite narrative. Not even a single
law or regulation of any progressive character about the press was formed by his
regime. The only positive outcome was the restoration of the Pakistan Press
International (PPI) news agency to its original shareholders. “PPO was a draconian
addition to anti-press during (Zia’s) era, according to which, the publisher would be
liable and prosecuted if a story was not to the liking of the administration, even if it
was factual and of national interests” (IMS, 2009). Many pro-democratic and
progressive-minded journalists, columnists and writers like Habib Jalib were
imprisoned and poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Fehmida Riaz left the country.
Zia shut down the Urdu daily Masawat, and Sindh-based daily Sadaqat with a
circulation of about 500,000, before Bhutto was hanged, presumably as it was a pro-
Pakistan Peoples Party paper (Wisser, 2013). The Sun and The Morning News were
also closed in 1978 and 1989 respectively.
Zeshan (2012) cited Zamir Niazi (1986) as: “13th May 1978 was the darkest day in
the history of journalism when the military court announced the punishment of
hunters for the four journalists, Masoodullah Khan, Nasir Zaidi, Khawar Naeem
and Iqbal Jafferi’…for protesting for the freedom of the press”. Journalists would
be probed regarding their source of funding. (Express Tribune, 2012). Some times
after reception of official restraining orders in newspapers offices, blank spaces
would appeared on newspapers pages which was a very meaningful and symbolic
sign of protest against the regime’s censorship (Sarwar, 2001). Though the
government used to gift veteran Journalist Zamir Niazi’s book “The Press in
Chains” to foreign journalists and delegates to impress them with the freedom of
press in Pakistan, but on the other hand, it was banned in educational institutions and
libraries. The Punjab government prevented intellectuals, journalists and literary
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 49
persons to attend any conference without permission. Niazi (1986) opined that
actions against the press in Pakistan have always been taken, supported, depended,
and even lauded in the name of supreme national interest, religion, ideology of
Pakistan and many other pretexts.
1.3.7 Press-Government Relations during the Turbulent Civilian Era (1988-
1999)
After Zia-ul-Haq’s tragic death in 1988, during the caretaker set-up of Ghulam Ishaq
Khan, the Registration of Printing Presses & Publications Ordinance (RPPO) of
1988 was enacted, which eased some restrictions i.e. mandatory issuance of receipt
to the applicant by the District Magistrate for keeping it as a proof of printing press
or publication, granting the right to be heard in person (of proprietor) by the
authority before closure of the press, right of appeal and furthermore, compulsory
publishing of the official press notes by the press was no more required. Cull,
Culbert & Welch (2003) viewed that the PPO promulgated in 1963, repealed &
replaced by the RPPO in the mid 1980’s, is by far the strongest instrument used by
the regimes to close down newspapers and silence the press.
The RPPO of 1988 remained enforced till 1997. Around 20 journalists were killed
during 1985 to 1997, while they were performing their duty. In an Amnesty
International Report of February 1996, it was said that “journalists who reported
critically on armed opposition groups were threatened with abduction and killing if
they did not alter their reports. The report, cited twelve instances of the harassment
of journalists monitored in the previous year” (Memon, 2011).
With coming into power for the first time, Benazir Bhutto liberalized policies
regarding the press. However, she could not fulfill her promises and several
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 50
journalists and newspapers were humiliated at the hands of police and the PPP
workers. While in Urban Sindh, especially in Karachi, the MQM terrorized the press.
According to Zeeshan (2012), during the first term of Benazir Bhutto (1988-1990),
the press gained some strength, especially the Sindhi regional press, in term of
freedom and the use of new technology. But Benazir’s most prominent act for
curtailing the press freedom was to continue her father (Bhutto)’s obsession to ruin
the Pakistan Press International (PPI), (Reza, 2012).
Corruption stories of Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari were frequently
carried by the press throughout the 1990’s, which affected press-government
relations during her both terms. Benazir herself, several times lashed out at the
critical press. During her 2nd tenure, Mr. Salahuddin, Editor of Takbeer was
murdered in Karachi in December, 1994. Unending atrocities against the press led to
observance of “Black Day” on September 16, 1995. The Sindh government banned
five eveningers and one morning newspaper in Karachi on 29 June 1995. On 29
April 1995, the Registration of Printing Press & Public Ordinance (RPPPO) was
introduced with an undemocratic way. No major reaction was displayed by the
press (Iqbal, 2011).
Both leaders, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, during their short periods of rule in
the decade of 1990s, made all-out efforts to corrupt the press and journalists. The
supportive newspapers were given huge sum of advertisement quota, duty relaxation
and increase in newsprint quota. The critical newspapers were punished by cutting
commercial aids and newsprint quota. Several journalists were appointed over
lucrative posts like Mushahid Hussain Syed, Siddiq ul Farooq, Pervez Rashid, Azhar
Sohail, Khalil Malik, Anwar Khalil and many others. Many times, some journalists
were sent on foreign tours on expenses from the public exchequer. Some journalists
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 51
were given plots, and many received cash payments. Some antagonistic journalists
were also harassed and tortured.
In September 1992, sedition charges were brought against the reporter, editor-in-
chief, and editor of the English daily, The News, for publication of a poem sharply
critical of the Sharif Government. The case was referred to a Special Court for
Speedy Trial; however, universal and domestic condemnation led to withdraw the
case (US Department of State, 1993). Amnesty International reported the ill-
treatment of several journalists who were arrested while covering the PPP's
November 1992 “Long march”. Government’s silence over these events and public
criticism of the press by some high-level officials, led to concern that the [Sharif’s]
Government was not doing enough to prevent violence against the press (Refworld,
1993).
Nawaz Sharif, during his first term (1990-1992) of government, used very heavy
methods against the dissenting press and journalists to tame them. Zeeshan (2012)
quoted Editor-in-Chief of the Jang Group, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, saying that,
Senator Saif-ur-Rahman, head of the government's Accountability Cell in the second
tenure of Nawaz Sharif (1997-1999), frequently asked him to sack those senior
journalists who were critical to the Sharif’s regime. Najam Sethi of the Friday Times
was arrested on 8 May 1999 (PPF, 1999). Zahid Jhangavi of Daily Pakistan, Shakeel
Naich of Awami Awaz and many others were tortured. The Jang Group was also
severely targeted. That is why, when General Pervez Musharraf oustered Nawaz
Sharif through a military coup on 12 October 1999, hardly any voice was raised by
the media in his support (Kavita, 2000).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 52
1.4 Statement of the Problem
The issue of media-government relations prevails worldwide since the birth of the
press. This relationship in Pakistan during the regimes of Pervez Musharraf, Asif
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, in the new millennium with changing media landscape,
requires ample attention. This study has been planned to ascertain the nature and
treatment of coverage of media’s connection with the three selected regimes.
Relevant thematic frames of generic nature, such as moral/social responsibility, and
conflict have been taken from Semetko & Valkenburg (2000) Model. Some other
issue-specific frames, such as facilitation, pro-government, anti-government, pro-
media and anti-media have been incorporated. Quantitative and qualitative content
analyses have been used to quantify the results after data analysis, and to explain
narratives used in reports of some relevant local and global media bodies to ascertain
the social, syntactical and semantic context of information.
Intro/lead of the newspapers’ items (news story, feature, editorial, Column & letter
to editor) has been taken as the recording unit and the whole item (genre) from the
selected Urdu and English Newspapers of Pakistan has been made as the contextual
unit. These newspapers are: the English Dailies “Dawn” and “The News” and the
Urdu Dailies “Nawa-i-Waqt” and “Express”. Islamabad Editions of these
newspapers have been opted for analysis. Time frame for this study is from January
2003 to June, 2018 (15 years, five years period for each regime). Although many
studies have been carried out on press-government relations in the past, but no
specific study on this particular problem has so far been made in Pakistan, which
requires explanation through proper application of a scientific inquiry. This study
has been designed to find out solutions to this problem.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 53
1.5 Significance of the Study
The debate over Media-government relations has remained a living topic for
centuries, and its worth has continuously increased with the passage of time. This
study will be significant to find out the nature of media’s relations with the selected
three regimes. It will also be helpful to determine that which regime took media-
friendly steps, which regime suppressed the media, and how media-government
relations were framed in the Pakistani press. This study is also useful to explore
relevant issues and topics in this area in future, and will be used for literature review
by the academia and researchers. It is also significant for journalists and media
workers who are directly affected by this problem, and the general public as well, to
get insight into government-media relations. It may also work as a guideline for
policy makers, government officials and the media houses.
1.6 Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of this study are:
1. To explore extent of coverage of four selected newspapers regarding media-
government relations during the regimes of Musharraf, Zardari and Nawaz.
2. To examine the nature of media-government relations in Pakistan in all three
selected regimes investigating that which of the three regimes kept tight control
over the media, and focused much on media related legislation, rules &
regulations and establishment of media regulatory bodies.
3. To ascertain, how the media treated all the three governments in coverage with
respect to media-government relations matters.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 54
4. To probe, whether the three governments facilitated the media by taking steps for
media freedom, development, and training & welfare of journalists, and which of
the three governments facilitated the media more.
1.7 Research Questions
RQ: 1 What is the extent of coverage provided to Media-government relations in
Pakistan during the regimes of Musharraf, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif?
RQ: 2 Which of the three governments kept tight control over the media, and
focused very much on media related legislation, rules & regulations, and
establishment of media regulatory bodies?
RQ: 3 How did the media treat all the three governments in coverage with respect to
media-government relations issues?
RQ: 4 Which of the three regimes facilitated the media more by taking steps for
media freedom, development, and training & well-being of journalists?
1.8 Delimitations of the Study
The issue of Media-government relations is a world-wide phenomenon, which has
existed in each and every modern-day state, but this particular study only pertains to
the media-government relations in Pakistan. Out of 71 years long history (1947-
2018), the topic has been furthered delimited to the three regimes of Musharraf,
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif (15 years). Merely, a selected day of a week through the
technique of “Constructed Week Sampling” has been taken for data collection.
Newspapers sample has also been delimited to only four dailies (two Urdu & two
English). Delimitation has been made owing to the restrains of time and resources.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 55
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
A vast stockpile of research-based knowledge is available regarding the subject
matter of media-government relations. The most relevant studies to this topic have
been reviewed under the following pertinent themes.
2.1 Various Theoretical Approaches and Media-Government Relations
Media-government relations have been investigated by scholars and researchers
from various theoretical perspectives in different socio-political, cultural and
economic settings across the world. Although the Democratic theory assumes that
people could make rational decisions on public issues once they were aware of the
facts, but Lippmann (1922) viewed that the masses cannot understand the modern
day’s complex nature of the state and he deemed it crucial to manage the public
opinion, as pictures inside people’s heads (pseudo-environment) are combinations of
emotional factors, ego needs and stereotypes, and opinion formed with collective
thinking of the people, is irrational and inappropriate force for the state. Lippmann
opined that the public consent should be “manufactured” as appropriate opinion
needed for modern state could only be formed by specially trained experts in the
light of suitable information provided by intelligence agencies, but, he ignored that
the specialists or trained experts do have pictures in their heads.
Lippmann posited that reporters, press, newspapers owners and advertisers help the
regime to manufacture consent, and manage the public opinion in its favour, as
instead of telling the entire truth about events, the press only signals about the key
events in order to get united the public around matters of common concerns to them.
Lippmann believed that in today’s democracies, the press, propaganda and
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 56
censorship are stumbling blocks on the road to truth and news. According to
Lippmann, sometimes attractive words, phrases, ideas and symbols such as free
world, unity, national security, etc. are also coined for manufacturing of consent, and
thus plurality and divergence of opinions is limited with “yes” or “no” or either
“friend” or “foe” options for the public, hence the press (media) may not act as the
fourth estate or as a watchdog in its relationship with the government.
Yüksel (2013) in his study of media-government relations, compared different media
systems and theoretical approaches like the cascade model, indexing approach,
propaganda theory and hegemonic perspective, and posited that the level of media
commercialization, political parallelism and standards of media professionalism in
different media systems manipulate the character and extent of this bond. He
asserted that although each theory or model forms a unique map for making sense of
some of the important factors in media-government relationship, the cascade model
provides a more comprehensive picture. As suggested in this model, political actors,
the media, and the public mutually influence and interact with each other at different
levels and under certain conditions (Yüksel, 2013).
Mills’ (1956) notion of “the power elite” is an antithesis of his early (1951) concept
of “white collar”. In the white collar, Mills noted how the property owners-led
America changed into a society of job holders-the middle class; and in the power
elite, he finds that the Americans are being transformed from an independent
thinking public into a mass society manipulated by some powerful individuals. Mills
posited that when the means of power and information are centralized, some men
occupy top-most positions, from where they look down, speak freely, and their
decisions affect lives of ordinary citizens.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 57
Mills contends that power elite is a combination of the interwoven interests of the
chiefs of the joint-forces, corporate and political elements of society who hold top
command posts, possess shared values, remain in the limelight in everyday news,
and sometime seem even squabbling among themselves on some issues, but their
differences are mostly overshadowed by an overall agreement termed as a world
view, which is a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes that shapes the elite's common
insight of rule and to avert wider split from emergence. Mills holds that at the
bottom are the largely disorganized, ill-informed, and virtually powerless masses,
who are controlled and manipulated from above, and thus, other social facets such as
family, educational institutions, religion, art & culture etc. have weaken.
According to Dye (1992) amongst the power elite, around 200 individuals run the
three major TV networks and most of the national newspaper chains in the US. Mills
faithfully links political apathy and the seeming lack of direction of majority of the
population to that favorite whipping boy–the media. Mills identifies two important
sociological characteristics of the mass media: first, very few people communicate to
a great number; and, second, the audience has no effective way of feedback, and thus
communication becomes a one-way process. Mills argues that media organizations
are mostly bureaucratic, corporate or state-controlled in nature, and the media
content is always regulated by governments everywhere, but the restrictions on
media vary from very light advisory regulation in developed world to the most
comprehensive forms of censorship in totalitarian societies.
Mills opines that mass media dictate the overall psyche of modern societies, and are
therefore dominantly used for propaganda purposes by the power circle. The concept
of mass society and findings of earlier media research added strength to his notion.
The propaganda and the power elite models endorse that mass media can be used to
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 58
reinforce the power elite’s position of might and interests as evident from the US
invasions of Iraq (1990 & 2003) and Afghanistan (2001). Mills’ critics allege that he
himself terms some historical circumstances as responsible for the rise of the power
elite while he repeatedly acquits its individual members from any sort of charges.
Mills even does not seriously argue to prove incompetence of the power elite.
Despite having extreme level of pessimism and the charge of conspiracy-mongering,
Mills’ notion is still of great historical value.
Theoretical perspectives from other social sciences disciplines have also been
utilized to explore government-media linkage. In one such study, Pratt and Akhter
(2016) accessed government-media relations under the framework of General
Theory of Relationship Management (GTRM). They quoted Ledingham (2001)
describing GTRM as: “(It) emphasizes the importance of identifying and
constructing exchanges that are based on shared interests…publics expect mutuality
in their relationships with an organization, and that this reciprocity, maintains and
fosters relationship and association within a society”.
They found that: economic concerns are the hub-spot of government-media
relations; stiff intra-media competition to catch maximum government’s ads affected
journalistic standards; higher official investment in commercial ads resulted into pro-
regime coverage; and coercion of private media through state laws & regulations led
to adversarial media-government ties; state strict control over media in Pakistan has
somewhat eased, and private media have gained some liberty but they now face the
challenges of growing sensationalism, the emergence of an anti-democratic media
segment, anti-media laws & regulations, scarcity of qualified & skilled journalists
and lack of professionalism (Pratt & Akhter, 2016).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 59
State-media interactions have also been examined in the context of philosophical
thoughts and approaches envisaged by eminent philosophers. Brennen (2000)
evaluated the billions dollar US Anti-drug Media Campaign under the theoretical
perspective of French Philosopher Louis Althusser. He quoted Althusser (1971) as
rejecting the notion about the role of media for individual liberty, and maintained
that, “in the modern-day capitalist world, the concept of freedom is merely an
ideological construct used by both the power elite as well as those being oppressed
to justify their specific conditions of existence”. Althusser considers all sets of
specialized modern social institutions, such as worship places, educational centers,
family units, political parties, sports and the arts, as Ideological State Apparatuses.
These institutions mainly work through the ideology, but in certain circumstances,
also resort to the use of force and oppression under the garb of socialization,
discipline, and censorship to enforce the state’s coerced ideology.
Brennen cited Culturalists rejection of Althusser’s structuralist conceptualization of
ideology and referred to Angela Curran (2000), who asserted that films, an art genre,
may influence and encourage spectators to launch resistance for change, as the irony,
social satire, parody and imitation in Hollywood films are forms of societal
disapproval, and invite spectators to defy the stresses of consumerist world. Brennen
argued that despite a set of strong counter-arguments, queries still arise to the
existing wisdom of American society about the relationship of individuals’ freedom
and the media. It illustrates the way the American government inducts ideological-
based propaganda in the country TV Channels prime time programmes with the
complete support, close collaboration, and endorsement of the networks’ bosses.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 60
Zafar (2011) discourse analyzed ties of the media with various governments in
Pakistan under the functionalist conception of sociologists Herbert Spenser, Émile
Durkheim, Alfred Radcliff-Brown and Robert Merton, which is also termed as
structural-functional approach. This theory posits that all social institutions in a
given social structure work as sub-systems and parts of the whole. They hold mutual
interconnectivity and help or hinder one another’s working reciprocally. Media also
exist and function like other social institutions, i.e. politics, economy, religion etc.
Media affect all these social entities both ways and also get influence from them in
similar passion. Zafar concluded the institution of politics as the main predictor in
media and state relations, and the later was seen as independent variable. The
government affected the media in many direct and indirect ways; despotic and
martial law regimes applied direct means of coercion, violence etc., whereas, civilian
rulers used indirect influence to subdue the media, like taxation, cuts in news print
quota, and decrease in official advertisements.
2.2 Media-Government Relations under different Media Systems/Models
All media systems across the world are not similar owing to the diverse socio-
cultural, economic, political and ideological set-ups. Even media systems in
democracies differ in many ways. Hence, a globally uniform concept of media is
misleading and media systems & models operating in democracies are analytically
distinguished. Lasswell (1948)’s concept of “who says what in which channel to
whom with what effect” is one of the earliest and more influential communication
models, which has also become a famous phrase in the realm of mass
communication. Lasswell got influence from the pragmatist notions of John Devi,
G.H Mead and Sigmund Freud, as depicted in his “Analysis of Propaganda and
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 61
Communication”. Earlier, in “Propaganda Techniques in the World War-1927, he
elaborated the term propaganda with new dynamics, broadening its understanding,
practice, objectives and forms. Lasswell pioneered the scientific and laboratorial
study of propaganda and the use of content analysis technique in social sciences
research, especially in the field of mass communication, after studying on massive
basis, the war communication of the Axis as well as the Allied powers.
Critics term Lasswell’s communication model as propaganda-based, outdated,
simplistic, static, linear and void of feed-back. That is why Braddock (1958)
suggested inclusion of two more elements i.e. “for what purpose” and “under what
circumstances” into it. Lasswell called for improvements and additions to his model
and in 1968, he himself suggested some new categories in his construct for political
communication as: “who, with what intentions, in what situations, with what assets,
using what strategies, reaches what audiences, with what result?” Many scholars
opine that Lasswell’s model is indigenous and un-borrowed one in the field of mass
communication. McQuail and Windahl (1993) termed Lasswell’s concept as even
older form the field of mass communication itself. Moreover, this Model establishes
a strong relationship between the media and government i.e. “who” is usually the
elite or government, “says what” is persuasion, opinion manipulation and
propaganda by the elite or government, “what channel” is the entire media arena, “to
whom” are the masses and “what effect” is the resultant attitudinal or behavioral
change in masses in favour of the regime.
Hallin and Manzini (2004) posited three media models: i) the “Polarized Pluralist
Model” of the Mediterranean states (France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey etc.) that
experienced great transformations from despotic to liberal politico-economic
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 62
systems, mainly in last quarter of the 20th century, and still have largely polarized
and plural societies and media systems. Media enjoy considerable freedom, and their
relations with regimes are in a state of fraction, but media are not so corporate,
advanced and developed as in the following two cases.
Hallin and Manzini’s second media model is the “Democratic Corporatist” form of
the North/Central Europe, which exists in countries like Britain, Germany, Denmark,
Norway, Sweden etc. These countries enjoy greater democratic values and freedom
of expression. Media systems are highly commercialized and based on the Laissez
Faire principles. Media’s watchdog role, accountability of regimes, and sense of
responsibility is greater than the first case. Strong organizational structure, sound
influence in political economy, responsible approach, hi-tech infrastructure,
developed and well-established set-ups, highly trained & skilled staff, and partial
global out-reach are some salient features of this media model.
The third case is the “Liberal Media Model” for the North Atlantic countries which
basically include the USA and Canada. This media model is the strongest and most
effective in the world, and is also the leader of the Western Global Media. It is
highly capitalized, corporate and commercialized. It is also strongly
professionalized, non-institutionalized, self-regulated, highly developed, well-
established, has very strong organizational structure, enjoys very power-full
influence in political economy, has super Hi-tech infrastructure, has highly
professional, trained & skilled staff, and possesses maximum global outreach.
McQuail (2005) devised four media models based on the normative approaches of
the media. These are: 1) The Liberal Pluralist or Market Model: in which mass
media have an overall positive and productive role in modern societies. Media are
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 63
expected as tools of healthy debate and criticism, and disseminate content which has
demand in society and market. 2) The Social Responsibility or Public Interest Media
Model calls for media’s right of criticism and democratic responsibility as a
watchdog to keep informed the public, and to respond to society’s needs and
interests …” (Uzuegbunam, 2013).
McQuail’s third type is 3) the Professional Media Model; an independent and
instrumentalized media, where journalists enjoy a certain degree of autonomy.
Distinct journalistic professional norms and rules are developed. Journalists have an
orientation to public service and the media prefer public service. The fourth one, 4)
Alternative Media Model differs from the mainstream media in content, ways &
means of production and distribution. It may be print (non-commercial
newspaper/magazine), audio (non-profitable community radio), video (community
TV), Internet (websites, blogs), Social media (Youtube, facebook, twitter, instagram
etc.), street art media etc. It is mostly based on volunteer citizen journalism with
critical form & content, has gross roots level organizations, and also has alternative
distributions. The Alternative Media Model goes against the mainstream dominant
consumerist genre of media production, media structures, content, distribution and
reception. (Fuchs, 2010).
Scholars and researchers have distinguished some other media and mass
communication models also, but the above-cited ones are most popularly debated in
the mass media research. Although some resemblances and common characteristics
in media-government relations exist across the world, but they all vary up to a larger
extent, in all political systems.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 64
2.3 Media’s Different Roles/Functions and Relationship with Government
As mentioned earlier, the classification of media models is mainly based on the
relationship of the media with the political and financial power set-ups that exist
around the world. According to structural-functional approach, a social system is
consisted of many complex and interrelated parts which perform their ascribed roles
to run and maintain the system as a whole. Merton (1949) identified two key roles of
social artifacts including the mass media, i.e. manifest functions, which are easily
observable, deliberate, intended, and are willfully designed to be useful for the
society; and the latent functions, which are unintended and could not be easily
observed; they however, may cast a positive effect on society.
According to Merton, both manifest and latent functions may be beneficial in one or
few aspects, and at the same time, may also be harmful (called as dysfunctions) in
some other aspects, and likewise, some media content may be functional or
dysfunctional for the entire society, for some individuals or factions. For example, a
TV crime show might be functional (informative & entertaining) for the audience as
a whole, but could be dysfunctional (harmful) for children who may learn aggression
from it. Merton contended that mass media allocate sufficient resources to the
coverage of political activities; if the audiences pay no attention to this function of
the media, the intended role i.e. “surveillance of environment” is failed and thus
becomes a dysfunction. But if the people properly consume the coverage and
responded with some sort of activity, it turns into a function.
Merton observed that the conscious and deliberate intention of the media is to inform
the public of important news and events, so that they could play an active role in
democracy. He posited that latent functions mostly go unnoticed or un-credited,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 65
unless they cause some negative effects. Merton classified harmful latent functions
as dysfunctions, because they cause disorder and conflict within society, and noticed
that dysfunctions can also be manifest in nature.
Under the functionalist view, mass media’s key social roles are surveillance of the
environment, correlation of the parts of society in an environment, and transmission
of the social heritage from one generation to the next. Merton added some other
functions as well. For instance in “the status-conferral function”, the mass media
confer status on public issues, persons, organizations, and social movements.
Consequently, their social standing is raised after getting favorable attention in the
mass media. Individuals or groups tend to violate social norms. In a mass society,
this dysfunction is institutionalized in the role of “the enforcement of social norms”
by the media which expose well-known deviations to the public and concerned
authorities, and this exposure forces action against the offender (s).
Merton also noticed some dysfunctions of the mass media which are cited below:
Narcotization
Vast supply of communications and exposure to the flood of information may serve
to narcotize rather than to energize the average media user. This causes
desensitization in people with decrease of efficacy and increase of mass apathy.
Social Conformism
Since the mass media are influenced by the elite, governments and supported by
great business concerns in the current global socio-economic order, the media
mainly serve their interests, and contribute to the maintenance of the status quo.
Impact upon Popular Taste
The huge amount of entertainment on the media has affected masses popular taste.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 66
Propaganda for Social (and political) Objectives
Well connected to the preceding point, mass media have become a tool of
propaganda for governments, elite and big sponsors.
Monopolization
In corporate world, the privileged class gives no or little space to opposing or
counter arguments against the prevailing manipulated public narrative on the mass
media, thus causing monopolization.
Canalization (Guiding towards a specific path or channel)
Once the regimes or advertisers succeed to establish some gross patterns of behavior
or the generic attitude in masses, they can be easily canalized by the mass media, in
one or another direction as resistance from the user is minimal.
Supplementation
Many methods such as social contacts, interpersonal communication, laws, rules,
regulations, and all ideological state apparatuses are mainly used for persuasion,
mind control and propaganda purposes. In addition to that, various forms of media
are used for supplementation purposes to further prop up those efforts.
Christians, C. G., Glasser, T., McQuail, D., Nordenstreng, K., and White, R. A.
(2015) proposed four functions for the media which are based on “media relations
with the dominant political-economic powers, and the citizens & civil society as
well”. In “Monitorial Role” the media report and propagate in favour of the power
elite, mainly serve the dominant class and disseminate what they want to dictate and
disseminate although, the media perceive themselves as impartial witnesses in the
society which are likely to report all events ‘objectively’, but the sources of
information are mostly in the centers of power.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 67
The second one “the Facilitative Role” of the media to serve the civil society and
citizens, is more democratic in nature and is based on media’s freedom. Here, the
media go away from the power circles as to offer to the masses, a podium for free
expression, and to take active part in the political arena. This category also includes
the civic or public journalism. The third one is the “Radical Role” which is very
much aggressive and critical of the political system. The Radical media support a
revolutionary party, group or a leader which/who endeavour to change the status
quo. They raise serious queries regarding the basic structure of the social, political
and economic system of a given society and spur uprising and revolt. The fourth one
is “Collaborative Role” for serving the state and other power institutions which is
played by the state-influenced media. The media like “lapdogs” dedicatedly serve
regimes and other centers of power in this kind.
2.4 Scale, Techniques and Impact of Media-government Relations Research
Pearson and Patching (2008) carried out a meta-analysis of previous studies on the
issue of media-government relations in Australia and world-wide to explore the
background and map-out the key themes in this research area by dividing their
review into three major categories i.e. “scale, technique and impact”. They argued
that the issue had not been tackled extensively in any particular study, as all key and
relevant stakeholders i.e. the public, media-men, politicians and P.R. handlers need
experimental data to compare and discuss this phenomenon and take appropriate
decisions which indicates a substantial gap in this area.
About the scale of government-media relations, Pearson & Patching argued that
several hundred thousand dollars are paid-out each year by various governments in
Australia to administer media coverage about official business, and all other regimes
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 68
in the world follow the same practice. They also referred to the theory of “political
spin”, a technique and form of interaction between the press officers and journalists,
governed by a set of mutually accepted rules, and a proactive approach to political
relations that seeks to maximize favourable coverage.
