Abstract
Pakistan’s electronic media has been under state control for five decades. The state had
monopoly over television and radiobroadcasting, thus a gatekeeper controlling the
information flow. However, in 2002, media was liberalized under the dictatorial regime of
General Pervez Musharraf. This was against the popular belief that democratic regimes
have media liberalization policy while it is in the interest of dictators to put stringent
control over media. This study is an attempt to consider the reasons for this liberalization
of media and to evaluate its impact on the socio economic and political environment of the
country. The study follows the political economy methodology and analyzes the findings
collected through secondary data, under the overarching theory of political economy of
communication. Pakistan adopted liberal and deregulated policies because of the popular
economic model based on neo liberal agenda of developed nations on whom it was
dependent for aid and assistance. However, the liberalization of media does not only bring
the overall economic growth but also the problems associated with liberalization. The
media in Pakistan saw a boom in the market, where in one-decade television channels
increased drastically from three to ninety, simultaneously giving birth to the five big media
moguls who own major media outlets. This concentration of ownership brought in the
problems of unequal distribution of wealth, class disparities, uninformed citizenry,
commodification and marginalization of minorities. The current media liberalization has
thus become a challenge for the democratic norms of the society. This paper provides basis
for further research in proposing democratic systems for Pakistan.
Mehnaz Gul, Zia Obaid, Shahid Ali. (2017) Liberalization of Media in Pakistan: A Challenge to Democracy, The Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Volume-25, Issue-1.
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