Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Role of Media: Audience Perception Regarding Fear, Risk and Uncertainty

Abstract

This research aims to analyse the audience’s perception about fear, risk and uncertainty during Operation Zarb-e-Azb; fashioned by media in Pakistan. The purpose behind the study is to check out, how viewers perceive that this military operation eliminates the curse of terrorism. The 320 respondents (160 male and 160 female students from University of Sargodha) were selected by using stratified and convenience sampling techniques. This study shows how private TV news channels’ coverage portrayed representation of the ground battle to reduce the fear of the audience. According to the viewers’ perception, the Pakistani private TV news channels’ coverage provided confidence and sense of security to the people, boosted the morale of Pakistan Army, gave sense of national integration and tried to portray true picture of the story. Last but not the least; viewers perceive that, this operation eradicated the menace of hydra headed monster of terrorism in Pakistan.

Introduction

There is no doubt that television is not only a luxury but an important part of daily life. We can say that it is the main source of information that formulates the public opinion and develops the public perception. Television brings a big change in society to develop the public mind set. Especially, in the last decade in Pakistan, television is playing its role to activate the public and also playing its role of opposition for all government issues. In recent years Pakistani society has been severely hit by terrorist activities and it has become the talk of the town. The operations were launched by the army against the terrorist elements operating in the country and almost every aspect of the society suffered during this war (Happer & Philo, 2013).

On September 11, 2001 the whole world was shocked by the scene of The Twin Towers buried to ground, killing more than 2500 and maiming many others. International community, OIC and UNO strongly condemned the brutal attacks and urged condolences to the USA. Comprehensive offers regarding complete assistance to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to book were also made to the USA.

The global community was at risk because of terrorism that urged the powers to eliminate it completely. Pakistan in this scenario proved its worth by taking the responsibility and fighting on the frontline to counter these dangerous elements. The higher officials in the US government acknowledged the contribution of Pakistan and its efforts to curb the international threat. In the light of international politics and contemporary international relations, terrorism is a very complex issue of the current era. It leads into an arena of poor choices (Ghauri, 2009).

In February 2008, general elections were held in Pakistan and tactlessly the war against terrorism was going on. Country was also facing tremendous pressure mainly on the western border along with tension at the eastern border. Highly tense law and order and especially serious security situations have been created by the terrorists’ attacks. Military forces were engaged in war on terrorism for the last two decades (Puri, 2012).

A group of 12 TTP militants busted the Manawa Police Academy Lahore in 2009. Eight police personnel perished and 95 injured due to that attack. In 2011, the PNS Mehran base in Karachi was attacked by TTP and Al-Qaida terrorists. They destroyed two P3C-Orion surveillance aircrafts of the Pakistan Navy. Militants from Uzbekistan in 2012 played a prime part in jail break at Bannu in which 100 militants attacked and some 400 inmates were freed. The same year, 10 militants attacked Bacha Khan Airport in Peshawar in which rockets were fired. Then, in 2013, the Dera Ismail Khan jail was attacked in which Uzbek militants played a crucial role. The militants succeeded in freeing 170 terrorists of the TTP and Jundullah group (Javaid, 2015).

On June 8, 2014 country rattled with the shock as terrorist attacked the Jinnah Airport Karachi. It was subsequently followed by the launch of operation Zarb-e-Azb to eradicate the menace of terrorism from country. The terminal was attacked by the ten TTP militants. Twenty Six people perished in the attack including members of the Rangers force, the Airport Security Force (ASF) and many civilians. While TTP accepted the attack responsibility, it was also confirmed by them that attackers were Uzbeks who were aligned with TTP and performed terrorist activities against the sovereignty of Pakistan (Saeed et al., 2014).

There are a number of military operations being conducted in Pakistan to join the flanks of global powers in the war against terrorism. These operations possess obvious differences and significances as well as similarities, though they were meant to focus the local and foreign terrorists, most prominent being the Al-Qaida and the Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Shah, 2014). With this scenario, state decided to stop negotiations and launch the military operation against the terrorists, and thus operation Zarb-e-Azb started. The military establishment of Pakistan started a highly offensive combat against the terrorists. The operation was an important part of the campaign against terrorist activists of Pakistan. About 30,000 army personnel participated in the operation to expel the foreign militants and eradicate their influence left in North Waziristan region of Pakistan. All the stakeholders, including public sector, of the country laid great support to the cause (Afridi et al., 2014).