Pearson and Patching argued that their work led to a new political communication
theory “meta-communication”, which is simply the media’s coverage about their
own interests and participation in politics. Impacts were, legal implications
(censorship) & consequences (jail terms, fines, contempt of court, defamation,
confidentiality, anti-terrorism & sedition), physical dangers, ethical implications
(bribes, gifts), and policy & legislative implications. They suggested the use of
modern techniques and digital tools to look into the government-media relations.
2.5 Coverage of Corruption & Media-Government Relations
A key role of media in today’s democracies is watch-dogging, i.e. to keep a check on
rulers and to hold them accountable to the public. Tella and Franceschelli (2011)
conducted a content study regarding reporting of corruption scandals of government
in Argentina by four main newspapers on their front page for the period (1998-
2007), and correlated these news reports with government’s advertizing in the said
newspapers under the perspective of “Affinity” and “Collusive” theories. Affinity
theory implies that regimes benefit those media organs with advertizing money
which are dubbed as pro-government, and which give least coverage to anti-
government news. Collusive theory highlights concealing of regimes scandals from
masses, because if reported, every scandal has a potential cost to the regime, low or
high, it depends on the kind and magnitude of the scandal, and the audienceship
depth of that media in public.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 69
The relationship among government’s financial transfers and coverage of corruption
scandals vanishes when the dailies focus on reportage of scandals by other (private)
actors. This study validated that media and government enjoy cordial relations when
the latter disburses sufficient ads capital to the former. The media too reciprocate
with pro-government content and minimize impact of corruption by ignoring or
giving very small space/time to such reports. Thus, advertizing plays a pivotal role in
media-government relations world-wide.
Many global organizations such as the World Bank, Transparency International, IMF
and other IFIs highlight the importance of media freedom & plurality to curtail
corruption. Färdigh, Andersson and Oscarsson (2011), replicated two early studies of
Freille et al. (2007) and Lindstedt & Naurin (2010) regarding the relationship of free
press and corruption with three different indicators: Corruption Perception Index of
Transparency International (1995-2009), Freedom From Corruption of Heritage
Foundation (1994-2006) and Control of Corruption of the World Bank (1996-2007).
They identified that scientific analysis of the connection between corruption and
press freedom is only one way, but it is still deficient and requires further approaches
and techniques.
Färdigh and his associates applied the expanded mode of observation technique, and
practiced three distinct gauges of corruption along with the latest estimation
procedure to evaluate the data. They looked ahead of the existing simple models of
direct effects of media independence and the level of corruption, as this connection
is very much complicated. They deduced that: the role of free press in combating
corruption remains different, whether the respective country has a well-established,
newly-formed, or non-established electoral democracy; impacts of the press freedom
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 70
remain negative or minimal in states at the lowest ebb of democracy, and turn more
positive or significant in a highly democratic society.
To examine the nature of coverage of corruption in Pakistan and potential impacts of
the media in shaping public perceptions about this issue, Abid and Shah (2012)
discourse analyzed corruption related reports of four Pakistani English dailies and
found gapes therein, as the links between individual and systemic corruption and the
relationship between the public and private sectors, were not amply explored by the
press. They recommended; the practice of in-depth investigative reporting to explore
and explain the systematic corruption; more emphasis on organizations and not
individuals, and hiring of trained reporters to investigate corruption. Coverage of
corruption has emerged as an important factor to influence media-government
relations worldwide recently. The Panama Case, in which a setting Pakistani Prime
Minister (Nawaz Sharif) was not only removed from the office by the Supreme
Court on 28 July 2017, but he was also disqualified for life to hold any public office
in future (Masood, 2017), is a prominent example.
2.6 Media’s Watchdog Role, Accountability & Relations with Government
The media’s watchdog role gained impetus in the decades of 1980s and 1990s,
mainly due to globalization, the fall of autocracies & socialist regimes and the
worldwide de-regulation of media. However, Coronel (2010) traced the idea of
media’s watchdog role around 200 years back, and asserted that media was termed
as the “Fourth Estate” in order to prevent the powerful regimes from transgressing
their power and authority. Media’s watchdog role also won support from various
global organizations, as since 1990s, the rich (donor) countries and International
Financial Institutions, like the World Bank and IMF also began to support the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 71
freedom of media and their watchdog role in the Third World countries to have a
check from the media to prevent the financial aid from corruption and misuse.
Coronel argued that government’s accountability is impossible, unless the masses
are well-informed. She counted many faces of media’s watchdog reporting as they
observe the daily business of regimes, criticize misdeeds, point-out the neglected
areas and suggest appropriate action, expose minute malpractices of low-level
officials and billions of dollars of political corruption scandals. Watchdogging is the
disclosure of malpractices in the larger benefit of the people. Coronel further argued
that the Western values of journalism propagate watchdogging for transparency and
accountability, whereas, the Asian values of the media, support a pro-government
and friendly role of media for development and stability.
Merely media’s private ownership cannot protect watchdogging from state
intervention as market pressures have relegated watchdog reporting in favour of
entertainment, and the structure & ownership, journalistic practices, cultures, norms,
history and the relationship between the media and power elite also affect
watchdogging. Private media out of the government control, but a bondservant of
commercialism, are at best, episodic and unreliable watchdogs. Coronel posited
that, the thirst for democracy, transparency, good governance, and free flow of
information in the Third World during 1980’s and 1990’s, led to investigative
journalism, where, investigative journalists are faced with great risks.
In another study, Woodring and James (2012) case-illustrated the relationship
between the media’s watchdog role, people’s decision to protest and government’s
retaliation with repression in Netherlands (an ideal democracy with comparatively
free media) and Myanmar (a worst dictatorship with gagged media) in four
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 72
scenarios: freedom of media & democracy both exist, democracy exists but media
freedom lacks, democracy misses (tyranny) & media freedom exists, and democracy
& media freedom both not present. They developed a tri-cone model of interplay
among the media, citizens and the government, and posited that the free media play a
significant part to keep the government responsible and liable.
In the context of Netherlands’ model, they predicted a high level of both watchdog
reporting & protest, and a very low level of repression. They concluded that in
accordance with the presumptions of their model, during the period from 2000 to
2009, the Dutch government by and large, respected human rights to physical
integrity. During the same period, the Dutch journalists gave greater importance to
their watchdog role, and usually the masses conducted protests to exhibit their anger
over actions of the government. In the perspective of Myanmar’s model, the
researchers envisaged that there would be a least amount of watchdogging, a few
protests and greater level of suppression. The results supported the assumption, as
even though, some mass-level protests were observed, which were promptly and
ruthlessly quelled by the regime.
Protess et al., (1991) found that investigative reporting can produce three types of
policy effects: 1) Deliberative: Official assurances occur to discuss the issues
pointed out, and offer possible solutions, 2) In Individualistic effects, individuals or
organizations doing wrongs, are embargoed or impeded, and 3) In Substantive
effects, concrete changes are made in rules, laws, policies or new governmental units
& bodies are created or public funds are reallocated. Watchdog reporting on global
level caused the downfall of regimes, making reforms in law or policy, and created
new mechanism of government accountability.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 73
Besley, Burgess and Pratt (2002) analyzed the government’s accountability by the
media, factors leading to the media capture (control) and hurdles to perform a
monitor’s role. They assumed three key functions of non-captured (free) media: i)
Sorting of politicians with their social/financial position, previous track record,
performance and integrity to the public, who ultimately select or reject them to the
office; ii) Disciplining the politicians, to avoid malpractices on the fear of being
exposed to the public; and iii) The media may also likely to affect those issues which
are significant for voters, as the media propagate position of politicians on particular
issues. The main obstacle to media effectiveness is the possibility of political capture
of media, as the government enjoys the power to motivate and influence the media
through subtle means of bribery, threats, censorship or laws.
They built a simple model of media capture, having three main players: voters,
politicians and the media, which make a simple linear relationship: “voters receive
information about politicians with the media”. Anticipated scenarios in this model
are: 1) media get/do not get verifiable information about the incumbent (politician);
2) The incumbent is aware of the information the media got and makes them transfer
offers; 3) Each outlet chooses whether to accept or reject the offer; 4) the outlet
accepting the offer suppress their information; the ones that reject it, report their
information to voters; 5) voters re-elect the incumbent or replace her (him) with a
challenger. The researchers’ theoretical predictions stated that (media) capture is
more likely, if there is more state ownership of newspapers and the media capture is
affected by media plurality. They expected that greater press scrutiny would be
associated with lower corruption. Evidences from the study proposed that
independent media in a mass democracy may result into responsible governments in
developed, as well as, in developing countries.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 74
Methew (2016) evaluated the media’s self-regulation system with example of the
Press Council of India (PCI) which she termed as less effective. Media perform a
vital role to collect and disseminate all sort of information, and thus hold a key
position in state’s affairs. Hence, they must be extra careful to avoid dissemination
of false, deceptive and distorted news. She mentioned four types of regulations.
1- Complete Regulation: Media have no freedom and are totally controlled. The
government has the power to check media content. Examples are Turkey, China,
Saudi Arabia, etc.
2- Co-regulation: In this mechanism, both the state (government) regulatory body,
and media represented regulatory organ jointly watch over the media, for
example, Australia.
3- Statutory Regulation: A state where media are regulated with provisions
mentioned in the constitution. India and Pakistan are examples.
4- Self-regulation: The media organs regulate themselves with self-monitoring
system under a mutually agreed mechanism. For instance, EU countries Press
Councils function with four types of regulation i.e. co-operative, delegated,
devolved and facilitated regulation.
Methew opined that media, under the free-market economy concept, usually indulge
in intra-media race to capture a large share in advertizing market, to gain wide-range
acceptance in the public and to get maximum rating points. Thus, instead of the
national interest, self-interest becomes the main motive in news dissemination. In
this background, Methew opined, that the current practice of awarding the
mechanism of regulation to the media itself, may lead to the chances and
opportunities of abuse of regulatory objectives by the media to their own commercial
ends. The researcher concluded that smooth functioning of all human activities
requires some sort of control, and merely self-regulation is not enough.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 75
2.7 Media-Government Relations in a Suppressed Media Environment
Jofee (2015) reviewed media-government relations in Tunisia to observe the
occurrence of any paradigm shift in governance and changes in old narrative, and
formation of new narrative about media’s ownership and role patterns after the fall
of autocratic regime of Ben Ali in 2011. Tunisia remained a French colony up to
1956, and its political set-up and media patterns were largely influenced by, and
resembled with the French model. About 90% of the print media are in private
control, and electronic media (radio/TV) are state owned.
Jofee mentioned the Reporters Without Borders (RSF, 2014) observations that,
although the new Tunisian Constitution framed in 2014, offers enough guarantees to
people to freely express views & publication, and easily obtain information from
information networks as well, but its article 125 confines rights of citizens. Burying
all hopes, subsequent regimes found it very difficult to allow free and fair media
operations considering the media as a prime tool of controlling and molding the
public opinion, and suppressing the Opposition’s dissenting narrative.
He concluded that, no matter which personality or party comes to rein in Tunisia,
media would face the same old, narrow and dominating approach as such mind-set
changes very slowly. Despite constitutional guarantees, all governments in near
future would view the free media as antagonistic, and term them as recalcitrant, if
they do not conform to their authority. Hence, the media-government relations in
Tunisia would be frictional, and the media would be lacking impartiality and
objectivity. There seems a lot of resemblance in the case and history of Tunisian and
Pakistani media, but the former are relatively freer than the later.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 76
To examine differences in government’s control of media, and media freedom across
the world, especially in less developed and weak democracies over times, Gehlbach
and Sonin, (2008) case-studied the post-Communist Russian media (the less
democratic state model). They based the level of media freedom primarily on two
variables, “the mobilizing character of the government, and the size of the
advertising market” and hypothesized that, pro-government bias in media is larger
and the chances of state’s getting hold of media increase, when the regime intends
for greater social mobilization, like presidential elections in Russia.
This conceptual model faced a basic restraint, since bias in media coverage
minimizes the media’s informational content which further curtails the chances for
audience to consume it. Thus, it adversely affects government’s desire for greater
social mobilization and shrinks the advertizing income. The results expressed that
the media bias varied in both Boris Yeltsin and in Vladimir Putin eras owing to the
mobilizing requirements of the regime. During the Putin regime, state control was
further augmented with capture of private media by the regime, for which the
researchers proposed two reasons: Putin paid serious attention to the media use for
public support of his presidential rule, and advertizing industry in Russia also
increased significantly.
2.8 Media-Government Relations in Pakistan in a Subdued Media Situation
The case of suppressing the media by regimes in Pakistan, and across the world is
almost identical. Mezzera and Sial, (2010) recounted many techniques of media
control by various Pakistani regimes as: “press laws, takeover of media outlets or
publishing houses, creation of official media groups (e.g. the NPT), direct control of
news agencies, unequal distribution of newsprint quota, the press advice system &
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 77
censorship, allocation of official ads to favorites, awards of cash prizes and
allocation of government positions to some writers & journalists; and dispensation of
monetary and other benefits to influential journalists and opinion makers”. Military
regimes very much realized the potential role of the media as an agent of reform
within Pakistan, as all the media related legislations, both in progressive and
regressive terms, were introduced under military rules. Media laws, in other words,
have never enjoyed the democratic privilege of a debate in the parliament.
Riaz (2008) surveyed 120 journalists to judge their perception about government’s
influence on print media content in Pakistan due to governmental advertisements, in
the perspective of Shoemaker & Reese’s model of theoretical approaches about
influences on mass media content, the Neutral Journalist theory, the Manipulation of
Reality Theory and the Altschull’s (1984) Framework for Studying Variations
Within Owner Control of the Media. The main hypothesis was: In perspectives of
media-men, huge quantum of governmental ads supply to the newspapers would lead
to pro-government coverage. Results showed that 31% journalists highly agreed,
42% agreed, 17% agreed to some extent that the newspapers that gain more
government ads offer more pro-government coverage, and only 07% respondents
disagreed to the statement.
The International Media Support (2009) viewed the Pakistani media as struggling
between the unfolding conflict of two drastically opposing phenomena of radicalism
and democratism in Pakistan. The IMS survey report was based on interviews of
journalists and persons of media related bodies, who marked Pakistan’s democratic
journey after 2008 as a ray of hope. In front of several political, regulatory and
economic pressures and challenges from non-state actors, it viewed the Pakistani
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 78
media as vibrant and somewhat liberal with unprecedented growth in television and
FM radio sectors as compared to the print industry. Tough media contest for
business interests replaced quality journalism with sensationalism and media
fragmentation.
The Urdu Press was termed as more popular in masses with relatively large
circulation both in the cities and rural areas covering socio-cultural, political,
economic, religious and other aspects of life. The English Press in Pakistan was
considered as elite-centric with limited readership, however, it enjoyed a larger
worth and influence within the powerful social circles of opinion makers, civil
&military bureaucracy, politicians, academia and the business community.
The IMS report also referred to the prolonged and complex conflict in former NWFP
(now KPK) Province and Tribal Areas, where, Journalists adopted self-censorship to
avoid enmity with the government and the militant groups, the two contending
parties. The report recommended: boosting the security of media-persons, improving
the relations between the Pak-Afghan medias, rising accurate and factual
information level in conflict zone through strengthening of the radio network,
popularizing investigative reporting, and allowing a self-regulatory system by the
media to improve the standard of Pakistani journalism.
Shah (2009) in his M.Sc. dissertation explored media-government relationship
during the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf (1999-2007) with content
analysis of the two popular English dailies, Dawn and The News, for two months.
From results, he concluded that at the beginning of his rule, Musharraf gave some
sort of independence to the media, but he could not tolerate media criticism for a
long time and especially during the last days of his rein, he exerted additional curbs
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 79
and restrictions on the media. Shah found that, The News remained more critical of
the Musharraf’s regime by giving more space to related stories as compared to the
Dawn newspaper. The researcher concluded in light of his findings, that the overall
relationship between the Musharraf’s government and the media remained tense.
Shamsuddin (1987) observed that the press in Pakistan faced the similar fate, as the
press in African region and other Asian states met with, in various military,
dictatorial, autocratic and weak democracies. He asserted that the notion of a free
press does not necessarily mean complete freedom from the government. However,
the press has to continue endeavour to inform the public with utmost accuracy and
objectivity, and a mutual trust has to be developed between the government and the
press which is still lacking in Pakistan.
Mujahid (1991) reviewed the overall growth of the Press System in Pakistan from
historical, socio-political, ideological and economic perspectives, and concluded that
the press remained a target of well-mannered plan all the times to restrain it, which
perplexed the media-government relations. He called upon all the stakeholders for
reasonable and courageous steps to overcome this situation for future betterment of
the press and democracy in the country.
Memon (2014) evaluated attitude of the state towards the media and journalists in
Pakistan during the military and democratic regimes by conducting six focus group
discussions with 30 journalists through a purposive sampling. He found that state’s
approach with respect to the media remained different as per style and nature of the
government in Pakistan, as most participants viewed that journalists and the media
remained more restricted and censored during dictatorships with censorship, press
advices and close media monitoring. From opinions of participants, it was also noted
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 80
that during democratic set-ups, the press and journalists remained free up to some
extent, but they were influenced, pressurized and manipulated with the support of
feudal lords, police and the civil bureaucracy.
Memon also inferred that the Pakistani media and journalists have so far not
benefited from complete independence and fearless reporting, whether it is
democratic government or military rule. He added that introduction of private media
by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2002 was due to the inescapable compulsions of
unchecked and fast-spreading globalization, internet, cable & global satellite TV
channels, his intention to improve image of the country on international level, and to
have sound and capable media response to the Indian hostile media. He concluded
that the state and media in Pakistan are likely to be always on opposing ends, as the
governments never like, and easily absorb criticism from media.
Iqbal (2012) evaluated media-government relations in Pakistan during Pervez
Musharraf’s rule (1999-2007) and recorded that, when the General captured power
in 1999, only the state run electronic media (PTV & Radio Pakistan) and the private
press were operational at that time. Unlike his martial law predecessors and despite
rising militancy in Afghanistan & Tribal Areas, and border tensions with India after
the Kargil episode in May 1999, Musharraf did not deem it necessary to bring the
media under further confinement.
However, grabbing the 9/11 as an opportunity to legitimize his military rule and to
gain support of the West, Musharraf framed the narrative of enlightened moderation.
To propagate this ideology, he decided to open the media epoch of Pakistan for
private sector, and so the private media regulator “PEMRA” was established in
2002. After becoming a frontline state and the US-allay in the war against terrorism,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 81
Pakistan again became the recipient of Western aid, and the 2005 destructive
earthquake further enhanced financial downpour to the country, of which the media
sector was also a beneficiary. Thus, the new media environment, increase in number
of media consumers, satellite channels, internet expansion, spread of cellular
communication and overall economic growth paved the way for private media in
Pakistan.
But this cordial atmosphere of media-government relations did not last longer. A
number of episodic events i.e. the judicial crisis, the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) issue
(2007) and constant criticism from political and religious parties, led to test the
patience of Musharraf. Popular section of the media severely criticized his regime
for mishandling these events. Zafar asserted that a sizeable chunk of private media
and the State media supported the government stance, and a fairly significant portion
covered the event in a balanced way. However, critic media was larger, and such a
situation was not acceptable to Musharraf.
While some important cases were being heard in the Supreme Court like the petition
against the re-election of Musharraf from the out-going assemblies, which had
completed their terms, and the Missing Persons Case, Musharraf and his political &
legal aides anticipated unfavorable outcomes of the cases. Hence, he declared
emergency on 3 November 2007, introduced the Provisional Constitutional Order
(PCO), shut-down TV Channels, and took several punitive actions against the media
and the journalists. The Dubai authorities were also influenced to drop uplink
facilities of ARY and Geo Channels.
Iqbal added that the environment further aggravated with the introduction of two
ordinances by the government to have more restrictions over the media. One was to
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 82
prohibit live TV coverage of violent incidents, and the other bound Cable Operators
not to air such shows or news, which may scorn the state’s head, military, legislature
and the judiciary. Three years jail term was fixed as punishment for its violation.
Despite serious efforts of systematic riggings, the king-party of Musharraf (PML-Q)
lost the February, 2018 general elections. Foreseeing his own impeachment from the
new government formed by the rival parties, he resigned from the office on 18
August 2008. Iqbal concluded that all military and political governments in Pakistan
applied all the direct and indirect methods of controlling the media, but one notable
method exercised by these regimes was to divide the media in order to weaken their
voice.
2.9 Various Approaches & Tactics to Control the Media
Chomsky (2002) studied media’s propaganda model, the techniques of mind control
and behavior change with disinformation by regimes and big enterprises. He offered
two models of democracy i.e. truly public participatory democracy and Capitalist-
based spectator democracy. He asserted that media is either controlled through
regimes’ propaganda, or with the power of advertisers and sponsors.
Ali (2005) explored press-government relations during the second terms of Benazir
Bhutto (1993-1996) & Nawaz Sharif (1997-1999) and the initial three years of
Musharraf’s (1999-2002) regime. He adopted a descriptive and historical approach
in chronological order with some sort of content analysis, interviews and survey
method. He concluded that: tactics such as financial grants, allotment of plots, free
foreign trips, appointment of journalists on key posts, cash payments etc. were used
by the Benazir and Nawaz’s regimes to corrupt the Pakistani press and journalists;
the news print and official ads were used as weapons to gag the press. It was noted
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 83
that Musharraf appeared to be relatively little harsh over the pres than the earlier
military dictators, and the press-government relations during his regime were
comparatively better than that of Benazir and Nawaz’s eras.
Shamsuddin (1987) recorded that governments have remained the chief sponsors and
advertisers for the press all over the world, but in Pakistan, owing to this power,
almost all regimes used the newsprint and advertizing as a tool to coerce and control
the media. Intra-press competition to get government ads at all costs, weaken and
compromised the independence of the press in Pakistan. The non-conforming press
had to face all the negative consequences, which led to the utter destruction and
closure of free press in the country.
The undeclared alliance and reciprocal link between the media proprietors and
governments, and their overall acrimonious conduct towards the journalists, has
badly damaged the media profession in Pakistan. To probe this supposition, Memon,
(2015) arranged six focus group discussions in selected districts of Sindh province to
test his study’s assumptions i.e. professional (practical) journalism is a neglected
area in Pakistan; media outlets and proprietors ignore the personal well-being of
journalists; and media-lords and regimes seem to be knotted in a sort of alliance,
which is the main cause of miserable conditions of journalists.
According to findings, newspapers owners, media tycoons and governments enjoy
implicit cooperation, and fulfill their needs on reciprocal basis, but at the cost of the
pressmen, and the journalistic ideology. Media owners gain highest facilitation and
advertizing benefits from regimes, and in return, the regimes enjoy image building
and publicity by the media. Memon recorded that non-implementation over the
“Wage Board Award” is a classic evidence in this regard. Moreover, media owners
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 84
as Editors-in-Chiefs, vehemently influence news content in stories prepared/filed by
the reporters. Journalists face job insecurity and salary-delay from their bosses along
with many overt and covert tactics of harassments, warnings, arrests, tortures,
detention etc. from the governments.
Rasul & McDowell (2011) explored the relationship between media regulation
process in Pakistan, and the concentration of media ownership in few hands in the
21st century. They case-studied four major media groups: Jang Group, Waqt Media
Group, Dawn Group and Express Group under the political economy perspective.
They recorded, that in 2002, PEMRA was formed to regulate the growing media
industry, devise ample rules to facilitate a healthy and competitive media market,
and provide multiple & diversified choices to the people, and support democratic
institutions. However, grabbing the opportunity in their favour, most of the license
applicants & recipients, especially the afore-cited four groups, were already key
players in print media industry in Pakistan, before 2002.
After the introduction of new media policy, these media groups made a horizontal,
vertical and diagonal expansion with induction of many news/entertainment TV &
FM radio channels, and captured above 50% advertisement market in Pakistan. It
caused monopolization in few hands, low media credibility, and sensationalism in
news, cartelization and commercialization. Rasul & McDowell posited that all this
process in the Pakistan’s media arena falls within the ambit of political economy
approach. The scholars also spotted various failed efforts of successive regimes to
handle big media monopolies and cross business ownerships in Pakistan.
2.10 Media-Government Relations & Pro-democratic Media
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 85
Free media play a crucial role in a viable democracy and their support is very critical
for the reinstated civil rule in Pakistan in 2008, as Peshimam, (2013) posited: “from
being heavily suppressed until 1988, the news media featured prominently during
democratization in 1990s, and has an even greater role after 2000, thanks to the
expanded platform of television”. It is believed in the past, critical press played
antagonistic role against the fragile civilian governments in Pakistan. Peshimam
argued: “In an act of redemption, the news media, which had never in history been
as powerful and influential as is it today, came out in open and strong support for a
directly-elected civilian-led system in 2013”.
Hassan (2014) examined the media-democracy relationship in Pakistan during 2004
in the perspective of portrayal of Civil Society in the Pakistani press, which is
largely represented with private organizations (NGOs). With the theoretical view of
Libertarian concept, Hassan inquired, whether the press backs voice of the civil
society or not. He analyzed news, articles, editorials and features of the Urdu and
English press in 2004, and categorized them under the themes, “anti-Pakistan,
foreign agent & anti-Islam” (non-supportive categories), and “development agent,
agent for democracy & tolerance” (supportive categories).
Hassan analyzed 73 news items, 38 appeared as non-supportive and 35 were
supportive. He concluded that although the respective dailies negatively viewed the
NGOs, but the ratio between non-supportive and supportive news items was not that
much significant indicating that, the Pakistani press has gradually built up a pro-
democratic outlook. He suggested further inquiry into the attitude of private TV
Channels towards the relationship between the media and Pakistani democracy.
Niazi (1986), Khurshid (1963) Zafar (2011) and many other analysts have vividly
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 86
posited that having faced the Colonial brutalities and played a pivotal role in the
freedom movement, in the beginning, press in Pakistan was somewhat free, fearless
and pro-democratic, and later, it was enchained. Whereas, Hassan (2014) noted an
incremental pro-democracy attitude in the Pakistani press, which indicates a
contradiction with the assessments of previous studies.
A multifaceted and inter-woven relationship among the media, good governance,
democratic system and peaceful social development is earnestly required. Coronel
(2003) explored some media approaches to support and strengthen modern
democracy and socio-political & economic development. Media are not only state
controlled and fettered with stern laws, but are also zipped with the monopolies of
business tycoons and corporate partnerships. Coronel poised that sober, objective
and investigative reporting is hampered and mostly replaced with hollow &
sensational coverage and in many cases, media also become a part of surrogated
battle among contending political factions.
Highlighting media’s patronage, Coronel referred to a 2001 World Bank study of
global media structure, which reports that, “in a sample of 97 states, only 04% of
media enterprises are broadly held; on average, family-control of newspapers
account for 57% , and 34% is for TV stations. State ownership is vast and around
29% of newspapers and 60% of TV stations. The state owns a huge share, 72% of
radio stations”. Coronel visualized that the good practices through which media
promote democracy and good governance are, “the Media’s Investigative Reporting
as a Watchdog, the Press as an information tool & forum for discussion, and the
Media as Peace & Consensus Builder”.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 87
Coronel further poised that despite all hurdles, media in several weak democracies
are asserting their role to protect and promote democracy and highlight issues of the
public. Investigative reporting has enhanced media credibility in public’s eye and
has helped accustomed state functionaries. She concluded: the media freedom is
ensured if media outlets are fiscally sound, independent of proprietors, sponsors and
the state’s organs, and are accessible to a wider segment of society.
Faiz (2009) in his Master thesis content analyzed editorials of Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu)
and the The News (English) newspapers to explore the role of Pakistani press in the
coverage and advocacy of the Lawyers Movement, that began after deposing of the
then Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhary by the President General Musharraf in March
2007. Findings of the study revealed that Nawa-i-Waqt gave more space to the
Lawyers Movement than The News, which indicates that the Urdu Press, the most
popular in masses, gave greater coverage to that movement. One of the major causes
of deplorable and declining relationship between the Musharraf’s regime and the
media was the extraordinary and full-length media coverage and support to the
Lawyers Movement, which resulted into closure of some news channels, and
restrictions over the media and journalists.
