The document summarizes the activities of Uks Research Centre, which conducted a media monitoring project with partner universities in Pakistan. It provides an overview of the media monitoring and focus group discussions conducted by students at 8 universities over 1 month. It describes the types of TV channels and newspapers monitored and themes discussed in the focus groups. It also summarizes consultative meetings held by Uks in Islamabad and planned for Karachi to discuss findings with media and universities. Articles from participants praise the project for promoting media literacy and constructive debate.

1. PROMOTING PUBLIC
DISCOURSE ON
MEDIA CONTENT
IN PAKISTAN
NEWSLETTER
SUMMER2011
W W W . U K S R E S E A R C H . C O M

2. SummerNewsletter2011:
PromotingPublicDiscourseonMediaContentinPakistan
Editor TasneemAhmar
EditorialTeam Sumera Abbasi, Rafia Arshad,
IbrahimSayedandZahidImroz
Layout/Graphics AminaAaqib
PublishedbyUksResearchCentre
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the
contents of this publication. The editor and the organization
do not accept any responsibility of any omission, as it is not
deliberate. Nevertheless, we will appreciate the provision of
accurateinformation,asitwillimproveourwork.
Copyright:UksResearchCentre2011
The use of any material from this publication is to be
acknowledged.
Uks is a research, resource and publication centre
dedicated to the cause of gender equality and
women's development. We are an advocacy and
rights-based group seeking to raise awareness and
assist implementation of our goals and ideals. The
Centre focuses on the women-media relationship; a
concern that has hitherto remained poorly
represented by organisations working on women's
rights.
The word 'Uks' is an Urdu term meaning 'reflection'.
At Uks, our team of professional media persons and
research staff aims to promote the reflection of a
neutral, balanced and unbiased approach to women
and women's issues within, and through the media.
The Centre has already won the support of many
journalists, human rights and women's rights
activists,academicsandotherlike-mindedgroups.
Since its inception in 1997, Uks has monitored
media, conducted research on emerging trends,
particularly regarding gender and women
development, and undertaken trainings and
workshops to raise awareness about crucial issues
amongstmedia.
Uks views the mass media as an exceedingly
important part of our day-to-day living, reflecting
and, to a large extent, determining our daily lives and
ideologicalbeliefs.
UksResearchCentre
51-A,Street-63
F-8/4
Islamabad-Pakistan
Tel:(9251)2850906
www.uksresearch.com
facebook.com/uksresearch
ABOUT
UKS RESEARCH CENTRE

3. EDITORIAL
PROMOTING MEDIA LITERACY
By Manzoor Ali Memon
June 9, 2010
THE unprecedented growth of the broadcast media during the past decade and the latest communications technologies
have ushered in a new era in Pakistan. They have brought about a paradigm shift in terms of media monopoly and the
cartelisationofnewsgathering,packaginganddistributionfromthestatetoprivatelyownedmediachannels.
This repositioning became more visible when cross-media ownership laws were relaxed and enabled owners of the print
media and advertising agencies to acquire broadcast media licences. Resultantly, the media and their power became
concentratedinafewhandsthatwerealreadyinthebusiness.
The news channels are credited with exposing the wrongdoings of the ruling elite and revealing the socio-economic issues
of the citizenry. However, the channels are also criticised for promoting violence and fuelling despondency and political
uncertainty. The trend and tone of reporting in general is rather tabloid. Talk shows are televised on three time slots during
prime time, starting from 8pm and ending at midnight. The format and content of the shows is largely uniform, repetitive
andmonotonous.Theirsubstancetendstobebasedonspeculationbytheparticipantsandanchors.
Stagecraft and dramatic elements such as conflict, tension and sound, etc., are manipulated by the anchors and producers
in order to engage the viewers. The anchors, often intoxicated by the power of their medium, pass decrees and sweeping
statements. As a result, with the passage of time talk shows may lose their charm for the viewers. It is relatively easy and
cheap to conduct programmes with invited guests but quality requires investment, research, diversity, objectivity and
plurality, which is often lacking. As a result of all these factors, such shows are becoming purposeless for the public at
large.However,theymaybeservingthepurposeofmediaownersandsponsors.
The competition for being the first with breaking news and ensuring their organisation`s presence in remote areas has led
channel managements to distribute equipment such as camcorders and microphones to those who have no prior
credentials in broadcast media journalism. The hasty growth of the broadcast media, and the issuance of licences without
taking care of basic requirements such as training, education and wages for broadcast media journalists, have shaped
issues such as violations of codes of conduct, infringements of privacy, door-stepping (the recording of interviews without
priorconsent)andthekillingofjournalistsreportingfromtheconflictzone.
Is it not unfair for media owners to send untrained journalists to report from troubled areas? It is unwise to expect unskilled
andunderpaidmediamentolookoutfortheirpersonalsafetyandcontributetoqualityreportingaswell.
03
Note from Tasneem Ahmar, Director Uks:
This space is actually for my editorial note, but since the
article below says all that I wanted to say in my editorial,
I am using this instead.
EDITORIAL

