Media coverage of CPEC in Pakistan: the case of the missing frame

Abstract

ABSTRACT When the media cover mega infrastructural and economic development projects, the benefits of the projects in terms of job creation and economic gains are emphasized, while the environmental impacts remain generally unreported. This research article examines coverage of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the Pakistani media, with a particular focus on how the project is framed by the media in a developing country. We find that the media in Pakistan foreground economic considerations, the project’s geostrategic implications, the internal challenges to its completion, and its impact on national security. Despite Pakistan’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, the media frame the project in terms of its potential economic benefits, while frames which foreground climate or environmental risk are largely absent. We theorize that the coverage may provide an example of ‘diversionary framing’ whereby the attention of audiences is directed away from the environmental consequences of CPEC and towards its economic benefits. Our study adds to our understanding of how the media of developing countries respond to the arrival of a mega infrastructure project, and also to the small but growing literature focused on the Pakistani media.