Muhammad (2009) in his Ph. D dissertation explored the role of the press in
projecting and supporting the democratic process in Pakistan during the military rule
of General Pervez Musharraf (1999 to 2005). He selected editorials from the three
prominent English language newspapers i.e. Dawn, The News and the Nation
regarding issues pertaining to the democratic process, as sample. It was a case study,
but content methodology was utilized to quantify the editorials into respective
categories, and then the relevant themes were analyzed qualitatively.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 88
He concluded that: the press effectively played their role for the cause of human
rights, democracy, and the rule of law; criticized and checked the government’s
undemocratic actions, and thus the opinion built in the press affected government
policies; despite a military rule, the press enjoyed a high degree of freedom; out of
871 editorials, 393 (45.12%) were anti-government, 347 (39.85%) were neutral, and
131 (15.4%) were pro-government; the mainstream press played a responsible role
i.e. whenever it was necessary, it criticized and appreciated the government, or
remained neutral. The study examined the relationship of the press, government and
the civil society and found that despite government influences, the media can play a
vital role in propagation of transparency and democratic values.
Yusuf and Schoemaker (2013) made 23 in-depth interviews and 32 focus group
discussions with media-savvy individuals to examine the deepening influence of
media in Pakistan’s frail democracy. They argued that the 2013 general elections
were believed to be the dawn of a new democratic era, which were held amid a
vibrant, outspoken and diversified media, and for the first time in the history of
Pakistan, a popularly elected government completed five years term and more than
55% of voters out of 88 million registered electorates cast their vote, despite intense
efforts by the militant groups through frequent threats, terrorist attacks and suicide
bombings to disrupt the elections.
The researchers contended that the Pakistani media inherited a history of struggle, as
in the beginning, the press in Pakistan was an off-shoot of the Muslim press, which
was the voice of the Indian Muslims’ struggle for freedom & partition of India. A
press free by birth was very soon, enchained by regimes to serve their vested
interests. Pakistan’s media arena has, for most of the times, happened to be the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 89
battlefield, sometimes for the power elite to control the national discourse, and in
other times, a platform for those striving for civilian rule.
They viewed that Musharraf had to open the political and media fields, due to
mounting global and national pressure for restoration of democracy, to repair image
of the country and to boost Pakistan’s capability to compete with the India in media
war, which had globally maligned Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil War. Besides,
Musharraf used media reforms as a tool to fortify his power and to appease the
prodemocracy voices. After getting some freedom, the Pakistani media quickly
earned the reputation for digging out official corruption, malpractices, and pitiable
discharge of services by civic agencies, and thus emerged as a substitute political
entity on country’s political arena.
Yusuf and Schoemaker (2013) wrapped up, that the media gained in terms of
empowering diverse voices with the opening of regional TV channels, FM radios
and proliferation of social media platforms. The media landscape became more
inclusive which mobilized civil society and ignited public debates on key national,
regional and local issues & politics. They also facaded the gloomy side, that in spite
of some encouraging signs, Pakistan’s media watchdog, agenda setting and
gatekeeping roles have decreased due to law & order situation, country-wide
militancy, pressures from the military and secret services, political influences,
government’s advertizing control, courts notices and litigation, PEMRA’s actions,
pressures over the cable operators and censoring of cyber space by the PTA with
blockade of thousands of websites.
The researchers posed that: due to poor economic conditions, several media outlets
are financially un-viable and total dependency on government’s ads force them to
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 90
conformity, and the decentralization of private media and political division may lead
to further polarization; another concern is that the regional media and social media
may strengthen ethnic and extremist factions; media mainly criticize and demean
politicians that may erode public trust over the political system of the country.
Javaid (2014) investigated the reaction of General Musharraf to the Pakistani
(private) media, and the impact the media had, to ouster him from power. She
focused on the coverage of Judicial Crisis-2007 by the English dailies, Dawn and
The News. The first span of analysis was from 9th March (the date of disfunctioning
the Chief Justice) to 20th July 2007 (the date of his restoration), and the second phase
of analysis was from 3rd November (declaration of emergency) to 29th November
2007 (vacating the position of Army Chief by Gen. Musharraf). Javaid argued that
Musharraf took a bold step to liberalize the Pakistani media, perhaps with the
realization, that the global blitz of satellite channels, internet expansion, fast
advancing media technology, and the rising urge of Pakistanis for their consumption,
would not allowed him to resist for a very long time.
Results inferred that: the Pakistani media was largely critical to the actions of
Musharraf; brought his errors before the people; functioned as accelerator that led to
the unpopularity of the General and thus diluted his political pedestal. Demands of
the civil society, lawyers and opposition parties with the strong support of media
forced the dictator to step down. Javaid found that The News was very much vocal in
its criticism of Musharraf from the very start while initially, Dawn remained
balanced and careful to criticize him, and joined the anti-Musharraf stance several
weeks later.
2.11 Responsible Portrayal or Sensationalism & Media-regimes Relations
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 91
Responsible portrayal of issues by the media may help build normal ties of the media
with government, and irresponsible depiction of issues may lead to soaring media-
government linkage. Hanan and Saleem, (2014) content analyzed editorials of the
dailies, The News and Dawn within the purview, “responsible portrayal or
sensationalism of the internal and external policy issues by Pakistani leadership from
2008 to 2012”. The themes of external policy issues were Kashmir, Nuclear issue
and Pak-US relations. The internal policy themes were energy crisis, democracy,
judiciary-government tensions and domestic terrorism. It was found that: both dailies
were sensational on the foreign policy issues; while covering the military, they used
responsible frames to depict Pakistan’s image as positive and very soft; on good
governance issues, both the dailies framed in general, a highly sensational image of
Pakistan: President Zardari’s performance was covered in a sensational way and that
of Prime Minister Gillani was covered with neutral tone.
The 21st century ICT-based Social media are globally used by ordinary citizens, state
& private entities, and the mainstream media for information consumption, public
relationing and image building, which have no centralized management, editorial
control and geographical limits. Song and Lee (2016) probed the relationship of
social media use in government’s day-to-day affairs, and resultant citizens’
perception of government using a national random-digit-dialed telephone survey,
“Government Online-2009” conducted by Pew Research Center’s Internet &
American Life Project. Results proved the hypotheses; “the use of social media
platforms by government is significantly and positively associated with masses
perceptions of government’s transparency”.
2.12 Media’s Influence on Public and Policy Agendas
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 92
Literature appraisal of agenda-setting related studies depicts a division among the
scholars over the question of mass media’s power to determine or co-determine
political agenda. According to Walgrave, Soroka and Nuytemans, (2008) a section of
researchers accept such role of the media, while others rule-out it. They conducted a
longitudinal study about the relationship of media with the parliament and
government in Belgium to analyze the media’s political agenda power. The study
had three longitudinal data sets for the period 1993-2000 i.e. the mass media agenda,
the parliamentary agenda and the government agenda.
Due to the types of political agenda under study, the media selected and the
categories of issues covered, they found mixed and contradictory answers as; “the
media do to some extent determine the agenda of parliament and government”.
Newspapers seemed to have cast greater impact than the TV; parliament up to a
certain extent followed the media more than the government; and media effects were
found to be larger for some issues e.g. sensational news about law & order and
environment, than the other issues like foreign policy, administrative, economic,
political, issues etc. They deduced a larger media influence on symbolic agenda as
compared to the influence on substantive policy agendas, and asserted that
newspapers appeared to have, a greater political agenda-setting effects in Belgium in
the decade of 1990’s, which is not necessarily an indication, that TV news do not
influence the political agendas as like does the CNN Effect.
Livingstone & Lunt (1994) explored the link between the laity (masses) and the
established power under the perspective, that apart from disseminating elitist and
critical view, the media also have sway over the construction, development,
expression and consumption of public opinion. They observed as to what extent the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 93
mass media provide a public sphere for citizens to debate on issues in a democracy,
where those in power could be held answerable in an environment in which media
face political linkage, advertizing and regulatory pressures to shift their role from
public service to commercial service or official mouth-piece. The active and
balanced use of media as a public sphere, both by the elite (regime) and the masses,
may establish cordial relations between the media and government.
Livingstone & Lunt described that “in elite democracy, communication between the
laity and established power is the dissemination of information and ideas from the
powerful (only) and...(it) is termed as mass (level) opinion, while participatory
democracy is a set-up, where legitimate power is involved in a form of dialogue with
the masses”. Hence, elite democracy is one-way communication and participatory
democracy is two-way traffic.
The researchers implied two methods to appraise the media’s role in public life.
“One based on the notion of Habermas “Public Sphere”, suggests that there is an
ideal form of public debate which, if can find an institutional context, potentially,
allows equality of access and equal rights to all citizens”. The media, as an
institutional forum, provide every opportunity to citizens to participate in their
programmes, develop critical opinion, promote consensus, or prop-up divergences
among the least concerned groups. The other choice they mentioned is (Moufee,
1988 & Fraser, 1989)’s concept, that media have the ability to make possible, the
portrayal of varied and multiple socio-political concerns, so as to lead to a
practicable conciliation among the contending parties. This concept admits that as a
bunch of divergent views, communication between all citizens at a single time like a
family, as senders and receivers, is impossible.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 94
Riaz (2008) in his doctoral thesis evaluated in detail, the overall relationship
between the Public (people) and Print Media Agendas on selected key national
issues in Pakistan during the period from May 2007 to April 2008. He conducted his
study mainly under the Agenda Setting along with its closely related Gatekeeping
and Farming theories. He content analyzed 182 copies each of the English daily
Dawn, and the Urdu daily Jang, and surveyed 300 regular readers of these
newspapers (150 readers of each newspaper) living in Islamabad.
Riaz also deuced that, whenever the news media obtained news from the official
sources, the media expressed pro-government slant and frame, which further led to a
pro-government public opinion, but where the media relied on un-official sources,
the coverage mainly resulted in an unfavorable slant and framing, which ultimately
resulted in an anti-government opinion. Riaz also recommended that during the
ongoing era of media economy, most of the media outlets mainly desire monitory
gains, and accordingly set their agendas, but even then, the fundamental principle of
objectivity in journalistic practices should be observed in letter and spirit to actually
and factually report all the issues.
Tori (2006) in her doctoral thesis studied media-government relations in the area of
foreign policy to know the impact of media on political decision-making in the
perspective of two Greek-Turkish conflicts (The 1987 Oil-drilling & The 1996 Imia-
Kardak Islets Crises), which took place in a time period of nine years and led to two
different policy milieus for the media of both countries to operate within. These
Turkish-Greek conflicts also caused many shifts in the area of government-media
relationship in both countries in that period, and are still exist on the policy and
media agendas of both the states for the last around thirty years.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 95
Tori case-studied two different territorial crises and content-analyzed coverage of the
Turkish press mainly the Mililyet, Horriyet & Giallouddis, and the major Greek
dailies, the Eleftherotyp & E. Typos. Analysis showed, the Turkish press seemed as
united in the crisis, but less extensive in coverage, while a lack of consensus on
stance on the issue and extensive coverage was noted in the Greek press, especially
after the tension was reduced. Moreover, the Greek press blamed its own
government for moving in accordance with the Turkish dictates. Press coverage of
both countries offered two conflicting versions and analyses over the situation. Tori
looked at the weight and importance the regime gave to the media while planning &
making policies, and argued that in the framework of game-theoretic model, her
study identified the media as an effective and decisive player in political affairs, and
not merely as a passive tool in politicians’ hands.
Nordenstreng (2007) viewed the media as floating amid the three crucial pillars of
society: “the state & its institutions, the market & its all commercial phenomena, and
the civil Society made of citizens”. Media made an alliance with the civil society in
modern democracy, but they are still firmly tied to the state, as after the World War
II, media at large, rushed to the capital driven markets. Despite all such conflicting
positions, media are not totally delinked from either pillar of the society and not free
from the state, market and civil society’s influences. He also viewed the media as a
“fourth pillar” in Montesquieu’s classic separation of power concept, i.e. the
legislature, the executive and the independent judiciary.
Nordenstreng described the media’s self-regulation “as an alternative to the legal
regulation, initiated by commercial markets”. It is a sort of soft law which emerged
within the private domains of the media and is recognized as a part of the entire
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 96
regulatory structure. Now in the shape of co-regulation, it is a latest media sphere as
stated in a European Commission’s study. He posited that in this globalized age, the
state-media linkage is a real test for media research and despite being a top-most
priority of the politicians, media experts and human rights activists, very little and
serious research has so far been conducted in the area. Nordenstreng posed that
various global organizations i.e. Freedom House, RSF, CPJ etc. gather data and
publish reports on the global status of media, but their results are not properly
verified with the principles of academic research.
The rapidly advancing and changing media & communication spectrum has far-
reaching impacts globally, over governance delivery, but Deane (2015) observed that
until recently, media and communication related issues have been paid very little
attention in governance strategies. Thus, the existing conceptualization on media-
governance relationship requires rethinking. He said that the current debate of the
media’s role in governance matters consists of two counter arguments, whether the
free media lead to improved governance outcomes, or they undermine the efficiency
and stability of a government.
Deane concluded that development planners now emphasize on media support in
their strategies, as a free and vibrant media system like a crucial podium for free
expression, are mandatory in a democratic society; to boost-up accountability of
regimes, to improve service delivery and to build government-citizens relations. He
foresaw: the way the masses communicate and have access to information today,
may impact socio-political effects both positively (improved democracy & socio-
economic prosperity) or negatively (rising political polarization, extremism &
violence), which may affect media-government relations.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 97
2.13 Freedom of Expression & Need to Revisit Pakistan’s Media laws
Paracha (2010) in his doctoral dissertation analyzed the overall media policy in
Pakistan. Respondents in his survey analysis were journalists, professional staff of
the public & private media outlets and government information departments, and
teaching faculty of mass communication in Pakistani universities. Paracha also
conducted face-to-face interviews with 25 prominent personalities from media
related fields with the technique of elite interview and investigated respondents’
knowledge, awareness and opinion about media policy in Pakistan with key focus on
constitutional provisions regarding independence of the press, sections of the
Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), various press laws, judicial decrees & observations,
press-government relations, and overall media environment in the country.
Paracha pointed out that: a greater number of respondents were somewhat satisfied
with the guarantees of press freedom made in the article 19 of the 1973 Constitution
of Pakistan and supported the exceptions to the press freedom in the Article-19;
majority of them demanded access to information as part of Article-19, the need of a
Press Court and policy makers and media managers must improve operation of the
state media organs; a large number (68%) of respondents termed the Press-
government relations in Pakistan as not cordial; 83% opined that attitude of regimes
towards the press is based on liking/disliking; 79% said that attitude of the
government towards the press is not based on justice and 60% stated that attitude of
the press towards the government is also not based on justice.
Alam (n.d.) in his report prepared for Centre for Peace & Development Initiatives
(CPDI), regarding the Right to Information and Media Laws in Pakistan, referred to
the Article-19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (which) states,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 98
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression...It also cited article 19
of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) which declares,
“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression….the right to free
expression includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
He noted that the basic right to free speech and expression has been accepted in all
Constitutions (1956, 1962 &1973) of Pakistan. The 1973Constitution contains
Article-19 about freedom of expression, but specifically, the Right to Information
was declared as a constitutional right in the 18th Amendment in 2010. It noted that
laws about freedom of information were already in practice at the federal level as
well as in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces before the 18th Amendment. Punjab and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa adopted the RTI laws in 2013. The report also cited other laws
i.e. “Newspaper Employees (Service conditions) Act-1973, Contempt of Court Act-
1973, Pakistan Telecom. (Re-organization) Act-1996, Pakistan Penal Code-1860,
Telegraph Act-1885, and Post Office Act-1898”, which also have provisions about
the freedom of media & expression and are still in practice.
The report unveiled that all media related laws in Pakistan were enacted prior to the
ratification of Article-19A in the Constitution, which have rare semblance of right
and freedom to information, except a few minute provisions. The report suggested
that all laws of right and freedom to information, which predate the Article-19A,
must be revisited to make them in consonance with the RTI law, and other relevant
laws must also be amended to synchronize them with the spirit of the Article-19A of
the Constitution. Moreover, the RTI law must be enforced in letter & spirit, and
implementations status must be properly publicized.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 99
Freedom of expression-a fundamental human right, encourages divergent opinions
before policy makers in democracies. To explore freedom of expression situation in
Pakistan and identify the key players and features who/which may help to improve
the situation, Liaquat, Qaisrani and Khokhar (2016) made a qualitative analysis
through the Key Informant Interviews in Punjab and Sindh provinces. Districts with
more reported cases of blasphemy, forced religion conversion, and many other
violations of freedom of expression were selected. They observed that Article-19 of
the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of speech to the citizens, but
state authorities and religious circles have regularly abused these exceptions.
Freedom Network (2015), cited killing of 14 journalists in 2014 in Pakistan, which
shows large scale abuse of freedom of expression.
The researchers also cited Nizamani (2014) viewing that the PEMRA code of
conduct-2015 also restricts journalists and masses to freely express opinions on
political, religious or human rights issues. Respondents pointed that: citizens are not
permitted to speak publicly on some issues; the key elements hindering the liberty of
opinion are, government/bureaucracy, parliamentarians, military & spy agencies,
foreign influence and religious intolerance; tactics like censorship, tapered
legislation, misreading of laws & rules, attacks/harassments/killings of out-spoken
media-persons & human rights activists; assault on minorities and oppression of
individual ideas and religious views are practiced in the country.
The Working Paper recommended that interpretation of relevant laws and rules &
regulations is required to be impartial, unbiased and fair, and the liberty of thoughts
& opinions, being a fundamental human right, should be protected with full devotion
by the state. Moreover, the concept of freedom and freedom of expression should be
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 100
made more elaborative with clear-cut and defined boundaries for complete
understanding and comprehension of the people. A mechanism of complete
preliminary investigation must be devised before registering of the complaint under
blasphemy laws. Media should also exhibit a more responsible and mature conduct
to avoid sensationalism for rating and advertising money purposes. Governments
and all relevant NGOs should work in close collaboration as partners, and not as
antagonists.
2.14 Challenges to the Media Growth in Pakistan
Numerous challenges and obstacles exist in the way of Pakistan’s media
development and their relations with the government. Shamsuddin (1986) made a
comparison between the press in big cities and in small towns of Pakistan, and
opined that in the metropolitan areas, the press got support from landlords,
industrialists, regimes and politicians, and thus became well established, whereas,
the press in small and neglected towns could not last longer.
Qadri, Suwaibah and Umer (2015), investigated the role and growth of mass media
in Pakistan during the military and civilian governments positing the general
perception that, media usually flourish in democratic set-ups, but in case of Pakistan,
it is amazing to observe that the media’s success, growth and relevant legislations,
laws, rules & regulations have been mostly documented during the military rules. In
particular, the open media policy of Musharraf led to the beginning of private TV
and FM radio Channels in Pakistan in 2002. Due to open air-waves and obtaining
freedom up to certain extent, the Pakistani media got the leverage to be much vocal
and critical even of Musharraf’s polices. They concluded that, as a leading part of
the civil society, media’s pivotal role in Lawyers Movement, finally led to the fall of
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 101
the strong military ruler Musharraf, and later forced the civilian regime of Zardari to
restore the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhary. Thus the media played an
influential role in state’s affairs.
Center for Civic Education, Pakistan made a brief review of Pakistani media in term
of history, growth, demographic structure, operation, laws, rules, media-allied
institutions, regulatory entities, Journalists bodies, and major media groups and their
share in advertizing market in 2004-05. The report said that progress in the Pakistani
media sector was much slower till the new millennium (2000). Global media
watchdogs did not recognize even the partial-freedom status of Pakistani media up-
to 2007. Freedom House ranked the Pakistani media as 61st in 2005, dropped its
ranking from Partly Free to Not Free, that reflected an increased harassment of
journalists and media-outlets by authorities…”
Similarly Pakistan was placed at 150th position by the Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) in its 2005 press freedom index, stating that “The struggle against Islamist
terrorism…has given the authorities a pretext for cracking down on independent
media”. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) remarked: “Pakistani press is
amazingly active and vocal, but journalists work very carefully and within limits to
avoid state’s pressure and harassment. Official advertisement may be blocked any
time, which is a major source of revenue for the press and is an effective tool to
subdue the press. The report concluded that both legal and physical conducive
atmospheres are prerequisite to gauge in true sense, the press freedom”.
Ricchiardi (2012) prepared a report about the challenges faced by the Pakistani
media from the ethnic, political, extremist and militant outfits, and government,
military and secret agencies. She opined that the Pakistani media started growth
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 102
since 2002, when Pervez Musharraf eased media laws to set out a media market
boom. In this honeymoon stage, the media very excitedly exposed corruption
scandals and abuses, which were never ever perceived to be unearthed, and thus set a
country-wide new trend of vox populi. She cited Intermedia reporting that, the
number of journalists increased from 2,000 in 2002, to 20,000 in 2011.
Ricchiardi stated that for the years 2010 and 2011, the global media watchdogs like
Committee to Protect Journalists etc. ranked Pakistan as the world’s deadliest
country for the media. Eight journalists lost their lives in 2010, and seven were killed
during 2011. Many private TV channels were forced to close transmission either by
force or through litigation. She put that the low-paid reporters covering the Taliban
factions in the tribal belt, and untrained for coverage in conflict zone, are the main
source of information for the entire world. “The tribal journalists are heroes”, she
quoted Umar Cheema, an award-winning investigative reporter of Pakistan.
“Without them, there would be no media voices from this part of the country”.
Ricchiardi admitted the incredible bravery of Pakistani media as a positive aspect,
which stand firm to the higher standard principles of journalism in a country, where
militants attacks and bloodshed is order of the day.
Assessing the numerous socio-cultural barriers faced by the Pakistani women
journalists, Ricchiardi cited findings of International Women’s Media Foundation’s
2011 study that, very few female are hired by media outlets, female almost miss the
vital decision-making role of top management, only 2 out of 50 top positions were
held by women, at the middle and senior supervisory levels, women’s share is 16.7%
and 13.8% respectively. However the report confirmed a sharp growth in women
journalists in Pakistan.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 103
Risks to the Pakistani journalists multiply if they dig deep into the matters of
security or the militants and cross the red-line. Ricchiardi painted a very dark picture
of the Pakistani media with citing the brutal killings of many journalists. This
turmoil has badly damaged the overall media psyche and journalist’s watchdog’s
role. The self-imposed pre-censorship has thwarted impartial and objective
journalism. Ricchiardi proposed physical safety and awareness trainings for the
Pakistani media with the help of foreign organizations, practical trainings along with
requirements of modern media markets, and special trainings how to cover conflicts,
which are pre-requisite for Pakistani journalists.
2.15 Calamities & Disasters - A Test for Media-Government Relations
During calamities and emergences, the news media grab the opportunity to evaluate
the government’s performance in coping with the disaster, pin-point the loop-holes
in government’s departments through criticism, and also inform the public regarding
government’s rescue & relief efforts. Thus, the media coordinate between people
and the regime, and in a way, help the government in disaster situation. Brunken,
(2006), content analyzed four U.S newspapers immediately after Hurricane Katrina
for five weeks to search common frames, attribute agenda setting, and tone under the
framework of Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) model. He found that the media’s
tone of government response to the disaster was moderately neutral, as federal
government was covered with positive, and the local government was negative
tones. The study suggested that in disasters, the media project government in a
particular way. They set the agenda, and thus make a choice, of what frames and
issues deserve more or less coverage.
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The Relief Web, an on-line international hub of news & information regarding
world-wide crises and disasters reported that, the local media in Pakistan was
severely hit by the devastating earthquake of 8 October, 2005, as around 50
journalists were killed, injured or missed, their family members killed, injured or
their homes were destroyed. Adnan Rehmat, associated with The International
Media Support (Internews), viewed the local media’s capacities as drastically
reduced by the earthquake. However, Owais Aslam Ali, of the Pakistan Press
Foundation, said that the local media had played a key role in reporting the quake, in
particular to other Pakistanis, both at home and abroad (Relief Web, 2005).
Iqbal et al., (2014) analyzed the role of Pakistani media in disaster reporting. They
noticed media’s strength in these areas: Media conveyed people’s sufferings to the
officials; diverted government’s attention to needs assessment; helped the authorities
with the early warnings; showcased those agencies and officials, which worked on
the front-line; realized government’s duties; assessed preparedness of authorities and
exposed the fake medical camps which were rolled after the visit of VVIPs. Weak
areas of the media were located as; Media personnel talked directly to the victims;
depicted the victims as helpless and showed their anger on TV screens which jolted
government’s credibility. Such contrasting media coverage of disasters might lead to
tasty or souring state- media relations.
2.16 Harassment of Journalists and Media-Government Relations
There prevails up to a larger extent, a general agreement amongst the Media scholars
and researchers, that the vague and indefinable relations between the media and
governments, attacks on journalists, and the issue of freedom of expression is almost
similar world-wide, hence research work of different scholars needs to be evaluated
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 105
together to better understand the issue and suggest remedies. Carlsson and Pöyhtäri
(2017) edited articles contributed to the International Conference under the title
“Safety of Journalists, Knowledge is the Key” held in Helsinki, Finland on 03-04
May 2016. The Conference showcased, the different methods applied for safety of
journalists across the world, and how the issue is contextualized in diverse research
settings and practices.
In its first part, the volume contains articles having analytical perspective for the rest
of sections. The second section has two focus areas, one presents manifestations and
plans of researchers. They stress the need for education, research and comparative
statistics…media reforms & ethics systems, and media literacy & democratic
development. In the other area, scholars re-examined the in-hand instruments to
quantify safety and suggested some fresh tools for measuring the protection. The
third portion contains two main themes, “Threats & Violence Against Journalists and
Its Effects”, and “Protection of Journalists & Sources”. Scholars believed that
improved theorizing of journalists’ safety can only be done through the facts-based
empirical knowledge. It exhibits that a new and vital interdisciplinary research field
is emerging. The last section includes relevant statistics to devise a knowledge
database regarding journalists’ safety.
Under the framework of New Institutionalism Theory, Jamil (n. d.) surveyed 75
Pakistani male/female journalists from 22 media outlets and five major ethnicities
(Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pashto & Urdu Speaking) to access journalists safety in
Pakistan. A highest number (92%) reported physical risks (killings/torture/injury),
87% reported psychological risks (org./govt. force of censoring news/litigation) 97%
affirmed financial risks (job insecurity & low pay) and 87% informed about social
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 106
and emotional risks (depression/fear/anxiety). Such fears badly affect journalists’
performance. Results also revealed that investigative journalists are targeted in most
cases, and according to the UN, around 71 journalists and media-related staffers
were killed in Pakistan since 2001 up to 2015 in the line of duty.
Ashraf and Brooten (n.d) investigated the gruesome security challenges confronted
by the Pakistani tribal journalists in the wake of armed conflict between the
Pakistani forces and the militant groups, drone attacks and the US-led ISAF anti-
Taliban actions in Afghanistan. Displaced tribal journalists in in-depth interviews
rated the peculiar administrative status of the tribal area as the worst threat, which
has led to passivity in officials’ receptivity, institutional apathy and subdued
approach before the militants. Seeking help from authorities is useless and even
dangerous to avert threats. Journalists had to negotiate with the local power brokers,
took risky decisions, and journalistic ethics were compromised. They also suffered
from massive emotional strains, mental disorders, insomnia and drug addiction.
They reported the following two types of threats:
Reporters’ murder brings a strong warning for journalists to be conformed to the
warring parties. It is also the expression of anger for no pro-coverage or anti-
coverage. Another risk to the families of tribal journalists is in terms of abduction,
attack on homes or killing their family members. With a neo-liberal approach, the
media use the best potential and capabilities of reporters to dig-out vital and valuable
information, but leave them at the mercy of circumstances, and shift on them, the
entire load of responsibility for the safety and well-being of their-self and family
members. While dealing with the local journalists, although warring parties, both the
security apparatuses and militant factions use identical tactics.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 107
2.17 Press-Government Relations in Pakistan (Experiences & Observations
of Some Veteran Journalists/Personalities)
As a practicing journalist, Aziz (1991), (English version by Khalid Hasan, 2008), in
his memoirs, articulated a clumsy picture of the Pakistani Press and its relations with
different governments, since the birth of the country in 1947 up-to 1990. Having
faced all oddities in journalistic profession in a country like Pakistan, he inferred
dual meanings from the title of his work-Stop Press-A Life in Journalism: First, …a
story that arrives late,...(and) the editor include(s) its important information in the
space remaining under the “Stop Press” heading; second, in the context of undying
volatile political situation in Pakistan, and unlimited restraints on journalism, the
term “Stop Press” stands for the attempts made in countries like Pakistan, where
political upheavals and military coups are the norm, to prevent a journalist from
expressing his opinion.
