AGENDA SETTING OF PRESS AND POLICY MAKING: THE ROLE OF MEDIA AND PUBLIC AGENDA IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SOUTH PUNJAB

Abstract

In Pakistan, the argument over the creation of new provinces and the provincial structure has taken center stage. Unfortunately, political point-scoring has often distorted this argument and prevented it from being acknowledged as one of the most important economic, political, social, and administrative issues in Pakistan. So, this study was conducted to compare the media and public agenda on the issue of establishment of new province in Punjab. In order to compare the media and public agenda, mix method technique was applied. Firstly, Content analysis of four daily newspapers; two Urdu and two English newspapers was done and after that to measure the perception of the public a survey of two hundred responded from the three major district of south Punjab was conducted through the purpose sampling technique. The results of the study reviled that Urdu newspapers, Daily Jang, and Nawa I Waqt had a significantly higher frequency of covering these issues compared to English newspapers. Moreover, the effect of media agenda regarding creation of new province in Punjab made a significant contribution in explaining the dependent variable, public opinion about establishment of new province. Keywords: Agenda Setting, Press, Media agenda, Public agenda, Policy making, South Punjab