FRAMING OF PAKISTANI MEDIA REGARDING AFGHAN TALIBAN: BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR TAKEOVER

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate the framing of Pakistani Media in the context of the Afghan Taliban before and after their takeover of Afghanistan. The main objective is to implore the shift in media’s reporting regarding the said group. To do so, the researcher opted for the qualitative research method and pursued content analysis. Editorials regarding the Afghan Taliban from three English language Newspapers are selected through a purposive sampling method from January 1st, 2021, to December 31st, 2021, for this study. Each editorial is read carefully and broken down into parts to determine the title, the kind of language used, the kind of tone conveyed, and the placement of the certain editorial. After categorizing these characteristics, the editorial is further placed into Negative, Positive, and Neutral categories. These categories are the defining source of the whole investigation. Further statistical testing i.e., Chi-Square Testing is applied to compare the framing before and after the takeover which is before August and after the August of 2021. The testing determined the shift suspected by the researcher and confirmed the hypothesis. The results categorically showed that Pakistani print media shifted from negative to positive reporting of the Afghan Taliban hence proving the researcher’s stance. Keywords: Framing, Pakistani media, Afghan Taliban, takeover