Aziz cited the earliest attempts to censor and omit certain pieces about citizens’
rights and religious beliefs, from the Quaid-i-Azam’s 11 August 1947 speech, during
his life-time. He recorded that the “Press Advice” system was formally initiated by
Khawaja Shahabuddin, Information Minister in the cabinet of Premier Liaqat Ali
Khan, and the pre-censorship, press advice system and all other press curbing
methods also prevailed during Governor General Ghulam Muhammad and President
Iskander Mirza’s eras. Ayub Khan further choked the press through the launch of
Press & Publication Ordinance (PPO). Aziz also quoted the event, while he was
editor of Daily Jang Karachi during Ayub’s martial law, and one night, he was
picked up from his residence by the military persons and grilled by a local martial
law administrator. During General Yahya Khan’s era, Aziz recounted the climax of
the 1971 East Pakistan Crisis, when a full black-out of information prevailed in
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 108
Pakistan, and no credible news source was available. Journalists had to rely on
official press notes and releases.
Aziz asserted that the Pakistani press has been targeted from all fronts, and in this
backdrop, he mentioned a meeting with the then Chief Election Commissioner and
Chief Justice Lahore High Court during Zia era, Maulvi Mushtaq Hussain, who had
also sentenced Z.A. Bhutto to death. Aziz found him very arrogant and biased, who
also threatened him as such:
“You perhaps do not know that journalists in this country are mortally afraid of me. I
have punished a couple of them for contempt of court…I want to warn you that you
may be a journalist, but if you don’t take care, you will get it in the neck”... (Aziz, &
Ḥasan, 2008).
Aziz said that whenever a military government had taken power in Pakistan, it had
found the media compliant, because newspaper owners are more interested in
financial gain than in principles. He summed up his thoughts about the solid linkage
of press, government and politicians as, that the champions of the press freedom
remain silent, whenever they reach the corridors of power.
Khurshid (1963) traced a brief history of journalism in the human society, invention
and development of the printing press and origination of journalism in Europe and in
the Sub-continent in the 18th century, by some defiant employees of the East India
Company. He also highlighted the services of some renowned and pioneer
journalists, evaluated a number of prominent newspapers & magazines, analyzed
press related laws, rules & regulations, critically appraised press and government
relations &issues of press freedom in the pre-partitioned India, and in the post-
independence Pakistan up to 1963.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 109
Khurshid used the historical and analytical procedure to explain various aspects of
the press in the British India and in post-1947 Pakistan. He only evaluated the print
media (newspapers, magazines) journalists, owners and relevant rules & regulations,
as electronic media in the form of radio, was only introduced in late 1930s in India,
which was not so much in common use even up to the 1960s. After having reviewed
the press-government relations from 1947 to 1963, he noticed some growth of the
press in military regimes as compared to the civilian set-ups and remarked that,
though martial law regime is not a welcoming and laudable act, however, (after
looking into the history of press in Pakistan), it is obvious that newspapers have
somehow benefitted from military regimes in this country.
As a working journalist, Niazi (1987) in his first book “The Press in Chains”
accumulated at length, acts of successive regimes (The British before 1947, &
afterwards, Pakistani civilian & martial law rules), to make the journalists
subservient, and restrict press freedom to the lowest. He followed an objective
approach testifying and chronicling eyewitness accounts, tracing & digging out all
relevant facts from stocks of newspapers records and official files to compile a
treasure of significant material on the history of press-government relations, and
brutal control on freedom of expression in Pakistan and war against the press.
Niazi initiated with assessing the press in India in the 18th century, the heydays of
East India Company, followed by the British Raj in India up to 1947, which was also
full of persecution of the press and journalists. He termed that “Hickey’s journal had
founded the fighting spirit and non-conformist nature of the Indian press and then
the Muslim Press became a vanguard of the freedom movement, and operated as a
crusader against the British rulers”. Niazi paid tribute to Quaid-i-Azam, who, as a
practicing lawyer prior to 1947, appeared before courts to contest the cases of
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 110
journalists, and never interfered in its affairs in his brief period of Governor
Generalship.
Niazi lamented that the Public Safety Ordinance, introduced just one month after
Quaid’s death and legitimized as Public Safety Act in 1952, was markedly used
against the press, editors and journalists in 1950s. He opined that actions against the
press in Pakistan have always been taken, depended and even lauded in the name of
supreme national interest, religion, ideology of Pakistan, and many other pretexts.
Newspapers were suspended, fined, closed and journalists were detained on petty
reasons, minute omissions and tolerable dissent.
Niazi referred to the nationalization the Progressive Papers Limited (PPL) on 18
April, 1959, which later turned as mouth-piece of the rulers. Besides, the long-ailing
Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) was also nationalized on 15 June 1961. He
lamented that despite having faced the worst anguish of East Pakistan in 1971,
Bhutto did not spare the press to go its own way during his civil rule. Niazi
maintained that his work (The Press in Chains) was a cause of the startling assault
on the press by a civilian rule. Moreover, the press and journalists also became as
agents of regimes, propagated their personal agendas and the masses were ignored.
Hence he inferred: “So journalists are spoon-fed and have to accept whatever is
dished out by the authorities which they gulp down without a murmur.
By “The Press Under Siege” Niazi (1992) connoted, the Pakistani press and
journalists community as under constant threat from, and a soft target of the non-
state actors, obviously some of them sponsored by the state institutions like political
activists, students organizations, religious outfits, ethnic factions, sectarian bands
and other pressure groups”. Apart from hand cupping by the state, the press and
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 111
newsmen in Pakistan has also been arm-twisted by the street power. Niazi chronicled
in a systematic way, a vast array of incidents about the atrocious acts and vandalism
of the press by non-state actors. He argued that alongside the age of information, the
epoch of terrorism, fanaticism and extremism also dawned and the Press (media) and
journalists are widely affected by these phenomena.
In this backdrop, Niazi regarded journalism as, “a dangerous profession ....those
who live by the pin risk dying by a gun”. Starting from the times of British India, he
said that, “until 1799, there were no press related laws in the Sub-continent except
censorship. The only fear for the pressmen was physical assault, or the law of libel.
He cited the first-ever journalist, Maulvi Muhammad Baqar, editor of Delhi Urdu
Akhbar, murdered in 1857, Maulana Mazharuddin of Daily Wahdat, Delhi,
assassinated in 1938, and Abdul Jabbar Waheedi, editor of Asr-e-Jadeed, killed in
1946, and detention of many journalists. Niazi also mentioned communal and
religious rift within the pre-partitioned Indian press, and its major instance of
ransacking the Dawn office at Delhi by a Hindu mob, on 6 September 1947.
Niazi recorded scores of events of attacks on the press, journalists, editors and other
press staff in Pakistan in the post-partitioned era, and compiled around 236 such
events from 1947 to 1992, which were reported in the press. All other unreported
anti-press incidents are exempted from this count. According to Niazi, the first big
offensive against the press occurred in 1952, when in East Pakistan, the Morning
News going against the popular demand for giving official statue to Bengali
language, was set ablaze by a student mob; the first newsman, who was assassinated
after independence in a firing incident in 1965, was Zamir Qureshi of PPA (then
PPI), and the first bullet against the newspaper offices in Pakistan was fired during
the height of anti-Ayub Khan movement in 1968. Niazi opined that, 10 March 1969
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 112
was perhaps the blackest day in the history of the print media, when student’s mobs
stormed in to the PPI offices in Lahore and Karachi.
Niazi quoted dozens of excerpts from news stories, editorials, journalists, editors and
press bodies statements & resolutions, protests, recommendations of fact finding
commissions, findings of inquiries etc. He narrated dozens of anti-press incidents of
hate speeches, protests, threatening statements, ultimatums, attacks on newspapers
offices, setting ablaze media offices, smashing newspapers delivery vans, abusing,
beating, injuring & killing journalists, crafting fake cases against the press &
journalists etc. He listed 19 journalists, who were murdered from 1963 to 1992 while
performing their duties. Niazi, in particular, listed with brief detail, more than 100
anti-press incidents from 21 March to 31 December 1991.
Niazi deduced that perhaps, all of the press barons take pride in their “proclaimed
independence” which is utterly hollow and superfluous. They are neither above
politics, nor above partisan politics of their vested interests. He labeled the long-
lasting war against the press and journalists by the non-state actors as “censorship in
the streets”, “the shackles of fear”, and “an unending siege”. He also used the axiom
of the “carpetbaggers” for the disguised agents of spy agencies inside the press,
partisan pressmen, lifafa (envelope) journalists-who receive money from regimes,
politicians, influential organizations, powerful elite etc. and those who remain loyal
to each and every government.
The Web of Censorship (1994), a sequel to Zamir Niazi’s early books "The Press in
Chains" and "The Press Under Siege" continued to record the sufferings and
humiliations to which the press and journalists in Pakistan had been subjected by
various civilian and military regimes. Under the title, “The Web of Censorship”,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 113
published in 1994, the veteran journalist ventured onto new ground of the press, that
is made of latest generation of Pakistani journalists. Niazi compiled in detail, the
horrific effects of state’s intimidation on the press and journalists in Pakistan.
Ghumman (2016) made a descriptive and critical analysis of the origin, growth and
functioning of some key Urdu and English languages newspapers of Pakistan; a brief
history and important aspects of the provincial press; and salient features, and merits
& demerits of some well-known Pakistani columnists. The significant aspect of
Media-government relations during various regimes in Pakistan has also been
reflected in his work. In order to dig-out firsthand information from the primary
resources, Ghumman, with the technique of Elite Interview, got detailed views of
some famous journalists, editors-turned-media-lords and columnists, who were
selected conveniently, and at random. In interviews with the author, their views on
press/media-government relations in Pakistan are briefly given below.
Majeed Nizami, former Editor-in-Chief of the daily “Nawa-i-Waqt” shared his
journalistic experiences, history and role of Nawa-i-Waqt, and its relations with
various Pakistani regimes alleging that, his father and founder of the daily Nawa-i-
Waqt, Hameed Nizami died because of relentless pressure exerted by the Ayub’s
regime. Being a rightist, Majeed Nizami also criticized Z. A. Bhutto, and deplored
him for his political slogan of “Islamic Socialism” and stoppage of government
advertisements to the daily Nawa-i-Waqt.
Arif Nizami, founder of the daily “Pakistan Today” informed that Nawa-i-Waqt was
launched by his father, late Hameed Nizami at the behest of Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in order to provide a platform of press to the ordinary Indian
Muslims for their mass mobilization in the struggle for Pakistan. Apart from citing
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 114
other events of press-government relations in Pakistan, Arif Nizami specifically
mentioned about Nawa-i-Waqt’s criticism of the Provincial government of Daultana
in Punjab, which led to the continuous suppression and subsequent closure of the
daily.
Renowned journalist and Chairman of Pakistan Group of Publications, Sardar Khan
Niazi disclosed numerous press-government related intra-press and inter-media
disputes, litigations, allotment of plots to journalists for residential and office-
purposes, issues of bank loans etc. and the captivity of Sultan Ali Lakhani, owner of
the Express Media Group by the Musharraf’s regime. Sardar Khan Niazi also
informed about receiving of perpetual threats from several quarters owing to rising
of some important issues by him in the press, and before the apex judiciary.
Prominent Journalist and Opinionist, Mujib ur Rahman Shaami highlighted in detail,
affairs of the daily Pakistan, Nawaz Government (1990s)’s worse relations with the
Jang Group and the daily Pakistan and role of judiciary in intra-press and inter-
media disputes. He also elaborated his stringent relations with Mr. Bhutto, and
friendly ties with Zia’s regime, and talked about the press advice system, the use of
official ads as a media-controlling tool, the issue of Wage Board Award, and non-
compliance with the media code of conduct and media ethics in Pakistan.
Another famous journalist and columnist, Abbas Athar remarked about the role of
the press during the East Pakistan Crisis (1971), press-government relations during
the regimes of Yahya, Bhutto, Zia, Benazir, Nawaz and Musharraf, and elaborated
his own detention by the Zia’s regime and closure of his newspaper “Masawaat”. He
also criticized needless media activism and dominating role & aggressive behavior
of TV anchors, that emerged in Pakistan after 2007.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 115
Columnist and founder of the Liberty Papers, Zia Shahid argued that, the financer or
sponsor actually uses the media for his personal interests. He also mentioned the rift
between the daily Khabrian and the then PPP’s government in 1990s, which resulted
stoppage of official ads to the newspaper. He opined that the Pakistani media are not
free, as all regimes use official ads as a prime tool to influence the media in their
favour and market forces also influence the media.
Columnist and editor, Nazir Naji talked about his detention and closure of his
newspaper “Hayat” during Zia’s regime, his unfriendly ties with the government of
Benazir Bhutto, and good relations with Nawaz’s regime in 1990s. He admitted
change in his stance from principled journalism to compromised journalism owing to
several decades-long sufferings and realizing ground realities, obtaining plots, and
getting jobs for his two sons from the government. He criticized irresponsible
behaviour of reporters, journalists and anchors in the current media scenario.
Prominent columnist and analyst, Hassan Nisar remembered his detention during the
Zia’s martial law, realized prevalence of abundant confusion, emotionalism,
immaturity and exaggeration in the media, chiefly in Urdu Press, and in overall
national narrative of Pakistan. He strongly advocated urgent, rational and scientific-
based radical changes in journalism, politics and in society of Pakistan.
Ghumman also reproduced some interesting extracts from columns of renowned
columnists and Anchors, Hamid Mir and Javed Chaudhry regarding a dispute
between the Nawaz’s Government and a politician-turned-journalist and owner of
the Urdu daily “Pakistan” Akbar Ali Bhatti, which ultimately led to the loss of the
newspaper’s ownership by the latter.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 116
2.18 Theoretical Framework
In order to understand the complex dynamics of media-government relations,
scholars have used a myriad of research methods and theoretical perspectives. This
research work has been undertaken under the framework of Framing theory.
According to Goffman (1974) frames are schema of interpretations used by an
individual to contextualize the information. Entman (1993) stressed the role of media
in framing of issues with four key functions i.e. (i) selecting some aspects of a
perceived reality, making them more salient in a communicating text to promote a
particular problem definition, (ii) a causal interpretation, (iii) a moral evaluation and,
(iv) a treatment recommendation. Norris (1995) describes frames as cognitive
schemata, because journalists commonly work with news frames to simplify,
prioritize, and structure the narrative flow of events.
Framing are further classified as Media frames and Individual frames. Media frames
are composed of the central idea of the communication that provides meaning to
everyday reality. Gamson and Modigliani (as cited in Donsbach, 2015) viewed that
Individual frames are mentally stored clusters of ideas that guide individual’s
processing of information. Media frames and individual frames must share some
commonality to get the desired effect. Iyengar (1992) also conceived the episodic
and thematic news frames. The episodic frames portray public issues with concrete
instances, while the thematic frames put the public issues with some more general
contexts. The former are aimed at laying responsibility on the people and the later
promote a balanced narrative.
Burscher, Odijk, Vliegenthart, De Rijke & De Vreese (2014) recorded four popularly
used news frames i.e. the conflict, the human interest, the morality, and the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 117
economic frames. Semetko and Valkenburg (2000) in a study titled “Framing
European Politics: A Content Analysis of Press and Television News” located
attribution of responsibility, conflict, economic consequence, human interest and
morality frames. This study will focus on two generic frames, (responsibility &
conflict), taken from above Model, and some issue-specific frames i.e. pro-
government, pro-media, anti-government, anti-media and facilitation.
Slant, also very significant in framing analysis, means a particular way of showing
or looking at something. Cambridge on-line Dictionary defines slant as “to present
information in a particular way especially showing one group of people, one side of
an argument, etc. in such a positive or negative way that is unfair”. Slant
characterizes individual news reports and editorials in which the framing favours one
side over the other in a current or potential dispute (D'angelo, 2002). After appraisal
of relevant literature, the following hypotheses have been developed.
Hypotheses
H-1 It is more likely that the situation of media-government relations in Pakistan
during the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf remained worse than
that of the two civilian regimes of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.
H-2 It is more likely that the military regime of Pervez Musharraf was more
criticized by the media than that of the two civilian governments of Asif
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.
H-3 It is more likely that there existed significant difference in media-government
relations during all the three regimes of Pervez Musharraf, Asif Zardari &
Nawaz Sharif.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 118
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Methodology
Keeping in view nature of the topic and length of the study period, a blend of
quantitative and qualitative content techniques has been used in this work, as it is
very much in practice in the field of mass media research throughout the world.
Neuendorf (2016) while referring to many scholars stated that Content method has
remained the fastest growing technique of research in the area of mass
communication for the last more than 70 years. Wimmer and Dominick, (2010)
quoted Kamhavi and Weaver (2003), revealing that content analysis was the most
popular data gathering method reported in major mass communication journals
between 1995 and 1999. Its use is still very extensive in the media & communication
as well as in other social sciences disciplines.
Writing a piece of letter, or delivering a speech over a specific topic is a simplest
form and daily basis use of content analysis, as it is a conscious and purposeful
selection of words, sentences, and themes from the vast array of knowledge.
However, Content method as an intellectual approach for specialized research
purposes is a sophisticated and complex course. Although initially practiced by H.D
Lasswell in 1927 to analyze propaganda in mass media (Macnamara, 2005),
Berelson formally introduced content technique in 1952, in the field of
communication research, and authored the first general textbook on the subject.
Berelson (1952) defined Content method as “a technique for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of
communication.” Holsti (as cited in McNabb, D.E. 2013), described this technique
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 119
as to make inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified
characteristics of messages. Stemler (2001) characterized content approach a
systematic and replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer
content categories based on explicit rules of coding. Krippendorff (2018) identified
content procedure as “a research technique for making replicable and valid
inferences from texts or other meaningful matter to the context of their use.”
Content analysis has been broadly categorized into Quantitative and Qualitative
forms. In quantitative content analysis, features of textual, visual, or aural material
are systematically categorized and recorded so that they can be analyzed (Coe &
Scacco, 2017). It is effectively applicable to every kind of content in order to analyze
the manifest as well as the latent meaning inside the body of content. Manifest
content refers to the visible, countable components of the message. Latent content is
the meaning that may lie behind the manifest content (Rose, Spinks & Canhoto,
2014). This procedure involves a well-structured classification and a systematic
scheme of coding of the content in order to deduce conclusions from the message’s
body.
Alongside its quantitative version, qualitative content approach is also practiced in
research these days in order to overcome some inherent flaws of the former one.
Merely counting of words, sentences and items, measuring the space occupied by
written content in a document, calculating the time in seconds, minutes & hours
consumed by an audio, or inferring from various acts and postures performed by a
character in a video, may not be the exact meaning of the message intended for.
Most of the times, application of quantified content technique in isolation, ignores
the specific social context of the message. Moreover, the data produced with the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 120
quantified content can be easily manipulated by several statistical procedures, and
hence, meanings in the massage can be changed which may further lead to wrong
conclusions. On the other side, qualitative approach generates typologies,
descriptions, views, and expressions of message sources to depict how they look at
the social realm (Berg, 2001). Thus, the researchers and common people can easily
understand the initial and original viewpoints of the message’s pioneers.
Various scholars have defined Qualitative content analysis from various aspects.
Mayring, (2000) termed Qualitative technique as “an approach of empirical,
methodological controlled analysis of texts within their context of communication,
following content analytic rules and step by step models, without rash
quantification.” Patton, (2002) identified this approach as a qualitative data reduction
and sense-making effort that takes a volume of qualitative material (content), and
attempts to identify core consistencies and meanings. Hsieh & Shannon, (2005)
defined it as “a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of
text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying
themes or patterns”.
The above definitions clearly indicate that the qualitative form of content
methodology is an accumulative and very elaborative approach to investigate a
specific content. Quantitative content analysis usually neglects syntactical and
semantic information in the content or text (Weber, 1990), whereas, qualitative
content analysis, mainly used in other fields like anthropological, sociological, and
psychological sciences, is usually meant to discover the original and core meanings,
which are hidden inside the body of messages.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 121
Being an ongoing practice, many researchers advise the application of textual,
descriptive or qualitative analysis along-side the quantitative continent method in
order to get the social, syntactical as well as the semantic information of the
investigated content supported by figures and facts in the shape of quantitative data.
As advocated by Mayring (2004), data for the quantitative content analysis of this
study has been properly selected through application of probability sampling of
“Constructed Week” so that validity of statistical inference could be ensured. On the
other hand, for application of qualitative approach of content analysis in the study,
the relevant data has been obtained through “Purposive sampling” to provide
answers to the research questions which are being investigated, and to cross-check
the quantitative results.
3.2 Research Designs
This study has been conducted through the application of both forms (quantitative &
qualitative) of content research design to investigate relations of the media with the
governments of former Presidents Pervez Musharraf, Asif Zardari and the then
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. At first, Quantitative Content Research Design has
been described.
3.2-A Quantitative Content Research Design
3.2.1 Population
The entire Urdu and English Newspapers of Pakistan, which were regularly
published during the terms of all the three regimes, constitute population for the
Quantitative research design of the study.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 122
3.2.2 Sampling
Cognizant of the topic’s scope and purpose of this research work, and in order to
ensure maximum representation of Pakistan’s Print media, a mix of Urdu and
English languages newspapers has been opted under the purview of Purposive
sampling. These are the main, well-reputed and widely circulated newspapers of
Pakistan (Peshimam, 2013). This purposive sampling is comprised of four
newspapers (two each in English & Urdu languages), the English Daily “Dawn,
Islamabad Edition” from the Herald Media Group, the English Daily “The News
International, Islamabad Edition” from the Jang Group, the Urdu Daily “Nawa-i-
Waqt, Rawalpindi/Islamabad Edition” from the Nawa-i-Waqt Group and the Urdu
Daily “Express, Islamabad Edition” from the Express Media Group. All these are the
leading media groups of Pakistan, because, apart from publishing daily newspapers,
they also own TV Channels (Mezzera & Sial, 2010).
3.2.3 Time Frame
Time frame for this study is comprised of five (05) years each for every government.
The total period for all the three regimes is 15 years, which starts from 1 January
2003, and ends on 2 June 2018. This includes a five years slot from the era of Pervez
Musharraf starting from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2007 wherein, a so-called
controlled democracy had been restored after General Elections held on 10 October
2002; the era of Asif Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from 1 April 2008 to 31
March 2013; and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, (PML-N)
regime, from 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2018. Short terms of two interim and non-
political governments, meant for ruling the country during the election campaign,
elections day and power transition period, (1 January 2008 to 31 March 2008 & 1
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 123
April 2013 to 31 May 2013) falling during this period, have been excluded from the
time frame of the study.
Sample from a population of 05 years of newspapers issues from each government
was taken, as the issue of Media-government relations in a third-world country like
Pakistan, is very much complex and unpredictable. Historically, the political
situation in Pakistan has always remained very much volatile, and there prevails a
general uncertainty in economic, political and social spheres (Syed, 2018). The
history of last 72 years (up to 2019) of Pakistan is witness to the fact that this
country experienced abrupt and unpredictable political upheavals (Salik, 2015) &
(Javaid & Latif, 2017). Sample size was kept fairly large to overcome the
shortcomings of yearly cyclic variations in data, and make it true representative of
the relevant population. To avoid the time consuming task of going through the
entire published issues of the selected newspapers, to ensure true representation of
data in sampling size, and avoid over or under-representation due to daily-basis and
cyclic variation in content, the required data for quantitative content analysis was
collected through the technique of “Constructed Week Sampling”.
3.2.4 The Technique of Constructed Week
In the realm of texts, as compared to other publications, the daily newspapers
attained more attention and traditional dominance in mass media research due to
several factors, like low-price, plentiful and daily publication, variety of news,
convenient availability, large readership etc. Hence, analysis of newspaper’s content
requires more care in sampling efficiency studies. In order to be mindful of the
daily-basis variations in newspapers content due to different preferences of various
audiences’ strata and socio-economic priorities of the newspapers management, the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 124
“Constructed Week Technique” was introduced to give equal representation to all
days of a week or weeks in a sampling frame. The shape and quantity of the media
content is mostly affected due to periodical variations in advertising and information
gathering, that affect space and time available for the content (Riffe, Aust & Lacy,
1993).
In Convenient or Simple Random Sampling, no care is taken about daily-basis
variation in newspaper content, which may lead to over or under representation of a
particular day’s content. However, the sampling procedure of Constructed Week
assumes cyclic variation of content for different days of the week and requires that
all the different days of the week must be represented (Riffe et al., 1993). This
technique in Content research was first introduced by Stempel in 1951 (Westley &
Stempel, 1981). Hester and Dougall, (2007) also posit that “samples chosen through
the Constructed Week procedure usually tend to yield more efficient estimations in
comparison with the simple random or consecutive day samples”.
The technique of Constructed Week has equally been used for small sample size
studies like Six-day sample (20%) from a population of one month (30 days), and for
very large sample size comprised of many years. To explore the effectiveness of this
technique of sampling for content analysis of on-line news, Hester & Dougall,
(2007) found that sample size of at least six constructed weeks was equally effective
and enough for two different time periods of one and five years. Lacy, Riffe,
Stoddard, Martin and Chang (2000) explored usefulness in selecting a representative
sample of 05 years of newspaper editions. Danker (2008) also applied a Constructed
Week sample for analysis of a daily newspaper’s news items for a period of 05
years, and each constructed week contained seven issues of newspaper, one from
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 125
each day of different weeks. Riffe et al., (1993) viewed that the strategy for sampling
editions of daily newspaper over long time periods, such as 100 years, would depend
on a variety of factors such as selection of the topic, purpose of the study, nature of
research questions or hypotheses etc.
In light of recommended practices of Constructed Week Sampling, the 15 years
study period was equally divided into three (03) uniform parts of five (05) years.
Coincidentally, each part of five years is equal to a complete Constitutional term of
an elected government in Pakistan. In each term (05 years), all months of every year
were selected for data collection through the constructed week sampling. From the
very first week of the starting month, Sunday was made as a starting point with
selection of the newspapers issues of day. In the next week, newspapers issues of the
following alternate day (i.e. Monday) were selected. This sequence and rotation of
day in each week was maintained throughout the entire period. The following table
explains the selection of days and construction of weeks:
Table 3.1
Selection of Days and Construction of Weeks
Period Actual
Weeks
Actual
Days
Newspapers
Publishing Days
Selected
Days
Selected
Weeks
Week 01 07 07 01 00
Month 04 30/31 30/31 (Excpt. Feb.) 04 00
01 Year 52 365 355* 48 07
05 Years 260 1825 1775 240 34
15 Years 780 5475 5325 720 102
*In Pakistan, daily newspapers are published for 355 days in a full Solar Calendar year.
Newspapers usually observe 10 Closed-days (Holidays) on account of Islamic Religious
Festivals falling in accordance with Lunar Calendar on 10 Muharram, 12 Rabi-ul
Awwal, 1 & 2 day of Eid-ul-Fitr, 1 & 2 day of Eid-ul-Azha and National Days on
05 February, 23 March, 14 August, and 25 December. Newspapers on subsequent
days/dates are not published (APNS & PPI, 2018 &2019).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 126
For each regime, a sample size of 240 was selected out of the total 1775 publishing
days of newspapers in 05 years. Qualtrics on-line Calculator suggests an ideal
sample size of 235 for the population of 1775 with a confidence level of 90%, which
is much close to 240. The selected sample of 240 is 13.52% of the total population of
1775 days, which is also equal to 34 weeks out of 240 weeks.
3.2.5 Delimitations of the Study
Media-government relations are a world-wide issue, but this study only pertains to
Pakistan which has a long 72 years’ history of Media/Press-government relations (up
to 2019). The topic has been furthered delimited to the three regimes of Pervez
Musharraf, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif (05 years each). Population sample has
also been cut through the Constructed Week Sampling. Study’s sample has also been
curtailed to only four newspapers (two Urdu & two English) out of a total number of
399 dailies, mentioned by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (2018). Newspaper has
been further reduced by selection of only front, back, op-ed and inner pages for
analysis, and international, entertainment, sports, ads/business, classified & special,
occasional, supplements pages/sections have been excluded. Delimitation has been
made owing to the restrains of time and resources.
3.2.6 Unit of Analysis
For analysis, the basic units in this study are the newspapers items published on the
front, back, inner (city/regional/national) and op-ed (opinion/editorial) pages of the
selected newspapers regarding media-government relations in Pakistan and other
relevant matters. Headline and Intro/lead of every story has been taken as the
recording unit and the whole story has been considered as the contextual unit.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 127
3.2.7 Content Categorization Scheme (Quantitative)
Coding of categories has been made through the content categorization scheme.
