Portrayal of Political Parties in English Newspapers during the General Elections 2008 in Pakistan

Abstract

This research aims to explore the portrayal of political parties in the English newspapers of Pakistan during the general elections of 2008. The media's importance during the process of elections becomes manifold as it can frame the image of politicians and political parties. Comparative analysis of the leading political parties of Pakistan, including PPPP, PMLN and PTI, in the two English dailies - Dawn and The News was done. This paper examined the frequency and direction of editorials and front-page news stories that were published on leading political parties from 18th January 2008 to 18th March 2008. Along with the content analysis method, theoretical postulates of agenda-setting were employed to explore English newspapers' depiction of political parties during general elections 2008. Findings revealed that a maximum number of news and editorials were published on PPPP, but it was portrayed in a negative manner. The English print media adopted a supportive tilt towards PMLN by giving it a positive portrayal during the general election of 2008.