4. EDITORIAL
The protection of privacy is ensured as a fundamental right in the constitution. Further, Article 12 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights protects an individual`s freedom from arbitrary interference with his or her privacy. I leave it
to my readers to judge the manner in which the local broadcast media covered the Meera and the Shoaib-Sania cases. Was
this not a violation of the fundamental rights of these celebrities who are, after all, citizens and ought to be equal
beneficiaries of the protection offered to them by the constitution? The international broadcast media justifies the intrusion
of an individual`s privacy only when there is a question of public interest. Neither public interest nor the cause of freedom of
the media could have been endangered by a decision to refrain from broadcasting footage of Shoaib and Sania`s bedroom.
This is evidence that news channels are selling sensational, potentially harmful and offensive material in order to grab
advertisement revenues. In this context, how can we expect viewers — especially those not exposed to education — to
correctlydecode,deconstructandinterprettheintentandsubstanceofmediamessages?
Similarly, the increasing penetration of the Internet holds the promise of the new media playing a significant role in coming
years. According to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority website, there are over 96 million mobile phone
subscribers in the country while the number of Internet users is also rising. The convergence of print, broadcast and the
new media, and interactivity in the form of social networking sites and blogs have introduced networked/citizen journalism
in the production and distribution of information and entertainment. This media expansion is bound to bring changes in the
mediapracticesofusers,practitionersandregulators.
These arguments demonstrate how we were neither prepared for the broadcast media revolution nor ready for a converged
new media revolution. The question is how best we can make use of the newfound media liberties and advancements. The
answer lies in empowering citizens and shifting their role from being passive to active, from being recipients to
participants, through media literacy. The purpose of such a drive would be to equip citizens and journalists with the skills
and abilities “to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages across a variety of contexts”, as defined by Sonia
Livingstone, professor at the media and communications department at the London School of Economics. Media literacy
aimstoeducatecitizensandjournalistsonmediaproductionprocessesandsystems,andfostersanunderstanding ofhow
and why media messages are manufactured, packaged, distributed and regulated. Such a campaign could be launched
alongthemodelofOfcom,thebroadcastmediaandcommunicationsregulatorintheUK.
Media literacy has so far not garnered the attention of policymakers and other stakeholders. It should be a fundamental
component of our media and communications policy. The public sector should lead this drive under a public-private
partnership scheme involving broadcasters, regulators, media organisations, press clubs, educational institutions, media
professionalsandcitizens`bodies.
manzooralimemon@yahoo.com
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011
04

5. 05
ACTIVITIES AT A GLAN
Volume 1 of this newsletter mentioned how the students at all 8 of Uks's partner universities had begun with their media
monitoring exercise, following the orientation workshops at these universities. This included monitoring newspapers and
TVchannelsonadailybasisforoneentiremonth.
ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE
TV Channels
Some of the TV channels that were monitored as part
of this exercise include:
- Geo News
- Dawn News
- Express 24/7
- Duniya TV
- Khyber TV
- City 42 News (Lahore)
- KTN News
- Apna TV
- PTV News
- Aaj News
- Samaa News
- Rohi
Newspapers
Some of the newspapers that were monitored as part
of this exercise include:·
- Jang
- The Nation
- Kawish
- Daily Mashriq
- Dawn
- Daily Taseer
- Daily Express
- The News
MEDIA MONITORING
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011
‘TalkingtotheAudience’ -
TheFocusGroupDiscussions
The students also proceeded with conducting Focus
Group Discussions (FGDs) with different segments of
the general public. The themes as well as the questions
put forth in these FGDs were based on the analysis and
findingsofthemediamonitoringdonebythestudents.
Thesestudentswereabletoorganizeandconduct13