Relevant thematic frames of generic nature have been taken from Semetko and
Valkenburg Model (2000). Other issue-specific frames applicable in this study have
been incorporated.
Variables/Categories and Rules
Variables Categories Rules
ID Number Each Story has been assigned a consecutive number
Periods 01-01-2003 to 31-12-2007 (The regime of General Musharraf )
01-04-2008 to 31-03-2013 (The regime of Asif Zardari)
01-06-2013 to 31-05-2018 (The regime of Nawaz Sharif)
Newspapers
(Islamabad
Editions)
Dawn (English)
The News (English)
Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu)
Express (Urdu)
Topics/
Issues/
Events
Coercion of
Media
An item will be coded as “coercion” which will
contain information as censorship, denying
access to information, media-litigation, Pemra
notices, fines, bans cancellation of declaration,
closing channels & other similar information.
Violence
against media
An item will be coded as “violence against
media” if it contains information about killings,
abduction, arrest, captivity, baton-charge,
seizure, attacks, burning of media houses,
installations & equipments and other similar
information.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 128
Facilitation of
Media
An item will be coded as “facilitation of
media” that include license issuance, discount
in taxes, capacity building trainings, financing/
construction of press clubs, insurance schemes,
compensation packages, Wage Board Award,
and all other types of incentives for the media
Media
Regulation
An item will be coded as “Media Regulation” if
it gives information on media-related
legislation, rules, laws, acts, formation of
controlling bodies, media code of ethics, right
to information law & other similar information.
Responsible
Media
An item will be coded as “Responsible Media”
which will contain information on media sense
of responsibility, adherence to laws, rules &
regulations, & media code of ethics, and other
similar information.
Irresponsible
Media
An item will be coded as “Irresponsible Media”
which contains information on irresponsible
media conduct, sensationalism, scandalism
non-adherence to laws & rules, media code of
ethics, and other similar information.
Other Item mentioning other information than above
mentioned themes will be coded as “other”.
Frames Attribution of
Responsibility
Responsibility
of the
Government
An item will be coded as “responsibility of the
government” if it is composed of information
on a problem in media-government relations,
for which the government is responsible and it
can alleviate or resolve the problem.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 129
Responsibility
of the Media
Items will be coded as “responsibility of the
media” if they carry information on a
problem/issue in media-government relations,
for which the media are responsible and may
alleviate/resolve the problem.
Conflict An item will be coded as “conflict” if it is
composed of information about a conflict
between the media-government relations.
Facilitation Items will be coded as “Facilitation” that
include discount/relief in duties/taxes, capacity
building trainings, construction/financing of
Press clubs, insurance schemes, compensation
packages, Wage Board Award and all other
types of incentives for the media.
Pro-
government
An item will be coded as “pro-government” if
its content is praising or supporting a regime on
a subject/issue in media-government relations.
Anti-
government
An item will be coded as “anti-government” if
it is consisted of information criticizing,
blaming or denouncing the government on a
problem/issue in media-government relations.
Pro-media An item will be coded as “pro-media” if it is
composed of information which praise or
support the media/journalist on a problem or
issue in media-government relations.
Anti-Media An item will be coded as “anti-media” if it is
consisted of information criticizing, blaming or
denouncing the media on a problem or issue in
media-government relations.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 130
Slant
Favourable
Un-favourable
Neutral
An item will be coded as “favourable” if it
positively projects, appreciates the government
over media-government issues/matters.
An item will be coded as “unfavourable” if it
criticizes and negatively projects, regimes on
over media-government issues/matters.
An item will be coded as “neutral” if it remains
neutral regarding the governance issues.
Placement Front Page
Upper Half
Front Page
Lower Half
Back Page
Upper Half
Back Page
Lower Half
Inner Pages
Upper half
Inner Pages
Lower half
An item appeared on the upper half of the front
page of the newspaper regarding media-govt.
relations and other similar information will be
coded as “Upper half front page story”.
An item published on the lower half of the
front page of the newspaper regarding media-
govt. relations and other similar information
will be coded as “Lower half front page story”.
An item placed on the upper half of the back
page of the newspaper regarding media-govt.
relations and other similar information will be
coded as “Upper half back page story”.
An item printed on the lower half of the back
page of the newspaper regarding media-govt.
relations and other similar information will be
coded as “Lower half back page story”.
An item published on the upper half of inner-
pages of the newspaper regarding media-govt.
relations and other similar information will be
coded as “Inner pages upper half story”.
An item published on the lower half of inner
pages of the newspaper regarding media-govt.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 131
Op-ed Page
relations and other similar information will be
coded as “Inner pages upper half story”.
An item, editorial, column or letter published
on the opinion/editorial page of the newspaper
regarding media-govt. relations and similar
information will be coded as “op-ed page”.
Item Type
News stories,
Features,
Editorials,
Columns,
Letters to
editor &
Others
News stories, features, editorials, columns,
letters to editor & (others) regarding
information on Media-government relations
will be incorporated as the unit of analysis for
measuring the variables in the population
sample of this study.
Source of
News
Official
Private
A newspaper item credited with the official/
government source, press conference, press
release, official tweet, web-release etc. will be
treated and coded as official news source.
All the items reported and published by private
sources will be coded as private
Length of
the Story
Number of
Words
Items’ length will be identified with the total
number of words in categories as per pattern
used by the Pew Research Centre, USA (2019).
Up to 200 words…...Small,
201-500 words…….Medium,
501-1000 words……Lengthy,
1001 and above…….Very Lengthy
Frequency
of
Newspapers
Items
Will be
measured in
nominal scale
Number of newspapers items published related
to the topic will be coded as frequency
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 132
3.2.8 Coding Scheme
Rules for selected categories have already been defined in Content Categorization
Scheme. Code numbers to the categories have been assigned below:
1. Variable-Regime (VR): Names and code numbers of Regimes
Name of Regime Regularly Used Acronym Assigned Code
General Pervez Musharraf Musharraf VRM 01
Asif Ali Zardari Zardari VRZ 02
Nawaz Sharif Nawaz VRN 03
2. Variable-Period of Regime (VPR): Code numbers of Regimes
Period (05 Years Each) Name of Regime Acronym Assigned Code
1 January 2003 to
31 December, 2007
Musharraf VPRM 01
1 April 2008 to
31 March, 2013
Zardari VPRZ 02
1 June 2013 to
31 May, 2018
Nawaz VPRN 03
3. Variable-News Impulsion (VI): It is the elucidation of event or issue.
News Impulsion Acronym Assigned Code
Event based VNIEB 01
Issue based VNIIB 02
4. Variable-News Source (VNS): Which Source generated the story?
News Source Acronym Assigned Code
Official VNSO 01
Private VNSP 02
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 133
5. Variable-Name of Newspapers (VN): Names & code numbers of selected
Newspapers.
Newspaper and Regime Regularly Used Acronym Assigned Code
Daily Dawn (English)-
Musharraf
Dawn VNDEM 01
Daily Dawn (English)-
Zardari
// VNDEZ 02
Daily Dawn (English)-
Nawaz
// VNDEN 03
The News (English)-
Musharraf
The News VNNEM 04
The News (English)-
Zardari
// VNNEZ 05
The News (English)-
Nawaz
// VNNEN 06
The Express (Urdu)-
Musharraf
Express VNEUM 07
The Express (Urdu)-
Zardari
// VNEUZ 08
The Express (Urdu)-
Nawaz
// VNEUN 09
The Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu)-
Musharraf
Nawa-i-Waqt VNNUM 10
The Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu)-
Zardari
// VNNUZ 11
The Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu)-
Nawaz
// VNNUN 12
6. Variable-Slant (VS): Inclination of the Story (Favorable, Unfavorable or
Neutral for media-government relationship)
Slant Acronym Assigned Code
Favorable VSF 01
Unfavorable VSUF 02
Neutral VSN 03
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 134
7. Variable-Topics (VT): Topics based on issues and events.
Issues/Events Regularly Used Acronym Assigned Code
Coercion of Media Coercion VTC 01
Violence against Media Violence VTV 02
Facilitation of Media Facilitation VTF 03
Regulation of Media Regulation VTR 04
Responsible Media Responsible VTRM 05
Irresponsible Media Irresponsible VTIM 06
Other (topic/issue) Other VTO 07
8. Variable-Genre (VG): It is a type of Story. Code assigned to all genres.
Genre Acronym Assigned Code
Editorial VGE 01
Columns VGC 02
News Story VGS 03
Feature VGF 04
Letter to Editor VGR 05
Other VGRO 06
9. Variable-Length of Story (VLS) (gauged in words count): How many words
are in item?
Length of Story Acronym Assigned Code
Up to 200 words- Small VLSS 01
201-500 words- Medium VLSM 02
501-1000 words- Lengthy VLSL 03
1001 and above-V. Lengthy VLSVL 04
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 135
10. Variable-Placement (VP): Section of newspaper where the story is placed.
Placement on Page Acronym Assigned Code
Front Page -Upper Half VPFUH 01
Front Page -Lower Half VPFLH 02
Back Page Upper Half VPBUH 03
Back Page Lower half VPBLH 04
Inner Pages- Upper Half VPIUH 05
Inner Pages - Lower half VPILH 06
Op-ed Page VPOE 07
11. Variable-Frame (VF): Thematic frames of generic nature have been taken from
Semetko and Valkenburg Model (2000), i.e. responsibility, conflict, facilitation
and morality. Some issue-specific frames such as pro-government, anti-
government & pro-media and anti-media have been incorporated.
Frames Acronym Assigned Code
Responsibility of
Government
VFRG 01
Responsibility of Media VFRM 02
Conflict VFC 03
Facilitation VFF 04
Pro-government VFPG 05
Anti-government VFAG 06
Pro-media VFPM 07
Anti-Media VFAM 08
3.2-B Qualitative Content Research Design
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 136
The qualitative approach of content analysis has also been applied to investigate and
explain narratives used in the reports of some relevant local and global media bodies
chosen for this study to ascertain the social, syntactical as well as the semantic
context of information. Majority of research scholars are agreed, that no precise and
standard form of methodology for conducting qualitative content research has been
discovered so far. The currently in-practice qualitative content procedures have
either been defined very poorly, or discussed vaguely. McKee (2004) noted that
Textual (qualitative content) Analysis is the core methodology in social sciences, but
there exists not even a single clear-cut published guide book explaining how to carry
out it. Many of researchers have even termed its application as a transgression, as it
is still largely intuitive. Scientific validity of this procedure is highly questionable, as
it very difficult to be precisely replicated.
Despite all deficits, Macnamara (2005) revealed that some qualitative research
techniques are mentioned by Denzin and Lincoln (1994); Hijams (1996); Mayring
(2000); Patton (2002); Robson (1993); and Silverman (1993). Hilger (2007) noted
that a horde of research scholars only rely on qualitative analyses; their number is a
bit short from the practitioners of quantitative method, and many in fact, execute
both procedures. Exponents of qualitative methods opine that results can be achieved
with acceptable stages of reliability and validity on the basis of some set procedures.
Newbold et al., (2002) cited two methods for text analysis of a content i.e. 1)
Narratology-focusing on the narrative or story-telling in the text, and 2)--Semiotics--
which pays attention to signs and sign systems in a text, and how a reader of the text
decodes its meanings and interpret them. In qualitative analysis of this study,
Narratology, Thematic and Semantic Analyses have been applied.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 137
3.2.9 Categorization Scheme (Qualitative)
Qualitative content approach also requires basic categorization, as it represents a
systematic and objective means of describing & quantifying phenomena (Downe-
Wamboldt, 1992). For successful content analysis, data has to be reduced to
concepts that describe the research phenomenon (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) by
creating categories, concepts, a model, conceptual system or map (Elo & Kyngäs,
2008). This process is also needed for triangulation and comparison of results of
both methods. Moreover, in order to test validity, it is mandatory to explain that how
the outcomes were generated (Elo, et al,. 2014). Readers should be able to clearly
follow the analysis and resulting conclusions (Schreier, 2012). The Inductive
Approach of Mayring (2000) has been adopted for specific and relevant examination
of formulated categories and patterns (topics, issues, events or messages) to a
broader sort of conclusion. Some frequently used key text/content elements,
suggested by many researchers and mentioned by Macnamara (2005), for qualitative
content analysis have been included here.
Variables Categories Codes Rules/Definition
Source APNS 1 Reports of All Pakistan Newspaper
Society (APNS) on media-government
relations & related issues.
CPNE 2 Reports of Council of Pakistan
Newspapers Editors (CPNE) on media-
govt. relations & related issues.
PFUJ 3 Reports of Pakistan Federal Union of
Journalists (PFUJ) on media-govt.
relations & related issues.
PPF 4 Reports of Pakistan Press Foundation
(PPF) on media-government relations &
related issues.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 138
Variables Categories Codes Rules/Definition
RSF 5 Reports of Reporters Without Borders
(RSF) on media-govt. relations in
Pakistan & related issues
IFEX 6 Reports of International Freedom of
Expression Exchange (IFEX) on media-
govt. ties in Pakistan &related issues.
Nature of
Source
National 1 A source of Pakistani origin & location.
Global 2 A source of International origin.
Source
Credibility
Highly
Credible
1 Highly credible, well-reputed &
Pakistani origin, which has direct access
to relevant information.
Credible 2 Credible & reputed, of foreign origin
which depends on information provided
by Pakistani sources.
Relationship
of News
Source
Direct Party 1 A source which is a direct party in
media-government relations in Pakistan,
(Pakistani media outlet/journalists body.
Indirect party 2 A source which is an indirect party in
media-government relations in Pakistan,
(a Pakistani media-related body /NGO).
Neutral 3 A local or foreign source which is totally
disconnected from the arena of media-
government relations in Pakistan and
similar issues.
Context Event 1 A current event pertaining to media-
government relations in Pakistan or
related events.
Issue 2 An issue about media-govt. relations in
Pakistan or related issues which exist
from quite some or long-time.
Adjectives Positive 1 Adjectives used in a content/write-up
which give strong, clear and positive
indications of a writer’s outlook towards
media-government relations in Pakistan.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 139
Variables Categories Codes Rules/Definition
Negative 2 Adjectives used in a content/write-up that
give strong, clear and negative
indications of a writer’s outlook towards
media-government relations in Pakistan.
Neutral 3 Adjectives used in content/write-up that
give clearly neutral indications of a
writer’s outlook towards media-
government relations in Pakistan.
Verbs Active 1 Active verbs used in a content/write-up
about media-govt. relations in Pakistan,
e.g. “Police baton-charged journalists”. etc.
Passive 2 Passive verbs used in a content/write-up
about media-govt. relations in Pakistan
e.g. “Newspapers van was burnt”. etc.
Viewpoint 1st person 1 Content representing some one’s
viewpoint in 1st person, e.g. “I called
upon the government to show restraint”. etc.
2nd Person 2 Content representing some one’s
viewpoint in 2nd person, e.g.
“You informed me about the event”. etc.
3rd person 3 Content representing some one’s
viewpoint point in 3rd person, e.g.
“Journalists were invited for meeting”. etc.
Tonal
Qualities Aggressive, 1 A content/write-up which expresses
strong and aggressive tone of a
writer/actor towards media-government
relations in Pakistan or similar issues.
Emotional 2 A content/write-up with strong emotional
tone of a writer/actor toward media-govt.
relations in Pakistan or similar issues.
Friendly 3 A content/write-up which clearly
expresses a friendly tone of a writer/actor
towards media-government relations in
Pakistan or similar issues.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 140
Variables Categories Codes Rules/Definition
Neutral 4 A content clearly expressing neutral tone
of a writer/actor towards media-govt.
relations in Pakistan or similar issues.
Critical 5 A content expressing a critical tone of a
writer/actor towards media-government
relations in Pakistan or similar issues.
Visual
Imagery
With Text
Pro-govt.
Projection
1 A visual imagery which depicts Pro-
government Projection of an event.
Anti-govt.
Projection
2 A visual imagery which depicts anti-
government Projection of an event.
Govt.’s
Treatment
of Media
Violence By
anonymous
Actors
1 Report about killings, injuring, extortion,
attacks, burning Media Houses, copies &
press, attacks on vehicles, houses, forced
ban/closure, On-line intimidation etc.
State’s
Violent or
Coercive
Actions
2 Report of baton-charge, tear gas shelling,
arrests, FIRs, fines, license revoking,
stoppage of TV transmission/ newspaper
publishing, libels, warnings, taxes, anti-
media statements, censorship, press
advises, ban on Journalists/Anchors,
denial of ads, anti-media legislation etc.
Court Cases 3 A report about litigation, fines,
punishments, jail & similar information.
Government’
s Facilitation
4 A report about free access to information,
health & residential facilities, supporting
press clubs, execution over Wage Board
Award, tax immunity, Accreditation
facilitation, compensation packages,
timely release of ads & clearance of dues.
Media
Behavior
Irresponsible 1 A report about media allegations, undue
criticism, character assassination, blame-
game, negative or no media coverage.
Boycott, no invitation to shows, rumors,
anti-govt. campaign, Sensationalism,
Scandalization and similar reporting.
Responsible 2 Responsible coverage, due appreciation
of govt. on pro-people actions, support
on National issues, objectivity,
impartiality, role in solving public issues.
adherence to laws & code of ethics, etc.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 141
3.2.10-a Conceptual Model/Map of Key Themes/Concepts
News Source
Categories
APNS
CP NE
PFUJ
National
Global
PPF
RSF
IFEX
Nature
Credibility
Neutral
CredibleHighly
Credible
Direct Party
Indirect Party
Relation ship
News Source
ContentTonal
Qualities
Aggressive
Anti-govt
Posture
Emotio nal
Event Issue
Nega tive
Frien dly
Neut ral
ContextAdjecti
ves
View Point
1st Person
2nd Person
Pro-govt
Posture
Visual Images
with text
3rd Person
Neut ral
Nege tive
Positive
Active
Passi ve
Verbs
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 142
3.2.10-b Conceptual Model (Key Themes/Concepts)
As suggested by Hsieh and Shannon, 2005 and Elo and Kyngäs, 2008 as a necessary
requirement, qualitative data has been further reduced to concepts which illustrate
the research phenomenon with formation of relevant categories and concepts
mentioned in above conceptual models.
News Source
Content
Letigations
Anti-media Laws
Pemra Actions
Jail
Attacks
Killings
Court Notices
Sansationalism
Anti-govt.
campaign
Burnin gs
Government's Treatment of
Media
Media's Behaviour
Compensation
packages
Facilities
RTI Law
Chatacter Assissinati
on
Irresponsi bleResponsi ble
Injuring
Police Actions
Due Covera
ge
Court Cases
State's Actions
Violence Anonymous
Govern ment's
Facilitation
Laws abiding
Objectivity
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 143
3.2-11 Population
For qualitative analysis, relevant reports of the Independent Global Media Watch-
dogs and representative bodies of Pakistani Media out-lets & bodies which were
regularly published in this period, have been taken as population of this study.
3.2-12 Sampling
From the above-said population, reports of two Global Watch-dogs on Media i.e.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and International Freedom of Expression
Exchange (IFEX), and four Pakistani organs i.e. All Pakistan Newspapers Society
(APNS), Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Federal Union
of Journalists (PFUJ) and Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) have been opted for
qualitative analysis. A brief of these Organs is given below:
i. All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS)
Earlier formed as the Pakistan Newspapers Society in 1950, the All Pakistan
Newspapers Society (APNS) is the leading organ of newspapers publishers in
Pakistan. It got its current name in 1953. Up to 2014, 402 publications were
associated with the APNS. It became a member of the World Association of
Newspapers in 2009. Executive Committee of APNS is consisted of 25
members. Three (03) seats are permanently occupied by the three largest media
groups, i.e. The Jang, Dawn, and Nawa-i-Waqt. Elections on 21 seats are held
among rest of the body’s members (Paracha & Tahir, 2012).
ii. Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE)
This representative body of the newspapers editors of Pakistan was established in
1957, in order to guard freedom of press in the country and strive for access to
information. Its headquarters is located at Karachi (CPNE, 2019).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 144
iii. Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
This body started its journey in 1967. It remained dysfunctional from 1974 to
1992. PPF is an independent non-governmental, non-profitable media
documentation & training organization, with the prime objective to protect and
promote freedom of expression and independence of the media in Pakistan. PPF
documents all events of violations against freedom of the press, state-press
relations, and all relevant matters. It also organizes media seminars and training
programmes (PPF, 2019).
iv. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)
PFUJ is the largest representative body of working journalists in Pakistan. It was
established in 1950. PFUJ is also member of the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ). PFUJ claims to be the first ever association in South Asia with
extensive representation of journalists from the entire country. It strives for better
working environment for journalists, freedom of the press, and democratic
dispensation in the country (PFUJ, 2019).
v. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Founded in 1985 in Montpellier (France), Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) is a
global not-profited, independent body which works for advocacy of freedom of
information, expression and safety of the press &journalists on global level
(Britannica, 2019). Its head-office is located at Paris (France). RSF also enjoys a
consultative status at the UN, UNESCO and Council of Europe. It runs bureau
offices in 10 other states and has correspondents in 130 countries. It regularly
releases news and updates about threats and attacks on freedom of information &
expression, assaults on media and journalists on global level, and also maintains
an Annual World Press Freedom Index (RSF, 2019).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 145
vi. International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX)
Formed in 1998, IFEX is a joint network of over 119 private, independent
organizations across the world, which works for the protection and promotion of
freedom of expression as a basic human right. Its main office is located at
Toronto, (Canada), and membership is extended over more than 70 countries.
IFEX also purposes to hold to account those to justice, who are involved in
crimes against exponents of freedom of expression (IFEX, 2019).
3.2.13 Data Collection
Targeted data of this study is composed of issues of daily newspapers, and reports of
media related Global & Pakistan-based organs on media-government relations in
Pakistan, which were published in period of the study. Newspapers data was
physically obtained through search from the Newspapers Record of the National
Library of Pakistan. Some data of newspapers was retrieved from the world’s
popular data-base Lexis-Nexis. Qualitative data was down-loaded from official
websites of respective organizations, or through other internet sources.
3.2.14 Procedures of Analysis
For analysis of data, relevant statistical apparatuses were used through application of
SPSS. The collected data was coded in nominal form and inserted to SPPS statistical
data sheet. Preliminary descriptive statistics were carried out through the simple
technique i.e.(===>Split file===>Analyze===>descriptive statistics
===>Frequencies===>& select===>Variables) to form tables, graphs and charts.
Chi-square and ANOVA tests were applied through SPSS Version 21 to test the
hypotheses. For qualitative content analysis, Nvivo::12 Plus software was used to
make nodes, codes and maps to explain relationship among relevant concepts.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 146
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
Part-1 Quantitative Data Analysis
Quantitative data of the study has been analyzed through the following tables with
the use of SPSS Version 21.
Table 4.1
Newspapers Coverage of Respective Regimes
Newspaper Regime Sample of
Days
Days with
Relative Genre
Days with No
Relative Genre
Dawn Musharraf 240 107 133
Zardari 240 110 130
Nawaz 240 118 122
The News Musharraf 240 102 138
Zardari 240 130 110
Nawaz 240 115 125
Express Musharraf 240 98 142
Zardari 240 95 145
Nawaz 240 108 132
Nawa-i-Waqt Musharraf 240 119 121
Zardari 240 100 140
Nawaz 240 87 153
Total 2880 (100.0) 1289 (44.76%) 1591 (55.24%)
Table 4.1 above shows that the total selected sample was 2880 days or 102 weeks for
all three regimes. Each newspaper’s sample for every regime was comprised of 240
days or 34 weeks. Column 04 of the table shows that out of a total sample of 2880
days, the actual number of days on which newspaper genres, related to media-
government relations appeared in respective newspaper, was 1289, i.e. 44.76% of the
total, and Column 05 indicates 1591 (55.24%) days on which no relevant genres were
published by respective newspapers. A total number of 2020 newspapers genres
appeared in 1289 days, with an average of 1.57 genres per day.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 147
Table 4.2
Regime-wise Frequency of Newspapers Genres
Regime Frequency Percent
Musharraf 761 37.7
Zardari 608 30.1
Nawaz 651 32.2
Total 2020 100.0
Table 4.2 illustrates that a sum of 2020 newspapers genres appeared in all three
regimes. The largest number i.e. 761 (37.7%) was published in Musharraf period
followed by 651 (32.2%) during Nawaz era. The smallest number i.e. 607 (30.1%)
was appeared in Zardari regime.
Table 4.3
Regime-wise Coverage by Respective Newspapers
Name of Regime Newspaper Frequency Percent
Musharraf
Dawn 201 26.4
The News 173 22.7
Express 162 21.3
Nawa-i-Waqt 225 29.6
Total 761 100.0
Zardari
Dawn 150 24.7
The News 199 32.7
Express 109 17.9
Nawa-i-Waqt 150 24.7
Total 608 100.0
Nawaz
Dawn 131 20.1
The News 226 34.7
Express 190 29.2
Nawa-i-Waqt 104 16.0
Total 651 100.0
Table 4.3 indicates that Nawa-i-Waqt did highest coverage in Musharraf era with
225 (29.6%) of the total 761 items, followed by Dawn with 201 (26.4%), and The
News with 173 (22.7%), whereas, Express published minimum genres i.e. 162
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 148
(21.3%) in Musharraf era. The News published the highest number of genres during
Zardari regime, followed by Dawn and Nawa-i-Waqt with 150 (24.7%) items each.
Express printed minimal items i.e.109 (17.9%), during Zardari regime. The News
gave highest coverage to the issue in Nawaz regime with 226 (34.7%) items
followed by Express 190 (29.2%), Dawn, 131 (20.1%), and the minimum coverage
was offered by Nawa-i-Waqt, with104 (16%) items during this regime.
Table 4.4
Newspaper-wise Frequencies of Genres
Name of
Newspaper
Regime Frequencies of
Genres
Regime-wise
Percentage
Cumulative
Percentage
Dawn Musharraf 201 41.70 9.95
Dawn Zardari 150 31.12 7.43
Dawn Nawaz 131 27.18 6.49
Total 482 100.00 23.86
The News Musharraf 173 28.93 8.56
The News Zardari 199 33.28 9.85
The News Nawaz 226 37.79 11.19
Total 598 100.00 29.60
Express Musharraf 162 35.15 8.02
Express Zardari 109 23.64 5.40
Express Nawaz 190 41.21 9.41
Total 461 100.00 22.82
Nawa-i-Waqt Musharraf 225 46.97 11.14
Nawa-i-Waqt Zardari 150 31.32 7.43
Nawa-i-Waqt Nawaz 104 27.71 5.15
Total 479 100.00 23.72
Grand Total 2020 100.00 100.00
Table 4.4 depicts the frequency of genres published by all the four selected dailies in
respective three regimes. The News published the greatest number i.e. 598 (29.60%)
of genres, followed by the daily Dawn with 482 (23.86%) items. Nawa-i-Waqt
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 149
printed 479 (23.71%) genres. The lowest number of items was published by the daily
Express, which was, 461 (22.82%).
Table 4.5
News Impulsion
News Impulsion Frequency Percent
Event Based 1086 53.8
Issues Based 934 46.2
Total 2020 100.0
Table 4.5 describes that out of total 2020 newspapers items, 1086 were event-based,
which constituted 53.8% of the total, and 934 items were issue-based, which made
46.2% of the total.
Table 4.6
Regime-wise Impulsion of Genres
Impulsion Regime Frequency Percent
Event-based
Musharraf 433 39.9
Zardari 323 29.7
Nawaz 330 30.4
Total 1086 100.0
Issue-based
Musharraf 328 35.1
Zardari 285 30.5
Nawaz 321 34.4
Total 934 100.0
Table 4.6 mentions regime-wise impulsion of genres. Out of 1086 event-based
genres, the highest number, i.e. 433 (39.9%) appeared during Musharraf regime
followed by 330 (30.4%) during Nawaz regime and 323 (29.7%), the least number
during Zardari era. The total number of issue-based genres is 934. The highest
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 150
number 328 (35.1%) appeared during Musharraf regime, followed by 321 (34.4%) in
Nawaz era. The lowest number i.e. 285 (30.5%) occurred during Zardari era.