Operation Zarb-e-Azb has stark similarities with the Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Raahe-e-Raast and Operation Sher Dil. In each of these operations the local residents were evacuated and the safe havens of terrorists and other militants were targeted by the Armed forces. It is also pertinent to mention that the locals of North Waziristan also played a vital role in the mission to eliminate these elements. Their collective cooperation and individual efforts were quite effective in maintaining peace and stability in the region. Military operation would have been subjected to harsh criticism and become controversial if media had not played its part in development of public opinion in the favour of the military operations (Entman, 2004). Media exposed the menace of terrorism and its hazards towards the masses. It enlightened the minds of people by highlighting the brutal attacks of terrorist on educational infrastructure, health establishments, mosques, seminaries and public points (Kaura, 2013).

Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan is a department working under Pakistan Army and acts as mouth-piece for the force. The prime responsibility of ISPR is to keep the public informed with the activities of Pakistan Army, their importance and scope. The role of spokesman of Army is performed by Director General Inter Services (ISPR), who speaks on the part of Pak Army. Pakistan Army boosted its image and heightened the moral of public, as they laid many lives in front of fighting against the enemies of the state. It all was reported by media, so that public was dependent on television to keep themselves abreast with day to day developments of Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Bhatti, 2013).

Scope of the Study

The research is aimed at exploring the role of media industry, specifically news channels, in influencing the perceptions of the masses regarding the war against terrorism and more particularly about Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Selected TV Channels

The coverage of Express News, Geo News, Dunya News, ARY News and Sama TV about Operation Zarb-e-Azb were selected for this study.

Objectives of the Study

To discover the consumption pattern of audience to the media coverage of operation Zarb-e-Azb,

To assess that, how different television channels satisfied the information needs and remove uncertainty of public regarding operation Zarb-e-Azb,

To evaluate that to what extent the viewers felt insecure and fearful while watching the coverage of operation Zarb-e-Azb,

To find out to what extent the audience perceived that military operation could eliminate the curse of terrorism,

To evaluate, whether TV news channels portrayed true picture of operation Zarb-e-Azb?

Literature Review

The use of media and information handling in warfare has become an interesting area of research. During the Gulf Wars it became quite evident that the manipulated information can prove itself a very important weapon to misguide the enemy and ultimately defeat it. The importance of media channels has further increased during the war days as Major General Perry (R) puts it, “over the six weeks of Gulf War “people extensively watched television per day comparatively previous trend” (Toffler et al., 1993). The public sitting in their homes was aware of the fact that lack of planning and bad weather in the desert had blocked the US forces. For Mueller (2006) media plays an important role to present terrorism as more dangerous for society. Anker (2005) and Lule (2001) resulted that media breaking news coverage was mythical in framing of terrorism by establishing and strengthening the social norms after 9/11. However, under the effects of media coverage this study resulted that 90% of Americans endorsed military action during this study.

There is another survey study that was conducted after 9/11 attacks by Rogers and Seidel (2003) on infusion and diffusion of news sources in various categories. In this study researchers focused to collect all types of communication data of telephone, cell phone, interpersonal communication, television, radio and internet. This study resulted that most of the people got information through telephone and cell phone from their family or friends about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Researchers argued that after the attacks, television channels telecasted and radio broadcasted updated information about the incident and people were fully aware during the initial hours without mentioning the obtained information which is gathered via telephone from public. Consequently, most of the information was found to be fallacious and later on passed over to others by interpersonal communications. But now a days television channels are playing a vital role in the infusion and diffusion of news directly.

Nacos (2002) in a study mentions that the majority of the Hungarians (51.2%) were curious about the victims of 9/11 terrorist attacks. Moreover, he argued that 83% people from UK and 76% people from Russia shared similar fears in the study. He stated that people feel high level of fear by watching the coverage of terrorist activities in media. People are more affected by the excessive use of media coverage. Altheide (2006) said that news reports constructed the social meanings by associating words with certain problems and issues. Erick (2002) studied that people are nothing but mental servants under the mass media which presents the information in overstated form. Slone (2000) in a study concluded that terrorist actions that are publicized hold greater impact on audience’s mind and they create uncertainty and anxiety. Likewise, in a survey Robinsons and his fellow (2003) founded that terrorist stones could not shed the peoples fear about their safety and terrorism. However, various studies concluded that media has great impact on peoples’ mind and has broadened their thoughts away from their domestic issues; it modified the perception of audience about particular issues (Semetko et al., 2007).

Combs (2003) found that after 9/11 terrorist attacks; US Defence Department has been visited by 5000 media personals on military installations and 1500 special interviews for press and 225 press conferences were conducted. This activity shows the cooperation between media and government. Likewise, media is also putting knowledge on various issues that are occurring within and outside the country. Mockaitis (2003) found that media hype is not the prime concern of the terrorist organization but they try to get attention of media by the terrorist attacks on public. This is the best way to get public attention and hammer their psyche. Media coverage of terrorist attacks is the mode to allure the attention and to promote their vested interests.