6. 106
ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE
FGD’sateachlocation,engagingandinteractingwithalargeaudiencesuchasthosebelongingtothefollowinggroups:
- Above40000income
- Below40000income
- Workersofuniversitieshavinglowincome
- Minorities
- Youth
- Employedmales
- Employedfemales
- Housewives
Employed
0
50
100
150
200
250
Housewives Youth Males/Females Minorities
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF PARTICIPANTS
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011
ContentanalysisatUks
In June, once the students from these universities had
started to send in their media monitoring sheets and FGD
reports, Uks embarked on analyzing and studying these
reports and findings. This process is now at its final stages,
and Uks plans on sharing this analysis and findings with the
media and the public through the publication of a Handbook,
aswellasaLaunchCeremonyinIslamabadinOctober.
Breaking News
Syndrome
Mukhtara Mai
Legal/Ethical
Violations
Anchor’s
Power
Osama bin
Laden
Media
Monitoring
Media
Literacy
Media Effects
Media
Awareness
Kharotabad
Incident
Karachi
Rangers
killing of a
civilian
As of now, around a total number of 1000 people from all over
Pakistan have been a part of these Focus Group Discussions -
fromMansehratoKarachi,fromIslamabadtoBahawalpur.
Someofthethemesortopicsofthesediscussionshavebeen:
IslamabadConsultativeMeeting-11thAugust2011
Uks organized a ‘one-day consultative meeting with the media and partner universities’ in Islamabad in August. The aim of this
conference was to bring together media representatives from a wide range of backgrounds as well as the coordinators from some of
Uks’s partner universities to share and discuss the progress and findings of the media monitoring and focus group discussions that
have been conducted at these partner universities, and to seek the feedback and opinion of the media. The guests present at this
occasion included notable media personalities such as Amir Mateen and Asma Shirazi. The project coordinators from 3 of Uks’s partner
universities – Mr. Zafar Iqbal from International Islamic University Islamabad, Ms. Ismat Waseem from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Institute ofScience andTechnology(SZABIST)Islamabad,andMr.Shujaat AliKhanfromHazaraUniversity Mansehrawerealsopresent.
The project coordinators delivered presentations detailing the progress of the activities at their respective universities and presented
their findings and analysis on the media monitoring and focus group discussions that have been done at their universities, and shared
their own views and thoughts on this exercise as a whole. The media present at the occasion also gave their feedback and views on this
exercise. They greatly commended the effort and work that has been done at these universities as part of this project, and urged that
projects and initiatives such as this should not only be continued but encouraged and promoted in Pakistan. They also greatly
emphasized on the need of public discussion and a more responsible media in our country and said that such initiatives are precisely
what’sneededtoachievethat.
KarachiConsultativeMeeting-withKarachimediaandUniversities
Uks has also planned to organize a similar media consultative meeting in Karachi, where senior and prominent media personalities from
Karachiwillbeinvited,alongwithsomeofthecoordinatorsfromUks'sotherpartneruniversities.