Table 4.7
Newspaper-wise Impulsion of Genre
News Impulsion Newspaper &Regime Frequency Percent
Event-based
Dawn (Musharraf) 137 12.6
Dawn (Zardari) 88 8.1
Dawn (Nawaz) 62 5.7
The News (Musharraf) 123 11.3
The News (Zardari) 109 10.0
The News (Nawaz) 126 11.6
Express (Musharraf) 88 8.1
Express (Zardari) 62 5.7
Express (Nawaz) 111 10.2
Nawa-i-Waqt (Musharraf) 85 7.8
Nawa-i-Waqt (Zardari) 64 5.9
Nawa-i-Waqt (Nawaz) 31 2.9
Total 1086 100.0
Issues-based
Dawn (Musharraf) 64 6.9
Dawn (Zardari) 62 6.6
Dawn (Nawaz) 69 7.4
The News (Musharraf) 50 5.4
The News (Zardari) 90 9.6
The News (Nawaz) 100 10.7
Express (Musharraf) 74 7.9
Express (Zardari) 47 5.0
Express (Nawaz) 79 8.5
Nawa-i-Waqt (Musharraf) 140 15.0
Nawa-i-Waqt (Zardari) 86 9.2
Nawa-i-Waqt (Nawaz) 73 7.8
Total 934 100.0
Table 4.7 expresses newspaper-wise event and issue-based impetus of genres. Dawn
published the highest number of 137 (12.6%) event-based items followed by The
News with 123 (11.3%) genres during Musharraf era. The News printed the largest
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 151
number of 123 (11.3%) event-based genres followed by Express with 111 (10.2%)
during Nawaz Regime. The News published the highest number of 109 (10.0%)
event-based items followed by Dawn with 88 (8.1%) genres during Zardari regime.
Nawa-i-Waqt published the maximum number of 140 (15.0%) issue-based items
during Musharraf regime followed by The News with 100 (10.7%) genres during
Nawaz era. The News carried 90 (9.6%) genres followed by Nawa-i-Waqt with 86
(9.2%) during Zardari era. The News published the smallest number of 50 (5.4%)
issue-based genres during Musharrf era, and Express carried the minimum number
of 47 (5.0%) issue-based items during Zardari regime.
Table 4.8
News Source-wise Coverage of Regimes
News Source Regime Frequency Percent
Official
Musharraf (2003-2007) 70 66.7
Zardari (2008-2012) 26 24.8
Nawaz (2013-2018) 9 8.6
Private
Musharraf (2003-2007) 691 36.1
Zardari (2008-2012) 582 30.4
Nawaz (2013-2018) 642 33.5
G. Total 2020 100.0
Table 4.8 shows the source of news. Out of total 2020 items, the greatest number of
1950 (94.80%) genres was obtained from private news sources, and only 105
(5.20%) items were quoted from official sources. Furthermore, out of only 105
official-based genres, 70 (66.7%) were quoted during Musharraf era followed by 26
(24.8%) in Zardari era, and the minimum number of only 9 (8.6%) during Nawaz
regime. A vertically downward trend was noted in decline of reliance over the
official news sources by the respective newspapers. Reliance over official news
source was greater in Musharraf regime and lesser during Nawaz era.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 152
Table 4.9
Topics/Issues Covered by Newspapers
Topics/Issues Frequency Percent
Coercion 473 23.42
Violence 563 27.87
Facilitation 304 15.05
Regulation 120 5.94
Responsible Media 234 11.58
Irresponsible Media 248 12.28
Other 78 3.86
Total 2020 100.00
Table 4.9 indicates that the genres revealing violence against media dominated the
coverage with 563 (27.87%) items followed by 473 (23.42%) genres reporting
coercion of the media. The third category covered by the respective newspapers was
facilitation of the media with 304 (15.05%), followed by the category of
irresponsible media with 248 (12.28%) items, and responsible media with 234
(11.58%). The categories of topics, issues and concepts that connote deplorable
media-government relations dominated the coverage.
Categories like coercion of media, violence against media, regulation of media and
irresponsible media all predicting poor and tense media-government relations
collectively make 1404 (69.50%) of the total 2020 genres. The other categories
signifying good and normal media-government relations, like facilitation of media
and responsible media jointly form 538 (26.63%) of the total 2020 genres. This
equation clearly predicts deplorable media-government relations. Only 78 (3.86%)
items fall in the category of “other” which is the minimum and is not significant.
Results in above table provide answer to Research Questions 1 & 4 respectively.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 153
Table 4.10
Regime-wise Coverage of Topics/Issues/Events
Topics/issues/Events Regime Frequency Percent
Coercion
Musharraf (2003-2007) 222 46.9
Zardari (2008-2012) 122 25.8
Nawaz (2013-2018) 129 27.3
Total 473 100.0
Violence
Musharraf (2003-2007) 232 41.2
Zardari (2008-2012) 178 31.6
Nawaz (2013-2018) 153 27.2
Total 563 100.0
Facilitation
Musharraf (2003-2007) 141 46.4
Zardari (2008-2012) 87 28.6
Nawaz (2013-2018) 76 25.0
Total 304 100.0
Regulation
Musharraf (2003-2007) 38 31.7
Zardari (2008-2012) 34 28.3
Nawaz (2013-2018) 48 40.0
Total 120 100.0
Responsible Media
Musharraf (2003-2007) 69 29.5
Zardari (2008-2012) 90 38.5
Nawaz (2013-2018) 75 32.1
Total 234 100.0
Irresponsible Media
Musharraf (2003-2007) 32 12.9
Zardari (2008-2012) 74 29.8
Nawaz (2013-2018) 142 57.3
Total 248 100.0
Other
Musharraf (2003-2007) 27 34.6
Zardari (2008-2012) 23 29.5
Nawaz (2013-2018) 28 35.9
Total 78 100.0
Table 4.10 indicates regime-wise coverage of topics, issues and events about media-
government relations. Out of 563 genres about violence against media, the highest
number of 232 (41.2%), was reported during the Musharraf regime followed by 178
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 154
(31.6%) during Zardari era, and the minimum number of 153 (27.2%) items during
Nawaz government. Another category, predicting deplorable media-government
relations i.e. “coercion of media” with total 473 items, again the highest number of
222 (46.9%-nearly half) genres was reported during Musharraf era. It was followed
by 129 (27.3%) items during Nawaz regime, and the lowest number of 122 (25.8%)
genres during Zardari regime, which shows a very little difference. The only 32
(22.9%) items predict that the media remained very little irresponsible during
Musharraf regime. These figures provide answer to Research Question No.1
indicating that media-government relations during Musharraf regime were much
deplorable as compared to the other two regimes.
In the category of “irresponsible media”, the dailies reported the highest number of
142 (57.3%) genres during Nawaz era, which is more than 50% of the total 148
genres in respective category. The 2nd highest number 74 (29.8%) was reported
during Zardari era. In the category of “responsible media” the greatest number of 90
(38.5%) appeared during Zardari regime followed by 75 (32.1%) items during
Nawaz era, and the minimum number i.e. 69 (29.5%) during Musharraf era.
In the category of facilitation, the largest 141 (46.4%) genres were reported during
Musharraf era, which infers that apart from coercion, Musharraf also facilitated the
media more than that by the Zardari and Nawaz regimes, and thus provided reply to
Research Question-4. The second highest number 87(28.6%) was recorded during
Zardari regime, and the minimum number of 76 (25%) items was reported during
Nawaz era. In the category of regulation, newspapers reported the highest number of
48 (40%) during Nawaz regime followed by 38 (31.7%) during Musharraf era, and
the minimum 34 (28.3%) during Zardari regime.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 155
Table 4.11
Slant in Newspapers Items
Slant in Story Regime Frequency Percent
Favourable
Musharraf 137 44.2
Zardari 74 23.9
Nawaz 99 31.9
Total 310 100.0
Unfavourable
Musharraf 480 40.3
Zardari 388 32.6
Nawaz 323 27.1
Total 1191 100.0
Neutral
Musharraf 144 27.7
Zardari 146 28.1
Nawaz 229 44.1
Total 519 100.0
Table 4.11 expresses the slant noted in genres that appeared in all three regimes.
Unfavourable slant was noted in 1190 (58.96%) genres out of 2020, followed by
neutral slant with 519 (25.69%). Favourable slant remained the lowest with 310
(15.35%) items. The highest number of unfavourable slant i.e. 480 (40.3%) was
reported during Musharraf regime followed by 388 (32.6%) during Zardari regime
and the lowest 323 (27.1%) during Nawaz regime.
Similarly, the highest number of favourable slant i.e. 137 (44.2%) was reported
during Musharraf ara followed by 99 (31.9%) during Zardari era and the lowest 99
(23.9%) during Nawaz era. The largest neutral slant was reported during Nawaz
regime with 229 (44.1%), followed by 146 (28.1%) during Zardari regime and with a
very minute difference i.e.144 (27.7%) during Musharraf era. The figures show that
Musharraf regime was much criticized by the media as compared to the other two
governments.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 156
Table 4.12
Length of Published Items
Length Frequency Percent
Up to 200 Words-Small 390 19.31
201-500 Words-Medium 661 32.72
501-1000 Words-Lengthy 537 26.58
1001 and Above-Very Lengthy 432 21.39
Total 2020 100.0
Table 4.12 depicts that out of 2020, the greater number of 661 (32.72%) appeared in
Medium size (201-500 words) followed by 537 (26.58%) of Lengthy size (501-1000
words) and the Very Lengthy genres (1001 words & above) were 432 (21.39%).
Short length (up to 200 words) items were reported as 390 (19.31%).
Table 4.13
Frequency of Genres
Items (Genre) Frequency Percent
Editorial 82 4.06
Columns 250 12.38
News Story 1529 75.70
Feature 25 1.28
Letter to Editor 116 5.74
Other 18 0.89
Total 2020 100.00
Table 4.13 shows that media-government relations were covered very largely in the
format of news stories which made 1529 (75.70%) of the total 2020. Column was the
second highest format with 250 (12.38%) genres, followed by letters-to-editor 116
(5.74%), Editorials, 82 (4.06%), and the smallest number of items 18 (0.89%)
appeared in the category of “others”.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 157
Table 4.14
Regime-wise Frequencies of Genres
Table 4.14 contains regime-wise number of items. The largest number of 571
(37.3%) news stories were published during the Musharraf regime followed by 497
(32.5%) during Nawaz regime and the minimum number, 461 (30.2%) during
Zardari regime, which shows no significant difference in occurrence of news stories
News Genre Regime Frequency Percent
Editorial
Musharraf (2003-2007) 36 43.9
Zardari (2008-2012) 20 24.4
Nawaz (2013-2018) 26 31.7
Total 82 100.0
Columns
Musharraf (2003-2007) 87 34.8
Zardari (2008-2012) 65 26.0
Nawaz (2013-2018) 98 39.2
Total 250 100.0
News Story
Musharraf (2003-2007) 571 37.3
Zardari (2008-2012) 461 30.2
Nawaz (2013-2018) 497 32.5
Total 1529 100.0
Feature
Musharraf (2003-2007) 8 32.0
Zardari (2008-2012) 8 32.0
Nawaz (2013-2018) 9 36.0
Total 25 100.0
Letter to
Editor
Musharraf (2003-2007) 49 42.2
Zardari (2008-2012) 49 42.2
Nawaz (2013-2018) 18 15.5
Total 116 100.0
Other
Musharraf (2003-2007) 10 55.6
Zardari (2008-2012) 5 27.8
Nawaz (2013-2018) 3 16.7
Total 18 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 158
during all regimes. Out of 250 columns, 98 (39.2%) appeared during Nawaz era
followed by 87 (34.8%) during Musharraf era, and the smallest number 0f 65
(26.0%) during Zardari era. Out of a sum of 82 editorials, the highest number i.e. 36
(43.9%) were published during Musharraf regime followed by 26 (31.7%) during
Nawaz era, and the least number 0f 20 (24.4%) during Zardari era.
Equal number of 49 (42.2%) letters-to-editors appeared during Musharraf and
Zardari regimes, whereas, the minimum number 18 (15.5%) occurred during Nawaz
era which shows significance difference with the former two regimes. The number
of features published by respective newspapers during all three regimes remained
almost the same as Nawaz 9 (36%) and Musharraf & Zardari 8 (32%) each. Items
published under “Others” category in all regimes remained as: Musharraf 10
(55.6%), Zardari 5 (27.8%) and Nawaz 3 (16.7%).
Table 4.15 Placement of Newspapers Items
Page-wise
Placement
Frequency &
Percent Portion-wise Placement
Frequency &
Percent
Front Page 442 (21.88%) Front Page-Upper Portion 273 (13.51%)
Front Page-Lower Portion 169 (8.37%)
Back Page 402 (19.90%) Back Page-Upper Portion 276 (13.66%)
Back Page-Lower Portion 126 (6.24%)
Inner Pages 777 (38.47%) Inner Pages-Upper Portion 660 (32.67%)
Inner Pages-Lower Portion 117 (5.79%)
Op-Ed Pages 399 (19.75%) Op-Ed Pages 399 (19.75%)
Total 2020 (100%) Total 2020 (100%)
Table 4.15 shows page & portion-wise placement of items regarding media-
government relations in selected dailies. The highest number of 777 (38.47%) genres
were placed in inner pages among which, 660(32.67%) were positioned on upper
portion and 117 (5.79%) were put on the lower portion. The huge difference in
placing items on upper and lower parts of inner pages was detected due to the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 159
placement of advertisements by the newspapers on lower portion of inside pages.
Out of 2020 items, 442 (21.88%) were found on front pages, with 273 (13.51%) on
upper portion and 169 (8.37%) on the lower portion.
Similarly, 402 (19.90%) items were seen on back pages with 276 (13.66%) on upper
part and 126 (6.24%) on the lower part. As like the inner pages, the same trend of
placing more items on the upper part of front and back pages was noticed owing to
numerous types of advertisements on the lower portion of the pages. Out of 2020
total genres, 399 (19.75%) were placed opinion/editorial pages, which included
201columns, 116 letters-to-editors and 82 editorials. Urdu dailies Express and Nawa-
i-Waqt also publish some columns on inside pages besides the op-ed pages. Such
columns, 49 in number appeared on the inner pages.
Table 4.16
Placement of Topics/Issues/Events
Placement of Story Topic/Issue Frequency Percent
Front Page-Upper
Portion
Coercion of Media 70 25.6
Violence Against Media 78 28.6
Facilitation of Media 30 11.0
Regulation of Media 21 7.7
Responsible Media 25 9.2
Irresponsible Media 38 13.9
Other 11 4.0
Total 273 100.0
Front Page-Lower
Portion
Coercion of Media 46 27.2
Violence Against Media 51 30.2
Facilitation of Media 23 13.6
Regulation of Media 8 4.7
Responsible Media 11 6.5
Irresponsible Media 28 16.6
Other 2 1.2
Total 169 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 160
Placement of Story Topic/Issue Frequency Percent
Back Page-Upper
Portion
Coercion of Media 68 24.6
Violence Against Media 64 23.2
Facilitation of Media 60 21.7
Regulation of Media 19 6.9
Responsible Media 29 10.5
Irresponsible Media 22 8.0
Other 14 5.1
Total 276 100.0
Back Page-Lower
Portion
Coercion of Media 30 23.8
Violence Against Media 41 32.5
Facilitation of Media 19 15.1
Regulation of Media 9 7.1
Responsible Media 14 11.1
Irresponsible Media 11 8.7
Other 2 1.6
Total 126 100.0
Inner Pages-Upper
Portion
Coercion of Media 127 19.2
Violence Against Media 215 32.6
Facilitation of Media 129 19.5
Regulation of Media 39 5.9
Responsible Media 73 11.1
Irresponsible Media 57 8.6
Other 20 3.0
Total 660 100.0
Inner Pages Lower
Portion
Coercion of Media 26 22.2
Violence Against Media 28 23.9
Facilitation of Media 24 20.5
Regulation of Media 5 4.3
Responsible Media 15 12.8
Irresponsible Media 10 8.5
Other 9 7.7
Total 117 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 161
Placement of Story Topic/Issue Frequency Percent
Op-Ed Pages
Coercion of Media 106 26.6
Violence Against Media 86 21.6
Facilitation of Media 19 4.8
Regulation of Media 19 4.8
Responsible Media 67 16.8
Irresponsible Media 82 20.6
Other 20 5.0
Total 399 100.0
Table 4.16 shows that items reporting violence against and coercing the media were
mostly placed on the upper half of the inner, front, back and op-ed pages.
Table 4.17
Frames in Items
Frame Value Count Percent
Responsibility of Government 1 453 22.4
Responsibility of Media 2 270 13.4
Conflict 3 52 2.6
Facilitation of Media 4 212 10.5
Pro-government 5 73 3.6
Anti-government 6 604 29.9
Pro-Media 7 147 7.3
Anti-Media 8 209 10.3
Total 2020 100.0
Table 4.17 denotes that frames with worse media-government relations dominated
the coverage as; anti-government 604 (29.9%), responsibility of government 453
(22.4%), responsibility of media 270 (13.4%), and anti-media 209 (10.3%). Frames
suggesting conducive media-government relations were reported as, facilitation of
media 212 (10.5%), pro-media 147 (7.3%), and pro-government 73 (3.6%). The sum
of items predicting worse and deplorable media-government relations appeared as
1588 (78.61%) of the total, and genres envisaging conducive media-government
relations were 432 (21.39%) of the entire 2020 items.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 162
Table 4.18
Regime-wise Frames
Frame in Story Regime Frequency Percent
Responsibility of
Government
Musharraf 135 29.8
Zardari 130 28.7
Nawaz 188 41.5
Total 453 100.0
Responsibility of Media
Musharraf 75 27.8
Zardari 104 38.5
Nawaz 91 33.7
Total 270 100.0
Conflict
Musharraf 12 23.1
Zardari 29 55.8
Nawaz 11 21.2
Total 52 100.0
Facilitation of Media
Musharraf 104 49.1
Zardari 66 31.1
Nawaz 42 19.8
Total 212 100.0
Pro-government
Musharraf 27 37.0
Zardari 19 26.0
Nawaz 27 37.0
Total 73 100.0
Anti-government
Musharraf 317 52.5
Zardari 162 26.8
Nawaz 125 20.7
Total 604 100.0
Pro-Media
Musharraf 43 29.3
Zardari 41 27.9
Nawaz 63 42.9
Total 147 100.0
Anti-Media
Musharraf 48 23.0
Zardari 57 27.3
Nawaz 104 49.8
Total 209 100.0
Table 4.18 explains regime-wise appearance of frames. In the responsibility of
government frame, Nawaz regime got the highest score of 188 (41.5%) items
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 163
followed by Musharraf regime with 135 (29.8%) and Zardari regime with 130
(28.7%) items. The media was held more responsible during Zardari regime with
104 (38.5%) items followed by Nawaz 91 (33.7%) and Musharraf regime with
75(27.8%) items. The “conflict” frame was reported in the three regimes as; Zardari
29 (55.8%), Musharraf 12 (23.1%) and Nawaz 11(21.2%).
Anti-government frame was noted as; Musharraf 317 (52.5%), Zardari 162 (26.8%)
and Nawaz 125 (20.7%). The “anti-media” frame was found in respective regimes
as; Nawaz 104 (49.8%), Zardari 57 (27.3%), and Musharraf 48 (23.0%). The
“facilitation of media frame was seen as; Musharraf, 104 (49.1%) Zardari 66
(31.1%) and Nawaz 42 (19.8%). The pro-government frame was reported as;
Musharraf and Nawaz both 27(37.0%) and Zardari 29 (26.0%). The “pro-media”
frame was found in respective regimes as; Nawaz 63 (42.9%), Musharraf 43 (29.3%)
and Zardari 41 (27.9%).
Part-2 Hypotheses Testing Through Quantitative Data Analysis
4.19 Testing the Hypothesis-1 (H-1)
This study was comprised of three hypotheses. In the first hypothesis of the study, it
was presumed that the situation of media-government relations in Pakistan during
the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf remained worse, than that of the
two civilian regimes of Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif. One-way ANOVA was applied
in SPPSS Version.21 to test the hypothesis. Regime Period was taken as dependent
variable and the categories of topics/issues/events were made as independent
variable to determine the degree of variance in the dependent variable. Following
tables and descriptions elaborate statistical results.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 164
Table 4.20
One-Way ANOVA to Detect Mean Values of Groups (H-1)
Regime N Mean Std.
Devi.
Std.
Error
95% Confidence
Interval for Mean
Min. Max.
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Musharraf 761 2.61 1.638 .059 2.49 2.73 1 7
Zardari 608 3.17 1.849 .075 3.03 3.32 1 7
Nawaz 651 3.50 1.993 .078 3.35 3.65 1 7
Total 2020 3.07 1.860 .041 2.99 3.15 1 7
According to the table 4.20, mean difference among the three regimes was detected
through ANOVA. Results showed that the mean difference amongst the three
regimes was derived as; Musharraf 2.61, Zardari 3.17 and Nawaz 3.50 respectively.
Standard deviation score from mean values appeared as: Musharraf, 1.638, Zardari,
1.849, Nawaz, 1.993, and Standard error within the groups was; Musharraf, .059,
Zardari, .075, and Nawaz, .078, respectively. Mean value during Musharraf regime
is the lowest i.e. 2.61 which means that media-government relations were worse
during Musharraf regime as compared to two other regimes.
Table 4.21
ANOVA Test to Find out Difference between and within the Groups
Difference Sum of
Squares
Df Mean
Square
F Sig.
Between Groups 286.841 2 143.421 43.207 .000
Within Groups 6695.137 2017 3.319
Total 6981.978 2019
In Table 4.21, ANOVA test showed the Sum of Squares between the groups as
286.841, the degree of freedom (df) as 2, the Mean Square value 143.421, and the F
value as 43.207 with a significance of 0.000, which indicated significant difference.
Within the groups, the Sum of Squares was shown as 6695.137, the degree of
freedom (df) as 2017, and the Mean Square value as 3.319.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 165
Table 4.22
Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-I)
Statistica df1 df2 Sig.
Welch 44.565 2 1285.550 .000
Brown-Forsythe 42.476 2 1882.146 .000
a. Asymptotically F distributed.
Table 4.22 indicates two Robust (Welch & Brown-Forsythe Robust) Tests of
Equality of Means of the hypothesis. Results indicated a significance value of .000
which means significant difference. ANOVA test of H-1 proved that the situation of
media-government relations in Pakistan during the military regime of Pervez
Musharraf remained highly worse followed by Zardari regime, and the Nawaz
regime appeared to be the least worst among the three regimes. However, the
situation remained worst in all the three regimes. Hence H-1 is supported.
4.23 Testing the Hypothesis-II
Second hypothesis was: “It is more likely that the military regime of Pervez
Musharraf was more criticized by the media than the two civilian governments of
Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif”. Again regimes periods were taken as dependent
variable, and frame in items were made as independent variables. Following tables
and descriptions elaborate statistical results.
Table 4.24
One-Way ANOVA to Detect Mean Values of Groups (H-II)
Regime N Mean Std.
Devi.
Std.
Error
95% Confidence
Interval for Mean
Min. Max.
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Musharraf 761 4.55 2.222 .081 4.39 4.70 1 8
Zardari 608 4.11 2.420 .098 3.92 4.30 1 8
Nawaz 651 4.19 2.718 .107 3.98 4.40 1 8
Total 2020 4.30 2.456 .055 4.19 4.41 1 8
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 166
Table 4.24 describes that the ANOVA test showed the mean scores as; Musharraf
4.55, Zardari 4.11, and Nawaz 4.19. Standard variation appeared as 2.222, 2.420 and
2.718 respectively, whereas, standard error fell as .081, .098, and .107 respectively.
Difference between Mean values of all regimes remains very low, but it remained
comparatively larger during Musharraf regime which means that the regime of
Musharraf was less criticized by the media as compared to other two governments of
Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Thus H-2 is not supported.
Table 4.25
ANOV Test to Find out Difference between and within the Groups (H-II)
Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 75.298 2 37.649 6.272 .002
Within Groups 12107.301 2017 6.003
Total 12182.600 2019
In Table 4.25 ANOVA test showed the Sum of Squares between the groups as
75.298, the degree of freedom (df) as 2, the Mean Square value 37.649, and the F
value as 6.272 with a significance of .002, which indicated difference but not very
significant. Within the groups the Sum of Squares fell as 12107.301, the degree of
freedom (df) as 2017, and the Mean Square value as 6.003. The total Sum of Squares
was 12182.600 with a degree of freedom (df) as 2019.
Table 4.26
Robust Tests of Equality of Means (H-II)
Statistica df1 df2 Sig.
Welch 6.913 2 1290.212 .001
Brown-Forsythe 6.184 2 1885.801 .002
a. Asymptotically F distributed.
Table 4.26 indicates two Robust (Welch & Brown-Forsythe) Tests of Equality of
Means of the hypothesis. Result of Welch Robust test indicates a significance value
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 167
of .001, whereas, result of Brown-Forsythe Robust test indicates a significance value
of .002, which means that both tests indicate difference between the mean values but
it not significant. ANOVA test of H-II proved that difference in Mean values of all
regimes remains very low but it remained comparatively larger during Musharraf
regime, which means that the regime of Musharraf regime was less criticized by the
media as compared to other two regimes of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.
However, the situation remained worse in all the three regimes. Hence H-1 is
supported.
4.27 Testing the Hypothesis-III (H-III)
Third hypothesis of the study was: “It is more likely that there existed significant
difference in media-government relations during all the three regimes of Musharraf,
Zardari & Nawaz”. To know the difference, Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple
Comparisons was conducted. Regimes were placed as dependent variables and the
categories of topics/issues/events were taken as independent variables. Following
tables and descriptions elaborate statistical results.
Table 4.28
Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons (H-III)
(I) Name
of
Regime
(J) Name
of Regime
Mean
Difference
(I-J)
Std.
Error
Sig. 95% Confidence
Interval
Lower
Bound
Upper
Bound
Tukey
HSD
Musharr
af
Zardari -.563* .099 .000 -.80 -.33
Nawaz -.888* .097 .000 -1.12 -.66
Zardari Musharraf .563* .099 .000 .33 .80
Nawaz -.325* .103 .005 -.57 -.08
Nawaz Musharraf .888* .097 .000 .66 1.12
Zardari .325* .103 .005 .08 .57
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 168
Table 4.28 depicts One-way ANOVA test which showed the Mean Difference (I-J)
scores for Comparison of Musharraf’s regime with Zardari and Nawaz regimes as;
Zardari -.563*, and Nawaz -.888*. Standard Error fell as; Zardari .099, Nawaz Sharif
.097. Significance of difference was shown as 0.000, which indicated significant
difference between comparison of Musharraf’s regime with Zardari and Nawaz
regimes. For Comparison of Zardari’s regime with Musharraf and Nawaz regimes,
the Mean Difference (I-J) scores appeared as: Musharraf .563*, Nawaz -.325*.
Significance of difference between Zardari and Musharraf appeared as 0.000, which
is high level of significance. Significance of difference between Zardari and Nawaz
was noted as .005. It means that difference existed in media-government relations
between Zardari and Nawaz regimes, but it was less significant as that of the
difference between Zardari and Musharraf regimes.
For Comparison of Nawaz’s regime with Musharraf and Zardari regimes, the Mean
Difference (I-J) scores appeared as: Musharraf .888*, Zardari .325*. Standard Error
fell as; Musharraf .097, Zardari .103. Significance of difference between Nawaz and
Musharraf was 0.000, which showed significant difference in comparison of
Nawaz’s regime with Musharraf’s regime. Significance of difference between
Nawaz and Zardari regimes fell as .005, which means that difference existed in
media-government relations between Nawaz and Zardari regimes, but it was not as
much significant as that of the difference which existed between Zardari and
Musharraf regimes. Difference between Mean values in Comparison of Musharraf’s
regime with other two regimes remained as 0.000 which expressed significant
difference in media-government relations during Musharraf regime and other two
regimes, but the difference between Mean values in Comparison of Zardari and
Nawaz regimes remained as 0.005, which means less significant difference existed
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 169
in media government relations between Zardari and Nawaz regimes. It indicated that
H-III is partially supported.
Table 4.29
ANOVA For Tukey Post Hoc Tests of Multiple Comparisons
Sum of
Squares
Df Mean
Square
F Sig.