There is an attempt to sort out how Daily Nation of Pakistan and Daily Times of India followed the policies of their respective states regarding war on terror. Overall analysis of the data showed that both newspapers gave more editorials against war on terror and didn’t toe the policy of their governments (Shabbir et al., 2014). Pew Research Global Attitudes Project was a survey poll which resulted that 72% Pakistanis were in support of their government’s decision to shore up the US war on terror. In the survey, nine in ten Pakistanis rated terrorism and crime as gigantic problems in the list of problems in front of Pakistan today (PGS, 2006).

Theoretical Framework

Theories predict, understand and explain the phenomena and also enhance and challenge the existing knowledge. Normally, theoretical framework supports the findings of the study and introduces the theory that describes why research problem under this study exists. In this study the plan is to analyse the audience’s perception about uncertainty, insecurity and risk during Operation Zarb-e-Azb; fashioned by media in Pakistan. The purpose behind the study was to check out, how viewers perceive that this military operation will eliminate the curse of terrorism. In this regard Pakistani news media played a vital role to portray positive image of Pakistan Army and provided true picture of the story to the audience. People get exposed in large amount to the private television news channels and were dependent on media at that time when operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched. However, this dependency on media changed their perception and built their clear opinion towards terrorist groups and the military operation.

After a brief appraisal of media dependency in the current study we can expound and apply media system dependency (MSD) theory on public opinion processes that involve contested issues ‘value frames’ (Ball-Rokeach & Ball-Rokeach, 1987). In such cases, the media system is directly connected in the negotiation of legality of disparate positions on an issue and our illustrative case is the operation Zarb-e-Azb, role of Pakistani news media and viewers’ perception regarding coverage. The framework of this study consists of MSD theory and we can discuss in detail with the relation of the present study.

Media Dependency Theory

Ball-Rokeach and Defleur presented the Media System Dependency theory in 1976. The theory is grounded in different perspectives such as, psycho analysis and social system theory. Systematic and casual approach are the basic elements from uses and gratification theory that people depend upon media for their needs’ gratification but it gives less importance to effects. Media System Dependency theory is known to be the first theory which regarded audience as an active part in communication process. The dependency theory is preceded from Uses and Gratification theory (Ball-Rokeach & Defleur, 1976). The theory has its grounds in classical sociological literature suggesting that media and their audiences should be studied in the context of larger social systems (Ognyanova et al., 2012).

Theory claims the internal link between media, its audience and large social system (Miller, 2005). The audience cannot learn sufficiently from their real life so they use media for the gratification of their needs. An extensive use of media produces the dependency of audience upon media and target audiences can also gratify their needs by using appropriate media (Hindman, 2004). This present study has relevance with dependency theory. Dependency theory predicts that one depends on media information to meet certain needs and achieves certain goals. Pakistani society has faced war on terror. Pakistan army has been on forefront to the anti-social and non-state actors.

Having volatile state of affairs, public has to depend on media, as general masses do not have easy access to the virtual threats of war. Secondly, according to dependency theory when social changes and conflicts are high, the established institutions, beliefs and practices are challenged, and then have to re-evaluate and make new choices. In such uncertain situation of war, where casualties and collateral damages are norms of the day one, have to depend on media coverage of the events to re-evaluate the situations. It all was reported by media, so that public have to depend on television to keep themselves abreast with day to day developments of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Hypotheses

The hypotheses of this study are as under:

It is more likely respondents perceive that they feel fear, insecurity and uncertainty while watching Pakistani private television news channels’ coverage to operation Zarb-e-Azb.

It is more likely viewers perceive that military operation Zarb-e-Azb eliminates the curse of terrorism.

Methodology

Methodology is a systematic structure of the research strategies that are implemented in the on-going research. It is a process of managing research in a standard manner, it comprises of definitions procedures, and details of techniques that are used to collecting data, analysing, storing and presenting information as step of a research process (Creswell, 2003). In this empirical study survey method was used to analyse the effects of media and check the viewers’ perceptions which were developed by the Pakistani private television news channels. Population of this study was students of University of Sargodha and the universe for this study was University of Sargodha. Unit of analysis was students (male and female) of the selected departments. Sample is the subset of the population, for this study; the sample size was 300 students which were equally divided and selected.

Likewise, keeping in view the demand and requirement of the study; for drawing meaningful inferences questionnaires were filled up from 320 students (160 male and 160 female) from different departments of the University. For the equal division of respondents stratified sampling was used to divide the respondents on the basis of gender (male, female). After division of the respondents into the mentioned strata, convenience sampling technique was applied to collect the data from different departments of University of Sargodha (Table-1a).