7. 07
ARTICLESARTICLES
Hamzah Rifaat
SZABIST, Islamabad
After undergoing a 6 month long training program with Uks on Gender Based Violence and
conducting a workshop on Gender Based Violence, which targeted Islamabad's populace, the three
day workshop on media monitoring at SZABIST on the 21st of February, 2011, was the ideal
opportunity to explore the avenues of reform, on the depiction of various aspects in the media. In an age of fierce
commercial competition and the media playing a key role in shaping public sentiment, this experience with Uks, where
rigorous exercises and in depth analysis of media content was met with alacrity by the various participants, was wonderful
tosaytheleast.
To benefit from such an experience after being involved with internships in various channels, has helped in enlightening me,
to become media literate. In an age where information is manipulated to arouse interest, the diagnosis of the various
aspects of the print and electronic media was an exciting experience. The prowess of Sumera Abbasi along with her
assistant research associate, Rafia Arshad, helped us understand the essence of the media in shaping public opinion and
whatneedstobedonetotryandcurtailthecloutofbiasnessandpartisandepictionsanddisseminationofinformation.
The fourteen students, of which many hailed from diverse backgrounds, added a unique flavor to the sessions. Varying
schools of thought with regard to media content, helped in promoting constructive debate and at the same time promoted
respect for each other's opinions. Break- out sessions helped in gelling practicality, where proper monitoring exercises
helped in enhancing everyone's outlook towards the media. Despite the presence of a stringent routine in everyone's daily
lives, all fourteen participants reaffirmed their commitment to the month long exercise, which would also include focus
groupdiscussions,inthemonthincontention.
On a personal note, I, Hamzah Rifaat, who has been associated with the Pakistan Television Network, Aaj News and a daily
contributor to the Islamabad Dateline, have found this experience very rewarding. Every news item or program segment
entails spice, sensationalized content which needs to be diagnosed, in the modern era. This experience has helped me
understand the media better and look for novel solutions to try and tackle the information provided to the common man in
the country. A positive outlook and respect for those who constitute the media, whether it is the presenter or the subject
itself, is what this nation needs after all the negative hype shown on various channels. By the end of the exercise, I
personally hope that the students of SZABIST, under the guidance and coordination of Ms. Ismat Waseem, would
contributeinonewayortheother,toreformtheverymediathatwecallourown.
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

8. NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

9. NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

10. 10
ARTICLES
UKS MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT FEEDBACK
Ayesha Wallayat Ch.
Islamia University of Bahawalpur
As we all know in this modern world of ours, media - whether it is print or electronic - is considered the 4th pillar of any
democratic country. Media plays an important role in portraying positive as well as negative image of the country/society.
To control the contents of print media the journalists have formed newspaper societies like APNS (All Pakistan Newspaper
Society) & PFUJ (Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists). These societies are responsible to watch over whether the print
media follows the journalistic code of ethics or not. On the other hand PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority)wasformedtocontroltheownership&programsoftheprivateelectronicmedia.
Now a day's most of the channels & newspapers are not following the journalistic code of ethics. It's happening in this way
because the editors of the newspapers are the owners of them as well and they also have high designations in those two
newspaper societies. Same happens in the matter of private channels & PEMRA. The mass media in Pakistan creates
sensationalism in the audience just to sell its contents & to earn profit. At one time the media organization supports a
specific group of people as they could earn them some profit and on the other hand within seconds they oppose the same
groupofpeopleiftheythinkthatdoingthiswillmaketheirorganizationpopularamongtheaudience.
The channels & newspapers create a lot of fuzz about the sensitive issues like child abusing, women-rape cases and many
others like these. They create hype in the general public which results in the form of strikes & damage of national assets. In
the newspapers the news items, editorials & features are full of criticism on different political parties & personalities. The
newsisbiased&alsocarriesunnecessarydetails.Hencetheyhavelosttheelementoffairness&objectivity.
On the other hand in news channels the current affair programs are just to impose the opinions of the owners of the
channels or the opinions of the anchorpersons. The channels might have introduced these programs with the intentions of
solving the current issues of the country & general public. But instead of that they make the situation worse & try to create a
wrongimpressionoftheguestspeakersontheaudience.
The media through advertisements is making our nation consumers instead of producers, for they advertise the products
in such a glamorous way that people feel compelled to buy that product. The dramas & programs of media glamorize
everything, it is creating a moral vacuum in our society. Cultural invasion has also taken place in our society through media.
It is projecting western & Indian culture in the commercials & other contents of media. Media manipulates the interests of
thepeoplenegatively.Itisalsoblamedforoverwhelmingnegativeexaggerationofdifferentsensitiveissues.
Media is also responsible for cutting short our social activities as we remain fixed to TV screens. There is a lot of
bombardment of information in the mass media & it is becoming difficult for the audience to get the information of their
interestinthiseraofoverloadedinformation.
There are also some positive aspects of media in Pakistan. Media has played an important role in spreading awareness &
knowledge about different social issues. It has increased the level of awareness of general masses. Pakistani media has
also assisted in the development efforts of the state through commercials & ads such as “Parha Likha Punjab” & “Benazir
IncomeSupportProgram”.
Media has influenced the public in creating their opinions about different issues by conducting focus group
discussions/cross discussions by highlighting different issues in their programs. Media is also used for education
purposes by different educational institutions such as AIOU use media for that purpose. Media also supports democracy
by bringing out democratic norms & inculcates the same in general public. It provides live coverage of parliamentary
proceedings & sessions. Media provides a platform to the public to give their viewpoints on the issues of their interest. It
hasgivenavoicetothegeneralpublic.
In short media in Pakistan is playing both positive & negative role. But mostly its role in our society is negative. The media
literacy project by Uks is a good initiative to convey our message to media ownerships that they should produce their
programs & publish their newspapers in favor of the general public & Pakistan. They should play a positive role in the
developmentofthecountryratherthanplayinganimportantroleinitssocial&moraldeteriorationanddownfall.
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

