Abstract
Journalism has witnessed revolutionary transformation in Pakistan, since the turn of the millennium. The nation that was exposed to only one government controlled news channel and then suddenly was put in the whirlwind of unfiltered flashing news channels, as it stepped in the 21st century. With the launch of two private news channels, the practice of journalism appeared as a war for ratings rather than a medium of information. In the seventeen years of the millennium, multiple news channels have mushroomed in Pakistan but the quality of news still suffers. Freedom and neutrality of the media, particularly media outlets which broadcast national and international news, are critical to the growth of any society. This paper carries out an in-depth study to analyze the reasons for declining quality of news on Pakistani news media. The study begins with examining the relevance and suitability of educational background of the journalists. The journalists on screen and in the field do not go through the appropriate training required to be eligible for news media. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) is identified as one of the main factors for this drawback. PEMRA has been observed to be ineffective so far. This paper analyses the factors leading to its unfortunate performance. The inappropriate congeniality between media persons and political figures also raises debate that media gets under political influence. This paper analyses the links between the afore-mentioned factors in light of the crisis faced by private news media in Pakistan. It analyzes the quality of news churned by these media giants by conducting interviews of leading journalists and media persons.
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Khalid, A.U. (2019). A Case Study of Pakistani News Channels: Media Education and Journalists’ Training. In: Al-Masri, A., Curran, K. (eds) Smart Technologies and Innovation for a Sustainable Future. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01659-3_1
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