1st Edition
From Terrorism to Television Dynamics of Media, State, and Society in Pakistan
This book unpacks the media dynamics within the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of Pakistan. It provides an in-depth, critical, and scholarly discussion of contemporary issues such as media, state, and democracy in Pakistan; freedom of expression in Pakistani journalism; Balochistan as a blind spot in mainstream newspapers; media control by state institutions; women and media discourses; TV talk shows and coverage of Kashmir; feminist narrative and media images of Malala Yousufzai and Mukhtaran Mai; jihad on screen; and Osama bin Laden’s death on screen, to understand the relation between media and terrorism. The book covers diverse media types including TV, radio, newspapers, print media, films, documentary, stage performance, and social media.
Detailed, interdisciplinary, analytical, and with original perspectives from journalists as well as academics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of media studies, Pakistan studies, politics and international affairs, military and terrorism studies, journalism and communication studies, and South Asian studies. It will also interest general readers, policy makers, and those interested in global journalism, mass media, and freedom of expression.
Preface
Contributors
Chapter 1
Walking in Circle: Democracy, State and Freedom of Expression in Pakistan
Qaisar Abbas and Farooq Sulehria
Chapter 2
Journalism in the Service of Jihad
Faizullah Jan
Chapter 3
Jihad on Screen: The Role of Jihadi Drama, Film and Their Press Coverage, 1979-89 in Islamising Pakistan
Farooq Sulehria
Chapter 4
The Politics of Pity and the Individual Heroine Syndrome: Mukhtaran Mai and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan
Fawzia Afzal Khan
Chapter 5
TV News as Merchant of War Hysteria: Framing the Kashmir Conflict in India and Pakistan
Qaisar Abbas
Chapter 6
Performing Piety and Sexuality in Pakistan
Afiya Shehrbano Zia
Chapter 7
Cost of Doing their Job: The Online Harassment of Women Journalists
Ayesha Khan
Chapter 8
Counterterrorism Perspective and the Pakistani TV Channels: A Case Study of Osama bin Laden’s Assassination
Amir Hamza Marwan
Chapter 9
The Journey of Pakistan’s Oscar-success A Girl in the River: An Insider’s Account
Haya Fatima Iqbal
Chapter 10
What Freedom? Reflections of a Working Journalist
Farah Zia
Chapter 11
Covering the Periphery: Balochistan as a Blind Spot in the Mainstream Newspapers of Pakistan
Adnan Aamir
Chapter 12
Interviews with I. A. Rehman, Mehdi Hassan, and Eric Rahim: Freedom of Expression and the Sham Democracy
Qaisar Abbas and Farooq Sulehria
Index
Biography
Qaisar Abbas is Advisor, SMU Human Rights Program at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA.
Farooq Sulehria is Assistant Professor at the Department of Liberal Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.