11. 11
A PLATFORM FOR CUB JOURNALISTS
ABDULLAH
BS Journalism, 8th Semester, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat
prince.kust@gmail.com
Journalism and Mass communication is a newly introduced field in Pakistan. According to media scholars, most people
working in practical field of media are not journalism educated. That is the reason behind unbalanced and subjective
information flow about the circumstances which spreads panic amongst the people. If we go through electronic media, we
can observe that there is competition of breaking news syndrome on TV channels, while anchors in talk shows use
derogatorylanguagewhichispromotinganegativeimageofourcountryPakistan.
According to a research, every day TV channels are communicating a variety of information to the viewers and viewers
believe what they watch is correct. While the contents are constructed according to the policy of media organization by not
caring about viewer's choice. How viewers could be involved in content making of a media organization? For that purpose
Uks- A Research, Resource and Publication Center on Women and Media, introduced ‘Media Literacy’, a new concept in
Pakistan.
Media literacy is sharing the skills of experiencing, interpreting and analyzing the contents of media channels. It is the ability
to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day. It's the ability to bring critical
thinking skills to bear on all media. It's about asking pertinent questions about what's there, and noticing what's not there.
And it's the instinct to question what lays behind media productions the motives, the money, the values and the ownership
andtobeawareofhowthesefactorsinfluencecontent.
Uks like many of its earlier bold initiatives took the credit of being first non-government organization to introduce in Pakistan
the concept of media literacy. Based on media monitoring and content analysis, it is aimed at educating and empowering
people-viewers and readers about their rights and responsibilities regarding the media, and promote media literacy through
a culture of dialogue and analysis. It is hoped that this process will result not only in strengthening democratic values, by
initiating media debates but also help towards fostering better and more active relationship between media and its
audiences. Since its beginning in 1997, Uks has monitored media, conducted research on emerging trends, particularly
regarding gender based and woman development, and undertaken trainings and workshops to raise awareness about
crucialissuesamongstmedia.
Recently Uks started workshops and trainings on media literacy for which it takes a group of 12 students (male/female)
from journalism departments of different universities. Till now workshops have been held in Kohat University, Punjab
University Lahore, Islamia University Bahawalpur, International Islamic University Islamabad, Hazara University and
BahauddinZakariyaUniversityMultan,tonameafew.
During the three days orientation workshop, trainees learnt how media will be monitored. Being part of this project from
Kohat University I find myself able to analyze the media contents and I am involved now in content making process. For
someweeksweregularlymonitoredmediaoncriteriasuchasgenderequality,ethicsandstereotypeconceptsetc.Besides
monitoring we arranged focus group discussions in which participants number were 30. Furthermore Uks is also focused
on Woman-Media relationship; a concern that has hitherto remained poorly represented by organizations working on
woman's rights. After comprehensive process of monitoring, youth members will also write articles for the newsletter of
UksResearchCentreaswellasforreport.
Uks took the initiative of giving a platform to youth, to bring a positive change in the society by playing their roles in media
content analysis and eradication of gender based violence from our society. Now it is necessary for youth to use that
platform,andactivelyparticipateinactivitieswhichareorganisedbyUksfromtimetotime.
Uks is of the opinion that students which are currently enrolled in journalism departments are cub journalists and in future
theywouldjoinmediachannels.Sofromtheiracademicsiftheyaretrainedtheywillwork positivelyinthemediaaccording
to the ethics, furthermore there will be no panic of breaking news, and a peaceful concept of Pakistan will be promoted
worldwide.
ARTICLES
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

12. 12
NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2011

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15

16. W W W . U K S R E S E A R C H . C O M