Between
Groups
(Combined) 286.841 2 143.421 43.207 .000
Linear
Term
Unweighted 276.787 1 276.787 83.386 .000
Weighted 280.813 1 280.813 84.599 .000
Deviation 6.028 1 6.028 1.816 .178
Within Groups 6695.137 2017 3.319
Total 6981.978 2019
In Table 4.29, ANOVA test showed the (Combined) Sum of Squares between the
groups as 286.841, the degree of freedom (df) as 2, the Mean Square value 143.421,
and F the value as 43.207with a significance of .000, which indicated significant
difference. Within the groups the Sum of Squares was shown as 6695.137, the
degree of freedom (df) as 2017, and the Mean Square value as 3.319. The total Sum
of Squares was 6981.978 with a degree of freedom (df) as 2019. Deviation between
the groups in Linear term expressed the figures as; Sum of Squares 6.028, the
degree of freedom (df) 1, the Mean Square value 6.028, and F the value as 1.816
with a significance of .178, which indicated less significant difference between
groups. Hence hypothesis-III is partially supported.
4.30 Multiple Regression Test for Co-relationship
In order to find out co-relationship between various variables (categories) such
Coercion, violence, Facilitation, regulation, responsible, and irresponsible media in
all three regimes, the multiple regression test was applied. Following Graph shows
the results.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 170
Graph 4.30 Multiple Regression Test for Co-relationship
Graph 4.30 indicates that the green and blue lines denoting coercion of and violence
against the media are at the top and over the other predictors. It specified worse and
deplorable media relations in all three regimes. The lines are travelling upwards
towards the Musharraf regime and have lower position during Zardari and Nawaz
regimes which proves the hypothesis that that the situation of media-government
relations in Pakistan during the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf
remained the worst than that of the two civilian regimes of Asif Zardari & Nawaz
Sharif. The brown line denoting facilitation of media and showing upward trend
toward Musharrf regime testifies that apart from having worst relations with the
media, Musharraf also facilitated the media more than that of the other governments.
The yellow line, symbolizing responsible media pointed that the responsibility factor
remained slightly high in Zardari regime as compared to Musharraf and Nawaz
regimes. The red line specified that the media was little irresponsible during
Musharraf regime, but became much irresponsible during the era of other two
regimes particularly during Nawaz regime.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 171
4.31Regime-wise Percentage of Ratios of Predictors
Graph 4.31 Regime-wise Percentage of Ratios of Predictors
Graph 4.31 depicts regime-wise ratios of predictors. Description is given at tables
4.9 and 4.10.
4.32 Area Graph of Ratios of Predictors
Area Graph 4.32 of Ratios of Predictors
Ratios of predictors have been given in Area Graph 4.32 above.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 172
Part-3 Qualitative Data Analysis
Table 4.33
Nature of Source
Nature of Source Value Count Percent
Pakistani 1 60 66.7%
Global 2 30 33.3%
Total 90 100%
Table 4.33 shows that reports collected from two types of sources, Pakistani and
Global media-related organizations or watch-dogs were selected for qualitative
content analysis. Reports from sources of Pakistani origin were 60 (66.7%) and from
the global sources were 30 (33.3%). Thus the total number of reports was 90.
Table 4.34
Source Category
Nature of Source Source Category Frequency Percent
Pakistani
APNS 15
66.7% CPNE 15
PFUJ 15
PPF 15
Global
IFEX 15 33.3%
RSF 15
Total 90 100.0
Table 4.34 shows further classification of sources. Pakistani sources were four (4) in
number namely, APNS, CPNE, PFUJ, PPF, and the global sources were two (2) i.e.
IFEX and RSF. Out of a sum of 90 reports, 60 (66.67%) reports were of Pakistani
origin sources, and 30 (33.3%) were from foreign origin sources, 15 reports (5 from
each regime) of each report were selected.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 173
Table 4.35
Source Credibility
Source Credibility Source Category Frequency Percent
Highly Credible
APNS 15 25.0
CPNE 15 25.0
PFUJ 15 25.0
PPF 15 25.0
Total 60 100.0
Credible
IFEX 15 50.0
RSF 15 50.0
Total 30 100.0
Table 4.35 expresses credibility of source. Four (4) sources of Pakistani origin like
APNS, CPNE, PFUJ, and PPF were treated as the most credible, as they were
directly involved, affected by or reported topics, issues, problems etc. pertaining to
media government relations in Pakistan. Three of these organizations are also
representative bodies of media owners, editors and working journalists in Pakistan.
A total number of 60 (66.67%) reports [15 by each body (source), 5 from each
regime] were included in analysis.
Two foreign sources IFEX- a Canadian based non-profitable global media observer
and RSF-a French-based global media watchdog, was treated as credible source,
because they monitored the media environment and other issues of media-
government relations in Pakistan from abroad. The foreign media-observatories
mostly depended on Pakistani sources and were not directly involved. Five reports of
each foreign source about every regime were included. This made 15 reports by each
foreign source. Thus, a total number of 30 (33.33%) [Fifteen (15) reports (5 for
every regime) of each body] were analyzed.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 174
Table 4.36
Regime, Source & Category-wise Frequency of Reports
Regime Nature of Source Source Category Frequency Percent
Musharraf
Pakistani
APNS 5 25.0
CPNE 5 25.0
PFUJ 5 25.0
PPF 5 25.0
Total 20 100.0
Global
IFEX 5 50.0
RSF 5 50.0
Total 10 100.0
Zardari
Pakistani
APNS 5 25.0
CPNE 5 25.0
PFUJ 5 25.0
PPF 5 25.0
Total 20 100.0
Global
IFEX 5 50.0
RSF 5 50.0
Total 10 100.0
Nawaz
Pakistani
APNS 5 25.0
CPNE 5 25.0
PFUJ 5 25.0
PPF 5 25.0
Total 20 100.0
Global
IFEX 5 50.0
RSF 5 50.0
Total 10 100.0
Table 4.36 shows detail of regime, source & category-wise frequency of reports,
which were qualitatively analyzed. Reports of six (6) sources were obtained which
were issued on annual basis. For every regime five (5) reports of each source (organ)
were analyzed which made a total number of 30. For all three regimes, the number
of total selected reports was 90.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 175
Table 4.37
Context-wise Frequency of Reports
Context Frequency Percent
Event 25 27.78
Issue 65 72.22
Total 90 100.00
Table 4.37 shows context-wise frequency of reports. Out of 90 reports, 65 (72.22)
were found to be issue-based, and 25 (27.78%) were observed as event-based.
Table 4.38
Regime-wise Context of Reports
Regime Context Frequency Percent
Musharraf
Event 13 43.3
Issue 17 56.7
Total 30 100.0
Zardari
Event 8 26.7
Issue 22 73.3
Total 30 100.0
Nawaz
Event 4 13.3
Issue 26 86.7
Total 30 100.0
Table 4.38 describes context of reports in all the three regimes. Thirty (30) reports
were selected for each regime. Context of reports remained largely issue-based in all
regimes. Nawaz regime dominated issue-based reports with 26 (86.7%) followed by
Zardari regime with 22 (73.3%) and Musharraf regime with the minimum of 17
(56.7%) reports.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 176
Table 4.39
Adjectives used in Reports
Adjectives Frequency Percent
Positive 5 5.56
Negative 70 77.78
Neutral 15 16.67
Total 90 100.00
Table 4.39 indicates types of adjectives and their frequency used in reports. Negative
adjectives appeared to be the largest, as in 70 (77.78%) reports, followed by neutral
adjectives in 15 (16.67%) reports and reports with positive adjectives appeared the
least i.e. in 5 (5.56%) reports.
Table 4.40
Regime-wise Adjectives used in Reports
Regime Adjectives Frequency Percent
Musharraf
Positive 2 6.7
Negative 25 83.3
Neutral 3 10.0
Total 30 100.0
Zardari
Positive 2 6.7
Negative 20 66.7
Neutral 8 26.7
Total 30 100.0
Nawaz
Positive 1 3.3
Negative 25 83.3
Neutral 4 13.3
Total 30 100.0
Table 4.40 indicated that equal number of negative adjectives appeared in reports of
Musharraf and Nawaz eras, whereas, during Zardari regime, 20 (66.7%) reports were
observed with negative adjectives. Frequency of neutral adjectives was; Zardari 8
(26.7%), and Nawaz 4 (13.3%), Musharraf 3 (10%), and positives adjectives
appeared as; Musharraf 2 (6.7%), Zardari 2 (6.7%) and Nawaz 1(3.3%).
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 177
Table 4.41
Adjectives used by News Sources in Reports
Regime Source Category No. of Reports Adjectives Frequency Percent
Mush
arraf
APNS
05
Positive 1 20.0
Negative 3 60.0
Neutral 1 20.0
CPNE
05
Positive 1 20.0
Negative 3 60.0
Neutral 1 20.0
PFUJ 05 Negative 5 100.0
PPF 05 Negative 4 80.0
Neutral 1 20.0
IFEX 05 Negative 5 100.0
RSF 05 Negative 5 100.0
Zard
ari
APNS 05 Negative 2 40.0
Neutral 3 60.0
CPNE 05 Negative 2 40.0
Neutral 3 60.0
PFUJ
05 Positive 1 20.0
Negative 3 60.0
Neutral 1 20.0
PPF 05 Negative 4 80.0
Neutral 1 20.0
IFEX 05 Negative 5 100.0
RSF 05 Positive 1 20.0
Negative 4 80.0
Nawaz
APNS
05
Positive 1 20.0
Negative 2 40.0
Neutral 2 40.0
CPNE 05 Negative 3 60.0
Neutral 2 40.0
PFUJ 05 Negative 5 100.0
PPF 05 Negative 5 100.0
IFEX 05 Negative 5 100.0
RSF 05 Negative 5 100.0
Table 4.41 explains adjectives used by sources in their reports. It was observed that
negative adjectives dominated most of the reports. During Musharraf regime, all 5
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 178
(100%) annual reports of IFEX, RSF and PFUJ expressed negative adjectives,
whereas, PPF used negative adjectives in 4 (80%) out of 5 reports. CPNE and APNS
expressed negative adjectives in 3 (60%) reports. During Zardari regime, IFEX
denoted negative adjectives in all 5 (100%) reports followed by RSF and PPF with
negative adjectives in 4 (80%) reports, APNS & PFUJ 3 (60%) and CPNE 2 (40%).
During Nawaz regime, PFUJ, PPF, IFEX and RSF used negative adjectives in all 5
(100%) reports, CPNE used negative adjectives in 3 (60%) while APNS in 2 (40%)
reports.
Neutral adjectives occurred as; Musharraf regime: APNS, CPNE & PPF 1 (20%)
report each; Zardari regime: APNS & CPNE, 3 (60%) reports each and PPF, PFUJ,
1 (20%) each, and Nawaz: APNS & CPNE, 2 (40%) and no neutral or positive
adjective was used by PFUJ, PPF, IFEX and RSF. Positive adjectives Were rare as;
Musharraf era: APNS & CPNE I (20%) report each; Zaedari era: PFUJ & RSF I
(20%) report each and Nawaz era: APNS 1 (20%) report only. This great use of
negative adjectives in most reports shows worse media-government relations in all
three regimes, and thus offer answer to Research Question-1.
Table 4.42
Tonal Qualities in Reports
Regime Source Category Tonal Qualities Frequency Percent
Musharraf
APNS
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Friendly 1 20.0
Neutral 1 20.0
Total 5 100.0
CPNE
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Friendly 1 20.0
Neutral 1 20.0
Total 5 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 179
Regime
(Musharraf
Regime
continues)
Source Category Tonal Qualities Frequency Percent
PFUJ
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 3 60.0
Total 5 100.0
PPF
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 3 60.0
Total 5 100.0
IFEX
Emotional 1 20.0
Critical 4 80.0
Total 5 100.0
RSF Critical 5 100.0
Zardari
APNS
Emotional 1 20.0
Neutral 1 20.0
Critical 3 60.0
Total 5 100.0
CPNE
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Neutral 2 40.0
Critical 1 20.0
Total 5 100.0
PFUJ
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Friendly 2 40.0
Critical 1 20.0
Total 5 100.0
PPF
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 2 40.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
IFEX
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 2 40.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
RSF
Aggressive 1 20.0
Friendly 1 20.0
Critical 3 60.0
Total 5 100.0
Nawaz
Regime
APNS
Friendly 1 20.0
Neutral 3 60.0
Critical 1 20.0
Total 5 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 180
Table 4.42 expresses that tonal qualities leading to worst and deplorable media-
government relations such as “aggressive”, “emotional” and “critical” were noted
enormously in most of reports. During Musharraf regime, tonal qualities were
observes as; APNS: aggressive 2 (40%) emotional 1 (20%) total 3 (60%), CPNE:
aggressive 2 (40%) emotional 1 (20%), total 3 (60%) PFUJ & PPF: aggressive 2
(40%) emotional 3 (60%) total 5 (100%), IFEX: critical 4 (80%) emotional 1 (20%)
total 5 (100%). During Zardari regime, dominated tonal qualities in reports were
noted as; APNS critical 3 (60%), emotional 1 (20%) total 4 (80%); CPNE & PFUJ:
aggressive, emotional and critical 1 (20%) each total 3 (60%); PPF & IFEX:
emotional and critical 2 (40%) each, aggressive, 1 (20%) total 5 (100%); RSF:
critical 3 (60%), aggressive, 1 (20%) total 4 (80%).
(Nawaz
Regime
continues)
Source Category Tonal Qualities Frequency Percent
CPNE
Emotional 2 40.0
Neutral 1 20.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
PFUJ
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 2 40.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
PPF
Aggressive 1 20.0
Emotional 2 40.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
IFEX
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
RSF
Aggressive 2 40.0
Emotional 1 20.0
Critical 2 40.0
Total 5 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 181
During Nawaz regime, tonal qualities were observes as; APNS: critical 1 (20%) total
1 (20%), CPNE: emotional 2 (40%) critical 2 (40%) total 4 (80%), PFUJ & PPF:
emotional 2 (40%), critical 2 (40%), aggressive 1 (20%) each total 5 (100%), IFEX
& RSF aggressive 2 (40%), critical 2 (40%), emotional 1 (20%) total 5 (100%). In
aggregate, the tones suggesting worse media-government relations were found in 76
(84.44%) reports out of 90. It depicts strong inclination towards deplorable media-
government relations. Neutral tone was only noted 8 (8.89%) times, whereas, the
friendly tone was noted only 6 (6.67%) times in all 90 reports.
Table 4.43
Government's Treatment of Media
Regime Government's Treatment of Media Frequency Percent
Musharraf
Anonymous Violence 2 6.7
State's Violent or Coercive Actions 17 56.7
Court Cases 1 3.3
Facilitation 4 13.3
No violence or coercion 6 20.0
Total 30 100.0
Zardari
Anonymous Violence 7 23.3
State's Violent or Coercive Actions 12 40.0
Facilitation 2 6.7
No violence or coercion 9 30.0
Total 30 100.0
Nawaz
Anonymous Violence 8 26.7
State's Violent or Coercive Actions 18 60.0
No violence or coercion 4 13.3
Total 30 100.0
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 182
Table 4.43 shows different treatments of media by respective governments. Concepts
such as state’s violent or coercive actions against media and anonymous violence
leading to deplorable media-government relations appeared at the largest in all the
three regimes. State’s violent or coercive actions against media during Nawaz
regime were noted in 18 (60%) reports along with anonymous violence in 8 (26.7%)
reports.
During Musharraf regime, state’s violent or coercive actions against media were
noted in 17 (56.7%) reports along with anonymous actions in (6.7%) reports. The
degree of state’s violent or coercive actions against media during Zardari regime was
noted the minimum as compared to Nawaz and Musharraf regime and was noted in
12 (40%) reports along with anonymous violence in 7 (23.3%) reports.
Greater facilitation of the media was noted during Musharraf regime in 4 (13.3%)
reports followed by Zardari regime with 2 (6.7% reports and no facilitation of media
was reported during Nawaz regime. In Zardari regime, “no violence or coercion”
was noted in 9 (30%) reports followed by Musharraf regime with 6 (20%) reports
and the minimum with 4 reports (13.3%) during Nawaz regime.
These figures indicate that media-government relations remained worse and
deplorable during all the three regimes. According to the qualitative assessment of
reporting the concept of government’s treatment of the media in the reports, the ratio
of deplorable media-government relations appeared largest in Nawaz regime and the
minimum during Zardari regime. Media was much facilitated during Musharraf
regime followed by Zardari regime and no report about media facilitation was
appeared during Nawaz regime.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 183
Part-4 Comparison of Quantitative & Qualitative Results
As two procedures of quantitative and qualitative content analyses have been applied
in this study, so a further comparison between results of various categories and
concepts of both methodologies has also been made while exploring the relationship
between descriptive statistics of both techniques, and making explanatory &
exploratory review to investigate whether results of both procedures support or
oppose each other’s conclusions.
Table 4.44
Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Adjectives in Reports
A- Quantitative data
(Frequency of Topics/issues)
B-Qualitative data
(Freq. of Reports With
Adjectives)
Topics/
Issues/Events
Frequency &
Percent
Overall Freq. & %
of Relevant Topics
Adjectives Frequency &
Percent
Coercion of
Media 473 (23.42%)
1404
(69.50%)
Negative
70
(77.78%)
Violence vs.
Media
563 (27.87%)
Regulation 120 (5.94%)
Irresponsible
Media
248 (12.28%)
Facilitation 304 (15.05%) 538 (26.63%) Positive 5 (5.56%) Resp. Media 234 (11.58%)
Other 78 (3.86%) 78 (3.86%) Neutral 15 (16.67%)
Total 2020 (100%) 2020 (100%) Total 90 (100%)
Table 4.44 shows comparison between the frequencies (number) of
topics/issues/events of quantitative analysis (Side-A) and adjectives used in reports
selected for qualitative study (Side-B). The table points out that the overall number
and percent of relevant topics/issues guiding towards worse media-government
relations is1404 (69.50%). Similarly, the frequency and percent of category of
qualitative data i.e. negative (adjective), which also signifies deplorable media-
government relations, is 70 (77.78%). Percentages of both figures are falling very
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 184
near to each other. The ratio of categories of quantitative data indicating good and
normal media-government relations is 538 (26.63%), whereas that of the qualitative
data (positive adjective) is 5 (5.55%). Both figures at the opposite sides indicate a
low ratio. The figure of qualitative data shows even lower media-government
relations. The ratio of categories/concepts leading to worse media-government
relations, at both sides of the table, is far larger than the ratio of categories pointing
towards good and normal media-government relations.
Table 4.45
Comparison of Topics/Issues with Govt.’s Treatment of Media in Reports
A-Quantitative data
(Frequency of Topics/issues)
B-Qualitative data
(Frequency of Govt’s. Treatment of Media)
Topics/ Issues Frequency &
Percent
Overall Freq &
% of Relevant
Topics
Govt’s.
Treatment of
Media
Frequency &
Percent
Overall Freq. &
% of Relevant
Topics
Coercion of
Media 473
(23.42%)
1404
(69.50%)
Anonymous
Violence 17 (18.89%)
66
(73.33%)
Violence
Against
Media
563
(27.87%) State's
Actions 47 (52.22%)
Regulation
of Media
120 (5.94%) Court Cases 1 (1.11%)
Irresponsible
Media
248
(12.28%) ----- -----
Facilitation
of Media
304
(15.05%)
538 (26.63%)
Facilitation 6 (6.67%)
25 (27.78%) Responsible
Media
234
(11.58%)
Responsible
media -----
Other 78 (3.86%) 78 (3.86%)
No violence
or coercion 19 (21.11%)
Total 2020 (100%) 2020 (100%) Total 90 (100%) 90 (100%)
Table 4.45 shows comparison among the topics/issues/events of quantitative analysis
(Side-A) and reports regarding concepts highlighting government’s treatment of the
media sampled for qualitative study (Side-B). The overall ratio of relevant
topics/issues/events signifying worse media-government relations is 1404 (69.50%).
Similarly, the ratio of category of qualitative data (reports) about regime’s treatment
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 185
of the media, which also denotes awful media-government relations, is 66 (73.33%).
Figures on both sides indicate a greater degree of worse media-government relations.
The figure about categories implying conducive media-government relations at Side-
A of the table is 538 (26.63%), whereas, the contending figure at Side-B is 25
(27.78%). Both figures indicating worse media-government relations (ratios) fall
very close, and are significantly larger than those suggesting favorable media-
government relations.
Table 4.46
Comparison of Frames in Items with Tonal Qualities in Reports
A-Quantitative Data
(Frames in Items)
B-Qualitative Data
(Tonal Qualities in Reports)
Frames Count &
Percent
Count & % of
relevant frames
Tonal
Qualities
Count &
Percent
Count & % of
relevant frames
Respons. of
Govt. 453 (22.4%)
1256
(62.18%)
Aggressive 19 (21.11%)
75 (83.33%) Conflict 52 (2.6%) Emotional 24 (26.67%)
Anti-
government 604 (29.9%) Critical 32 (35.56%)
Pro-Media 147 (7.3%
Facilitation
of Media 212 (10.5%)
285
(14.11%)
Friendly 6 (6.67%) 6 (6.67%)
Pro-
government 73 (3.6%)
Respon. of
Media 270 (13.4%)
479
(23.71%)
--- --- ---
Anti-Media 209 (10.3% --- --- ---
Neutral --- --- Neutral 9 (10%) 9 (10%)
Total 2020 (100% 2020 (100% Total 90 (100%) 90 (100%)
Table 4.46 shows comparison of frames in quantitative data with tonal qualities in
reports of qualitative data. Frames indicating worse media-government relations are
1256 (62.61%) out of 2020, and reports of similar tonal qualities are 75 (83.33%).
Frames indicating normal media-government relations are 285 (14.11%), and reports
of similar tonal qualities are 6 (6.67%). Anti-media frames and fixing of
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 186
responsibility of an event/issue over the media, are 479 (23.71%). Comparison in
this table also testifies worse-media government relations.
Table 4.47
Comparison of Topics/Issues/Events with Tonal Qualities in Reports
Reg
ime
A-Quantitative Data (Topics/Issues/Events) B-Qualitative Data (Tonal Qualities)
Topics/Issues/
Events
Frequency &
Percent
No. & % of
Rel. Topics
Tonal
Qualities
Frequency &
Percent
No & % of
Rel. Topics
Mush
arraf
Coercion 222 (29.2%)
524
(68.86%)
Aggressive 8(26.7%)
27
(86.7%)
Violence 232 (30.5%) Emotional 9(30.0%)
Regulation 38 (5.0%) Critical 9(30.0%)
Irresponsible 32 (4.2%) --- ---
Facilitation 141 (18.5%) 210
(27.60%) Friendly 2(6.7%) 2(6.7%)
Responsible 69 (9.1%)
Other 27 (3.5%) 27 (3.5%) Neutral 2(6.7%) 2(6.7%)
Total 761 (100.0%) 761(100.0%) Total 30(100.0%) 30(100.0%)
Zard
ari
Coercion 122 (20.1%)
408
(67.11%)
Aggressive 5(16.7%)
24
(80%)
Violence 178 (29.3%) Emotional 7(23.3%)
Regulation 34 (5.6%) Critical 12(40.0%)
Irresponsible 74 (12.2%) ---- ---- ----
Facilitation 87 (14.3%) 177
(29.11%) Friendly 3(10.0%) 3(10.0%)
Responsible 90 (14.8%)
Other 23 (3.8%) 23 (3.8%) Neutral 3(10.0%) 3(10.0%)
Total 608 (100.0%) 608 (100.0%) Total 30(100.0%) 30(100.0%)
Naw
az
Coercion 129 (19.8%)
472
(72.50%)
Aggressive 6(20.0%)
25
(83.33%)
Violence 153 (23.5%) Emotional 8(26.7%)
Regulation 48 (7.4%) Critical 11(36.7%)
Irresponsible 142 (21.8%) --- ---
Facilitation 76 (11.7%) 151 (23.2%) Friendly
1(3.3%) 1(3.3%)
Responsible 75 (11.5%)
Other 28 (4.3%) 28 (4.3%) Neutral 4(13.3%) 4(13.3%)
Total 651(100.0%) 651(100.0%) Total 30(100.0%) 30(100.0%)
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 187
Table 4.47 indicates at regime-wise comparison of topics/issues/events in
quantitative data with tonal qualities in reports of qualitative data. During Pervez
Musharraf era, the ratio of topics suggesting worse media-government relations, is
524 (68.86%) out of 761, and the ratio of reports with tonal qualities referring to the
same situation is 27 (86.7%) out of 30. Qualitative data suggests even further worse
relations. Ratio of other categories specifying favourable conditions for media-
government relations during Musharraf era is 210 (27.60%) and 2 (6.7%) only,
which is very lowest as compared to the ratio indicating worse relations.
Both quantitative and qualitative data figures indicating deplorable media-
government relations, are dominantly greater than the ratio suggesting conducive
media-government relations. Similarly, during Zardari era, the quantitative data
categories pointing to worse media-government relations are 408 (67.11%) out of
total 608, and the reports with such tonal qualities in qualitative data are 24 (80%).
Both figures indicate a strong inclination towards deplorable media-government
relations. Other categories suggesting conducive media-government relations are
177 (29.11%) in quantitative data and only 3 (10%) reports are in qualitative data.
The figures indicating worse media-government relations are enormously larger.
During Nawaz era, the quantitative categories designating worse media-government
relations are 472 (72.5%) out of total 651, and reports in qualitative data with similar
tonal qualities are 25 (83.33%). The quantitative figure signifying conducive media-
government relations, is 151 (23.2%), and qualitative figure is1 (3.3%) only. The
comparison shows that the quantitative and qualitative figures suggesting worse
media-government relations are dominantly greater than those, which suggest good
and normal media-government relations
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 188
Table 4.48
Comparison of Slant with Adjectives in Reports
A-Quantitative Data
(Slant in Items)
B-Qualitative Data
(Adjectives in Reports)
Regime Slant Freq. Percent Adjectives Freq. Percent
Mush
arraf
Favourable 137 18.0 Positive 2 6.7
Unfavourable 480 63.1 Negative 25 83.3
Neutral 144 18.9 Neutral 3 10.0
Total 761 100.0 Total 30 100.0
Zard
ari
Favourable 74 12.2 Positive 2 6.7
Unfavourable 388 63.8 Negative 20 66.7
Neutral 146 24.0 Neutral 8 26.7
Total 608 100.0 Total 30 100.0
Naw
az
Favourable 99 15.2 Positive 1 3.3
Unfavourable 323 49.6 Negative 25 83.3
Neutral 229 35.2 Neutral 4 13.3
Total 651 100.0 Total 30 100.0
Table 4.48 shows regime-wise comparison of slant in quantitative data with
adjectives in qualitative data. During Musharraf regime, the ratio of unfavourable
slant was 480 (63.1%), and of the negative adjectives was 25 (83%); the ratio of
favourable slant was 137 (18.0%) and positive adjectives was noted 2 (6.7%).
During Zardari regime, the ratio of unfavourable slants was 388 (63.8%) and
negative adjectives was 20 (66.7%); the ratio of favourable slant was recorded as
74(12.2%) and positive adjectives was noted as 2 (6.7%). Thus, the ratio of
unfavourable slant and negative adjective is very much larger in Musharraf and
Zardari eras. During Nawaz regime, the ratio of unfavourable slant appeared 323
(49.6%) and negative adjectives was 25 (83.3%); the ratio of favourable slant was
found 99(15.2%) and the ratio of positive adjectives was 1 (3.3%). During Nawaz
regime, the ratio of unfavourable slant is not as much greater as in other two
regimes. However, the negative adjective is very much larger than the others.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 189
CHAPTER 5
FINDINGS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
This study was mainly focused at to understand the overall phenomena of media-
government relations in general, to briefly review the history of these relations in
Pakistan, and to explore the nature of media’s relations with the regimes of Pervez
Musharraf, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, in particular. Theoretical foundations of this
research work were based on Framing Theory and the concept of Slant to investigate
how the media-government relations were perceived and viewed by the media in the
selected three regimes. Despite many pros and cons, media is perceived as a very
reliable and authentic source of information, as we have to rely solely on the media for
receiving multiple types of information of daily use, let say, we start from usual daily
weather update, and go further to know the latest scientific achievements and incredible
discoveries. Hence, the media was used as source of information to investigate media-
government relations, taking newspapers as sample.
