AMCAP Journal of Media and Communication Studies - Lahore

Journal of Media and Communication Studies

Association of Media and Communication Academic Professionals (AMCAP)
ISSN (online): 2789-9756
Abstract

This Study examines instrumentalisation of the media in Pakistan, specifically, how the conglomerate ownership makes journalism a weapon of defense and power. Using ten in-depth interviews of working journalists, the study focuses on how media institutions are used to help their owners advance their financial and political interests through narrative management, suppression of critical scrutiny and legitimization of supplementary business interests. Thematic analysis through NVivo 15 indicates that weaker regulatory frameworks, ambiguous ownership constructs and the growing collision of media, corporate and political elites have transformed journalism as a watchdog to a stronghold of private defense. Such a form of protective instrumentalisation is undermining the ethics of journalism, the democratic role of press and an accountability crisis of titanic dimensions in the communication space of Pakistan. The reconceptualization of media as a tool of impunity broadens the political Economy agenda and the necessity to reform the system and be more transparent regarding ownership.

 

Author(s):

MPhil Scholar at Communication & Media Studies, University of Sargodha (UoS)

Pakistan

  • zarkashkhan7170@gmail.com

Assistant Professor at Communication & Media Studies, UoS

Pakistan

  • noman.yaser@uos.edu.pk

Deputy Director, MMDC, UoS

Pakistan

  • hassan.raza@uos.edu.pk

Details:

Type: Article
Volume: 6
Issue: 1
Language: English
Id: 69b1118a1fc63
Published January 10, 2026
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.