As framing theory highlights choosing of some specific aspects of different issues and
concepts in a particular context to make them more prominent in a piece of
communication, hence, some key generic frames such as responsibility of media,
responsibility of government, and conflict were taken from Semetko & Valkenburg
(2000) Model. Other pertinent issue-specific frames, i.e. pro-media, pro-government,
anti-media, anti-government and facilitation, identified within the problem, were
analyzed in the study. Important variables in the study included; the three regimes of
Pervez Musharraf, Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif as dependent variables, and coercion
of media, violence against media, regulation of media, facilitation of media, responsible
media and irresponsible media as independent variables to see their impact over media-
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 190
government relations during the specified governments. Other variables included genre,
news source, slant and length & placement of items.
Both quantitative and qualitative content techniques were used in this work. The topic
was delimited to the analysis of three regimes of Pervez Musharraf, Asif Zardari and
Nawaz Sharif. Population sample was also confined to only four (4) newspapers out of a
total number of 399 dailies, with the technique of Constructed Week sampling. To set
the foundation of the present study on sound footing, a very thorough and extensive
review of available literature about the issue was made, which also helped in building
theoretical perspective and formation of hypotheses of the study. Keeping in view the
quantitative and qualitative content methodologies, two separate code sheets were
developed as primary instruments for analysis. Reliability and validity of the study
instruments was carefully checked and amendments were made accordingly.
Data was obtained from the National Library of Pakistan, the Lexis-Nexis data-base,
web-sites of pertinent quarters, and from the internet sources. Relevant Statistical
apparatuses were used in data analysis through the application of SPSS. Descriptive
statistics were carried out to form tables, graphs and charts to furnish results and provide
answers to Research Questions. ANOVA and multiple regression tests were applied
through the SPSS Version 21 to check the hypotheses. For qualitative content analysis,
Nvivo::12 Plus software was used to make nodes, codes and maps to explain
relationship among relevant concepts.
To investigate media-government relations in Pakistan during Pervez Musharraf, Asif
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif’s regimes, which collectively formed a period of 15 years
(5475 days), the total sampling frame was 2880 days (102 weeks) for quantitative
content analysis. Daily issues of four newspapers (two English & two Urdu) i.e. Dawn,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 191
The News, Nawa-i-Waqt and Express, were also sample of the study. For qualitative
content analysis, data was collected from four (4) Pakistani sources i.e. APNS, CPNE,
PFUJ, PPF, and two (2) global sources i.e. IFEX and RSF.
5.1 Discussion over Findings and Results of the Study
Findings and results of the study are discussed as below:
i. During quantitative content analysis, relevant genres about media-government
relations appeared on only 1289 (44.76%) days out of a total sample of 2880, and
no pertinent genres were published by respective newspapers on 1591 (55.24%)
days. For qualitative analysis, 60 (66.7%) reports from Pakistani, and 30 (33.3%)
reports from global sources were taken.
ii. Out of 2020 items, the largest number i.e. 761 (37.7%) of genres was published
in Musharraf era followed by 651 (32.2%) items during Nawaz regime. The
smallest number i.e. 607 (30.1%) of items about the topic, was printed in the
government of Zardari.
iii. In context-wise qualitative analysis, out of 90 reports, 65 (72.22) were found
issue-based, and 25 (27.78%) as event-based. Issue-based reports dominated in
Nawaz regime with 26 (86.7%), followed by Zardari era with 22 (73.3%), and
Musharraf era with 17 (56.7%) number, as compared to event-based reports.
iv. Content analysis revealed that Nawa-i-Waqt offered the highest coverage during
Musharraf era with 225 (29.6%) news items followed by Dawn with 201 (26.4%)
items. The News published the highest number of genres during Zardari regime
with 226 (34.7%) items, followed by Dawn and Nawa-i-Waqt with equal number
of 150 (24.7%) items each. The News gave highest coverage to related issues
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 192
during Nawaz regime with 226 (34.7%) items, followed by Express 190 (29.2%),
Dawn, 131(20.1%), and the least coverage was offered by Nawa-i-Waqt with 104
(16%) items during Nawaz era.
v. During content analysis, it was also found that The News published the greatest
number of 598 (29.60%) genres followed by the daily Dawn with 482 (23.86%)
items. Nawa-i-Waqt published 479 (23.71%) genres, whereas, the lowest number
of items i.e. 461(22.82%), on the topic and related issues, was published by the
daily Express.
vi. It was found that out of 2020 genres, 1086 (53.8%) items were event-based and
934 (46.2%) items were issue-based. Thus almost equal coverage was given to
the issue of media-government relations from the perspective of various events
as well as issues. The event-based coverage was slightly higher than that of the
issue-based coverage.
vii. Out of 1086 event-based genres, the highest number 433 (39.9%) fell during
Musharraf regime, followed by 330 (30.4%) during Nawaz regime, and the least
number of 323 (29.7%) during Zardari era. Out of 934 issue-based genres, the
highest number i.e. 328 (35.1%) appeared during Musharraf regime, followed by
321 (34.4%) in Nawaz era, and the minimum number of 285 (30.5%) items
occurred during Zardari regime.
viii. It was observed that out of the total 2020 items, the greatest number i.e. 1950
(94.80%) genres were obtained from private news sources, and only 105 (5.20%)
items were quoted from the official news sources. During Musharraf regime, 70
(66.7%) items were taken from official sources, followed by 26 (24.8%) in
Zardari era, and the lowest number of only 9 (8.6%) items during Nawaz regime.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 193
A sliding trend was noted in reliance over the official news sources by respective
newspapers, going from Musharraf to Nawaz regime.
ix. It was found that genres denoting violence against the media dominated the
coverage with highest number of 563 (27.87%) items, followed by 473 (23.42%)
genres, which reported coercion of media. Facilitation of media was reported in
304 (15.05%), followed by irresponsible media in 248 (12.28%) items, and
responsible media with 234 (11.58%). Only 78 items felled into the “Other”
category. These findings validate various analyses and reports published from
time to time by the APNS, CPNE, CPE, IFEX, PNEC, PFUJ, PPF and other
media related bodies and media research scholars.
x. Qualitative analysis revealed that negative adjectives dominated the coverage
with 70 (77.78%) reports out of 90, followed by neutral adjectives, which were
used in 15 (16.67%) reports, and positive adjectives were found in minimum
number i.e. 5 (5.56%). It showed that the media-government relations were
discussed very negatively in majority of reports, which further portray the worst
media-government relations during the three regimes. These figures verify
assumptions and conclusions made by Akhtar and Pratt (2017), Aziz and Ḥasan
(2008). Iqbal, (2010, 2011 &2012), Riaz, (2003 & 2008), Niazi, (1982, 1992 &
1994) and many others.
xi. Comparison between frequencies of topics/issues/events of quantitative analysis
and adjectives used in reports selected for qualitative study pointed out, that the
overall frequency and ratio of relevant topics/issues guiding towards the worst
media-government relations was1404 (69.50%). Similarly, the number and
percent of category of qualitative data i.e. negative (adjective), which also
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 194
signified deplorable media-government relations, was 70 (77.78%). The ratio of
percentages of both figures fell close to each other.
xii. The frequency and ratio of categories of quantitative data indicating good and
normal media-government relations, was 538 (26.63%), whereas, that of the
qualitative data (positive adjective) was 5 (5.55%). The ratio of categories and
concepts leading to worse media-government relations was far larger than the
ratio of categories pointing to good and normal media relations. It meant that
results of relevant categories and concepts of both procedures indicated worse
media-government relations during all the three regimes.
xiii. Comparison among results of quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that
the overall number and percent of relevant topics/issues/events signifying worse
media-government ties, was1404 (69.50%). Similarly, the frequency and percent
of the category of qualitative data (reports) about governments’ treatment of the
media, which also denoted the worst media-government relations, was 66
(73.33%). Ratios of both figures indicated a greater degree of worse media-
government relations.
xiv. The figure of categories implying conducive media-government relations was
538 (26.63%), whereas, the contending figures of qualitative analysis was 25
(27.78%). Percentage of both ratios remained very close to each other. The
figures indicating worse media-government relations were significantly larger
than those suggesting favorable relations, hence, showing deplorable media-
government relations in the respective regimes.
xv. Regime-wise comparison of topics/issues/events in quantitative data with tonal
qualities in reports of qualitative data expressed that, during Musharraf regime
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 195
the ratio of topics suggesting worse media-government relations was 524
(68.86%) out of 761, and the ratio of reports with tonal qualities referring to the
same situation was 27 (86.7%) out of 30. The qualitative data suggested even
worse relations. Ratio of other categories specifying favourable media-
government relations during Musharraf era, was 210 (27.60%) and only 2 (6.7%)
respectively, which was very minimum as compared to the ratio indicating
deplorable relations. Both figures indicating appalling media-government
relations appeared dominantly greater than the ratio suggesting conducive media-
government relations.
xvi. Similarly, during Zardari era, the quantitative data categories pointing to worse
media-government relations, were 408 (67.11%) out of total 608, and the reports
with such tonal qualities of qualitative data were 24 (80%). Both figures
indicated a strong inclination towards deplorable media-government relations.
Other categories suggesting conducive media-government relations were 177
(29.11%) in quantitative data and only 3 (10%) in qualitative data. The figures
showing worse media-government relations were enormously larger than those
figures, which supported normal media-government ties.
xvii. During Nawaz era, the quantitative categories designating worse media-
government relations were 472 (72.5%) out of total 651, and reports in
qualitative data with similar tonal qualities were 25 (83.33%). The quantitative
figure signifying conducive media-government relations was 151 (23.2%), and
qualitative figure was 1, (i.e. 3.3% only). The comparison showed that both the
quantitative and qualitative figures suggesting worse media-government relations
were dominantly greater than those which suggest good and normal media-
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 196
government relations. Facts and figures in this comparison also supported the
conclusions given in previous two comparisons.
xviii. Comparison of frames in quantitative data with tonal qualities in reports of
qualitative data revealed that items with frames indicating the worst media-
government relations were 1256 (62.61%) out of 2020, and reports of similar
tonal qualities were 75 (83.33%). Items with frames indicating normal and
conducive media-government relations were 285 (14.11%), and reports of
similar tonal qualities were 6 (6.67%).
xix. Items with anti-media frames and frames suggesting responsibility of an
event/issue over the media, appeared as 479 (23.71%). No reports with anti-
media tone were found in qualitative data. Comparison testified that the ratio of
frames and tonal qualities suggesting worse media-government relations
appeared dominantly, as compared to those frames and tones, which supported
favorable media-government relations.
xx. Regime-wise comparison of slant in quantitative data with adjectives in reports
of qualitative data explored that during Musharraf regime, the ratio of
unfavourable slants appeared as 480 (63.1%), and the ratio of negative adjectives
was 25 (83%); the ratio of favourable slant was found as 137 (18.0%), and the
ratio of positive adjectives remained as 2 (6.7%); the ratio of neutral slant was
144 (18.9%) and that of neutral adjectives was 3 (10%). Thus the ratio of
unfavourable slant and negative adjective was found as enormously greater than
other slants and adjectives during Musharraf regime.
xxi. During Zardari regime, the ratio of unfavourable slants was 388 (63.8%), the
ratio of negative adjectives was 20 (66.7%); the ratio of favourable slant was
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 197
74(12.2%); the ratio of positive adjectives was 2 (6.7%); the ratio of neutral slant
was 146 (24.0%); the ratio of neutral adjectives was 8 (26.7%). Here too, the
ratio of unfavourable slant and negative adjective appeared very much larger as
compared to other (positive & neutral) slants and adjectives.
xxii. During Nawaz regime, the ratio of unfavourable slants was 323 (49.6%), the
ratio of negative adjectives was 25 (83.3%); the ratio of favourable slant was
99(15.2%), the ratio of positive adjectives was 1 (3.3%); the ratio of neutral slant
was 292 (35.2%) and the ratio of neutral adjectives was 4 (13.3%). During
Nawaz regime, the ratio of unfavourable slant was reported as greater than the
other slants but not as much greater as in other two regimes of Musharraf and
Zardari. However, the negative adjective was much larger as compared to other
adjectives during this period.
5.2 Conclusions
Conclusions of this study are given below in the light of research questions and
hypotheses.
The first Research Question was about the extent of coverage provided to media-
government relations in Pakistan during the regimes of Pervez Musharraf, Asif
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Descriptive analysis of the data revealed that ample
coverage was extended by respective newspapers to the issue of media-government
relations during the period of all the three regimes. A total number of 2020
newspapers items were published in 1289 days with an average of 1.57 genres per
day. The largest number i.e. 761 (37.7%) of genres was published in the period of
Musharraf followed by 651 (32.2%) items during Nawaz era. The smallest number
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 198
i.e. 607 (30.1%) of newspapers items about the topic was appeared in the regime of
Zardari.
It was found that genres denoting violence against media dominated the coverage
with the highest number of 563 (27.87%) items followed by 473 (23.42%) genres
which reported coercion of the media. Facilitation of media was reported in 304
(15.05%) items followed by the irresponsible media with 248 (12.28%) items, and
responsible media with 234 (11.58%). Items predicting worse media-government
relations collectively made a sum of 1404 (69.50%) of the total 2020. Categories
signifying good/normal media-government relations like facilitation of media and
responsible media jointly formed a number of 538 (26.63%) out of the total 2020.
Thus, the coverage was heavily dominated with deplorable media-government
relations during all the three regimes.
The second Research Question enquired that which of the three governments kept
tight control over the media and focused very much on media-related legislation,
rules & regulations. The results revealed that that out of 563 genres about violence
against media, the highest number of 232 (41.2%) items was reported during the
Musharraf regime. Similarly, in category “coercion of media”, also predicting
deplorable media-government relations with total number of 473 items, again, the
highest number of 222 (46.9%-nearly half) genres were reported during Musharraf
era. It indicated that Musharraf regime kept tight control over the media.
Research Question No-3 pertained to the treatment of all the three governments by
the media in coverage with respect to media-government relations issues. Frames
analysis denoted that frames indicating worse/deplorable media-government
relations dominated the coverage, and frames suggesting normal media-government
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 199
relations were smaller in number. The total number of items predicting deplorable
media-government relations appeared to be as 1588 (78.61%) of the total, and genres
envisaging conducive media-government relations, were 432 (21.39%) out of the
entire 2020 newspapers items. Thus, the media largely treated all the three regimes
with negative framing in their coverage with respect to media-government relations.
The 4th Research Question asked that which of the three governments facilitated the
media more by taking steps for the media freedom, development and training &
well-being of journalists. From the analysis of the category of “facilitation”, it was
observed that the greatest number 141 (46.4%) of genres was reported during
Musharraf regime. The second highest number 87(28.6%) was recorded during
Zardari regime, and the minimum number of 76 (25%) items were reported during
Nawaz era. It denoted that apart from suppression, Musharraf also facilitated the
media more, than that of the Zardari and Nawaz regimes. This supports assertions
made by Khurshid, (1963), Iqbal (2011 & 2012), Peshimam, (2013) and others.
This study was comprised of three hypotheses. In the first hypothesis, it was
presumed that the situation of media-government relations in Pakistan during the
military regime of General Pervez Musharraf remained worse than that of the two
civilian regimes of Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif. One-way ANOVA was applied to
test the hypothesis. Regime Period was taken as dependent variable, and the
categories of topics/issues/events were made as independent variable to determine
the degree of variance in dependent variable. Results showed that the mean
difference amongst the three regimes as; Musharraf 2.61, Zardari 3.17 and Nawaz
3.50. Standard deviation score from mean values appeared as: Musharraf, 1.638,
Zardari, 1.849, Nawaz, 1.993. Mean value during Musharraf era was the lowest i.e.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 200
2.61 which means that media-government relations were the worst during Musharraf
regime, as compared to two other regimes.
Results of two Robust (Welch & Brown-Forsythe Robust) Tests for Equality of
Means of the hypothesis indicated a significance value of .000, which means
significant difference. ANOVA test of H-1 proved that the situation of media-
government relations in Pakistan during the military regime of General Pervez
Musharraf remained highly the worst followed by Zardari regime, and the Nawaz
regime appeared to be as the least worst among the three regimes. However, the
situation remained worse in all the three regimes. Hence H-1 was supported.
Second hypothesis of the study was: “It is more likely that the military regime of
Pervez Musharraf was more criticized by the media than the two civilian
governments of Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif”. Taking regimes as dependent
variable and frames in items as independent variables, ANOVA test showed the
mean scores as; Musharraf 4.55, Zardari 4.11, and Nawaz Sharif 4.19. Standard
variation appeared as 2.222, 2.420 and 2.718 respectively, whereas, standard error
fell as .081, .098, and .107 respectively. Difference between Mean values of all
regimes remains very low but it remained comparatively larger during the Musharraf
regime which means that the regime of Musharraf was less criticized by the media,
as compared to the eras of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. Thus, assumption made in
H-2 was not supported.
Result of Welch Robust test indicated a significance value of .001, whereas, result of
Brown-Forsythe Robust test showed a significance value of .002, which means that
difference between the mean values exited but it was not significant. ANOVA test of
H-II proved that difference between Mean values of all regimes remained very low,
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 201
but it remained comparatively larger during Musharraf regime, which means that the
regime of Musharraf was less criticized by the media as compared to the other two
regimes of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.
Third hypothesis of the study was: “It is more likely that there existed significant
difference in media-government relations during all the three regimes of Pervez
Musharraf, Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif”. To know the difference, Tukey Post Hoc
Test of Multiple Comparisons was conducted. Regimes were placed as dependent
variables, wherea,s the categories of topics/issues/events were taken as independent
variables.
ANOVA test showed Mean Difference (I-J) scores for Comparison of Musharraf’s
regime with Zardari and Nawaz regimes as; Zardari -.563*, and Nawaz -.888*.
Standard Error fell as; Zardari .099, Nawaz Sharif .097. Significance of difference
was shown as 0.000, which indicated significant difference between comparison of
Musharraf’s era with Zardari and Nawaz eras. For Comparison of Zardari’s regime
with Musharraf and Nawaz regimes, the Mean Difference (I-J) scores appeared as:
Musharraf .563*, Nawaz -.325*. Standard Error fell as; Musharraf .099, Nawaz .103.
Significance of difference between Zardari and Musharraf regimes was shown as
0.000, which is significant difference. Significance of difference between Zardari
and Nawaz regimes was noted as .005, which means that difference existed in
media-government relations between Zardari and Nawaz regimes, but it was not
much significant as that of the difference, which existed between Zardari and
Musharraf regimes. Thus H-III was partially supported.
A very brief of some key conclusions is given below:
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 202
1. Ample coverage was given to the issue of media-government relations by
the media especially the selected four newspapers. Worse situation of
media-government relations was dominantly reported in the periods of all
the three regimes.
2. Analysis revealed that genres predicting the worst media-government
relations highly dominated the newspapers coverage as compared to
genres signifying good and normal media-government relations during all
the three regimes.
3. The phenomena of highest degree of media suppression and very
interestingly, the maximum media facilitation, both were reported during
Musharraf era by the respective newspapers.
4. ANOVA test supported the notion of the worst media-government
relations during General Pervez Musharraf era as compared to Asif
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif regimes.
5. As reported by respective newspapers, results indicated that Musharraf’s
regime was less criticized by the media, as compared to Zardari & Nawaz
regimes. Hence, the assumption in the 2nd hypothesis was not supported.
6. Significant difference in media-government relations was noted in
comparison of Musharraf’s era with Zardari & Nawaz regimes.
Relatively less significant difference between Zardari & Nawaz regimes
was observed.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 203
5.3 Suggestions and Recommendations
The overall sphere of “Media-government relations” is enormously broad, which is a
sub-area of the vast orbit of Political Communication. This study has only explored
media-government relations in Pakistan during the regimes of Pervez Musharraf,
Asif Zardri and Nawaz Sharif. Many other relevant topics, issues and problems
falling under the ambit of media-government relations in Pakistan could not be
covered in this study, which may be investigated by researchers in future studies.
Some suggestions and recommendations for future research in this area are given
below:
i. The emergence of sudden political upheavals in Pakistan has been witnessed
many times in the past, which have impacted the entire social fabric and every
aspect of our society. Gigantic and multifaceted political events and complex
issues also cast considerable shades over media-government relations, like the
Lawyers Movement (2007) and Panama Papers (2017). Impacts of significant
political issues or events on media-government relations in Pakistan can be
studied in future as Case Study or with any other research methodology.
ii. In Pakistan in particular, government controlled (official) advertisements have
been excessively used as an effective tool to muzzle, manage and control the
media, and to force the critical and unbiased sections of the media to bend down
and follow dictates of the regimes. Although some studies have already been
carried out on this issue, however, a comprehensive study on the role of official
advertisements in shaping the media-government relations in Pakistan, may also
be conducted in future.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 204
iii. Many popular private News TV channels air popular current affairs and political
talk-shows in the evening between 19 to 23 hours on daily basis. Most of the
times, very heated debates on socio-political or other issues are held in these
talk-shows among representatives and supporters of various political parties, and
usually government of the day comes under ruthless criticism. As consequent,
many TV Talk Shows have been shut-down, and anchors faced warnings, fines
and bans. These Evening talk shows may also have caused significant effects
over the media-government relations. Studies may be conducted to investigate
the impacts of Evening TV Talk Shows on Media-government relations or to
explore various factors which influence agenda setting process of these Evening
TV talk shows.
iv. Having been acknowledged as 4th pillar of the state, today’s media are supposed
to have necessary checks on other pillars of the state with their effective
watchdog role, in order to protect fundamental rights of the people. A study on
the impact of the media watchdog role on their relations with the government
may also be conducted in future research.
v. Some powerful media groups have established their sway over the media arena
of Pakistan. A few of them have a long historical existence since the time of the
birth of Pakistan and have deep-rooted influence in Pakistani society like the
Jang, Herald and Nawa-i-Waqt groups. Moreover, some industrial and business
barons having strong political backing and support, have also invested their
wealth in media sector with cross media ownership in the new millennium. It has
led to the emergence of commercially competitive media market in Pakistan,
which has also become an important stake-holder in overall affairs of the
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 205
country. Studies in future may be carried out to explore the new horizon of
media-government relations in the perspectives of emerged media political
economy in Pakistan.
vi. Since the birth of Pakistan in 1947 till today, a great sense of doubt and lack of
trust has remained prevailed between the state, governments and the press over
the mechanism of press-related laws and regulations. This process has always
been skeptically viewed as to silence all critical voices, suppress freedom of
expression and muzzle the dissenting opinion. Journalists and media circles in
Pakistan have constantly made hue & cry, whenever, there has been any sort of
effort to introduce media-related laws and rules & regulations. An exclusive
study on the impacts of Media laws on media-government relations can be
conducted to explore the causes of resistance and denounce of media-related
legislation in Pakistan.
vii. Media are a composition of three key stakeholders i.e. 1) Owners or Media
Houses, 2) Editors, and 3) Working Journalists (field reporters). In this study,
media was taken and defined as a whole, which comprised of all these three key
players and stakeholders. A significant question and aspect, which has not been
dealt in this study and is leftover for other future studies and researchers, is that,
who is the ultimate beneficiary, and who is the key sufferer (victim) and looser
in issues & problems between media and governments. Studies in the formats of
Survey Research, Historical descriptive analysis or Case Studies, may be
conducted on this particular area in future to know the exact nature of this
problem.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 206
5.4 Limitations of the Study
Due to the constraints of time and resources, this particular study has been curtailed
to the media-government relations in Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan has a long history
of 72 years (up to 2019), and same is the time-span of history of press/media-
government relations in Pakistan. So out of this long history, the present study has
been furthered limited up to only three regimes of General Musharraf, Asif Zardari
and Nawaz Sharif. Furthermore, out of a long period of 5475 days (15years), a net
sampling frame of 2880 days (102 weeks) was taken for data analysis. Newspapers
sample was also limited to only four dailies (two Urdu & two English) out of a total
sum of 399 dailies that were published during the study period. These are some
limitations of this research study.
5.5 Implications of the Study
The subject of the media-government relations will go side-by-side in the world with
the existence of modern-day state, the working of government, and the ever
increasing role of the media in society. Besides existing and recognized issues
pertained to media government relations, some new and complex concerns of
significant importance for the government as well as the media will also emerge in
this area in future. This study will be helpful for exploring relevant and prospective
issues and topics in this particular area in future.
Apart from the academia, researchers, and students of the media & communication,
findings and results of this study will also be beneficial for the media houses, media-
owners, editors, journalists, human rights organs, journalists’ bodies and media-
research organizations, Moreover, this research work may also be used in as
reference material in the literature reviews of future research works to be conducted
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 207
by the academia, scholars and researchers. This study may also be beneficial up to
some extent for the researchers of the disciplines of history, political science and
political communication.
Along-side having some specific importance, this study may also happen to be of
generic importance in future. The general public and regular readers may also benefit
from this work to have a deep look into the field of media-government relations in
Pakistan and get insight from it. Finally, results, findings and conclusions of this
study may also work as a guideline for the policy makers, media planners,
executives of official media organizations, government officials in media-related
organizations and other state institutions.
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 208
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Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 229
Appendix-A CODING SCHEME (For Quantitative Content Analysis) Year-----------------------
Mo
nth
s
Wee
ks
Da
y
Da
te
Reg
ime
New
s Pa
per
New
s
Imp
u
lsion
Topics/Issues/Events Period Genre
New
s S
ou
rc
e Slant Length of
Story
Placement of Story
in Section
Frames
Ev
ent B
ased
Issue B
ased
Co
ercion
Vio
lence
Facilitatio
n
Reg
ulatio
n
Resp
on
sible M
edia
Irrespo
nsib
le Med
ia
Oth
er
01
-01
-200
3-3
1-1
2-2
007
01
-04
-200
8-3
1-0
3-2
013
01
-06
-201
3-3
1-0
5-2
018
Ed
itorial
Co
lum
n
New
s story
Featu
re
Letter to
Ed
itor
Oth
er
Official
Priv
ate
Fav
orab
le
Un
favo
rable
Neu
tral
Up
to 2
00
wo
rds-S
mall
20
1-5
00
wo
rds M
ediu
m
50
1-1
000
Len
gth
y
Ab
ov
e 10
01- V
. leng
thy
Fro
nt P
age U
pp
er Half
Fro
nt P
age L
ow
e Half
Back
Pag
e Up
per H
alf
Back
Pag
e Lo
we H
alf
Inn
er Pag
es Upp
er Half
Inn
er Pag
es Lo
we H
alf
Op
-ed. P
age
Resp
on
sibility
of G
ov
t
Resp
on
sibility
of M
edia
Co
nflict
Facilitatio
n
Pro
-go
vt.
An
ti-go
vt
Pro
-med
ia
An
ti-med
ia
VIE
B
VIIB
VT
V
VT
V
VT
F
VT
R
VT
RM
VT
IRM
VT
O
VP
RM
VP
RZ
VP
RN
VG
E
VG
C
VG
NS
VG
F
VG
LE
VG
O
VN
SO
VN
SP
VS
F
VS
U
VS
N
VL
SS
VL
SM
VL
SL
VL
SV
L
VP
FU
H
VP
BL
H
VP
BU
H
VP
BL
H
VP
IUH
VP
ILH
VP
OE
VF
RG
VF
RM
VF
C
VF
F
VF
PG
VF
AG
VF
PM
VF
AM
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Media-government Relations during Musharraf, Zardari & Nawaz Regimes 230
Appendix-B CODING SCHEME (For Qualitative Content Analysis)
Categories of Variables
Reg
ime
Yea
r
Na
ture o
f
So
urce
Source Category
So
urce
Cre
dib
ility
Rela
tion
ship
of N
ews
So
urce
Co
nte
xt
Adjectives Verbs Viewpoint Tonal
Qualities
Vis. Im
ag
ery
with
Tex
t
Govt’s.
Treatment
of Media
Med
ia
beh
av
ior
Pak
istani
Glo
bal
AP
NS
CP
NE
PF
UJ
PP
F
RS
F
IFE
X
Hig
hly
Cred
ible
Cred
ible
Direct P
arty
Indirect p
arty
Neu
tral
Even
t
Issue
Positiv
e
Neg
ative
Neu
tral
Activ
e
Passiv
e
1st P
erson
2n
d Perso
n
3rd P
erson
Aggressiv
e
Em
otio
nal
Frien
dly
Neu
tral
Critical
Pro
-govt.
Anti-g
ovt.
Vio
lence A
nony.
State A
ctions
Court C
ases
Facilitatio
n
Irresponsib
le
Resp
onsib
le
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2
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