Table-1a) Primary data sources

Departments	Male	Female	Total
Social Sciences	80	80	160
Natural Sciences	80	80	160
Total	160	160	320

After the completion of coding process, the next step was to put data in the SPSS coding sheet and apply statistical techniques in order to work out on the findings. For this purpose SPSS software was used to draw tables and descriptive analysis has been made (Table-1b).

Table-1b) Reliability

Case Processing Summary
		N	%
Cases	Valid	320	100.0
	Excluded^a	0	.0
	Total	320	100.0
a. List wise deletion based on all variables in the procedure.

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha	N of Items
.799	60

Findings of the Study

During operation Zarb-e-Azb the private TV news channels have given a lot of time to different aspects of this operation and respondents extensively exposed themselves to this coverage. According to the viewers’ perception, the Pakistani private TV news channels' coverage provided confidence and sense of security to the audience, boosted the morale of Pakistan Army, gave sense of national integration and tried to portray clear picture of the story. Extensively we can discuss the following tables that are based on responses given by the respondents as below:

Table-2a) Viewers’ preference to watch the following Television channels’ coverage given to operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Channels	Category	Overall	Gender
Channels	Category	Overall	Male	Female
Geo News	Very frequently*	53.0**	26.0	33.3
	Somewhat	38.0	19.7	12.7
	Not at all	9.0	4.3	4.0
ARY News	Very frequently	66.0	29.0	27.0
	Somewhat	31.7	19.0	21.0
	Not at all	2.3	2.0	2.0
Dunya News	Very frequently	45.3	22.3	20.7
	Somewhat	49.7	26.0	27.0
	Not at all	5.0	1.7	2.3
Samaa News	Very frequently	52.3	24.3	18.0
	Somewhat	42.0	23.7	28.3
	Not at all	5.7	2.0	3.7
Express News	Very frequently	59.0	27.7	29.3
	Somewhat	38.0	20.7	18.3
	Not at all	3.0	1.7	2.3
		100.0%	50.0%	50.0%

*: Very frequently means very frequently and frequently, somewhat means somewhat and rarely, not at all means not at all.

**: Figures showing percentage.

The table 2a shows the viewers’ watching preference to Pakistani TV news channels’ coverage of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Empirical findings show that overall majority of the viewers preferred to watch ARY News (66.0%) very frequently as compared to Express News (59.0%) followed by Geo News (53.0%), Samaa (52%) and Dunya News (45.3%) as well. In terms of gender, male viewers in majority preferred to watch ARY News (29.0%) very frequently as compared to Express News (27.7%) and other channels.

Graph 2b) Viewers’ preference to watch the following Television channels’ coverage

In the above given chart it can be observed, female viewers preferred to watch Geo News (33.3%) comparatively Express News (29.3%) and ARY News (27.0%) which we can see in the following chart. Exclusive analysis of the whole data viewers kept themselves updated regarding Operation Zarb-e-Azb from ARY News (66.0%) very frequently. As it is observed by overall majority in the table-1, watching frequency of TV news channels that majority preferred to watch ARY (66.0%) little more as compared to other TV news channels that shows no significant difference.

Table 3a) Viewers feel Insecure while Watching Private TV News Channels’ Coverage to Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Channels	Category	Overall	Gender
Channels	Category	Overall	Male	Female
Geo News	Very Much*	52.7**	27.7	25.0
	Somewhat	37.3	16.7	20.7
	Not at all	10.0	5.7	4.3
ARY News	Very Much	38.7	20.7	18.0
	Somewhat	49.7	22.3	27.3
	Not at all	11.6	7.0	4.7
Dunya News	Very Much	30.4	17.0	13.3
	Somewhat	59.3	27.0	32.3
	Not at all	10.3	6.0	4.3
Samaa News	Very Much	32.3	17.0	15.3
	Somewhat	54.3	26.0	28.3
	Not at all	13.4	7.0	6.3
Express News	Very Much	36.3	17.0	19.3
	Somewhat	48.3	24.0	24.3
	Not at all	15.4	9.0	6.3
		100.0%	50.0%	50.0%

*: Very much means very much and much, somewhat means somewhat and rarely, not at all means not at all.

**: Figures showing percentage.

The figures of the table 3a show that to what extent the viewers feel insecurity while watching private TV news channels’ coverage to operation Zarb-e-Azb. Empirical findings show that overall majority of viewers feel fear and insecurity from the coverage of Geo News (52.7%) very much as compared to ARY News (38.7%), Express News (36.3%), Samaa News (32.3%) and Dunya News (30.4%) respectively when they used to watch to get information about Operation Zarb-e-Azb. These results also proved the research hypothesis ‘it is more likely respondents perceive that they feel fear, insecurity and uncertainty while watching Pakistani private Television news channels’ coverage to operation Zarb-e-Azb’.

Graph 3b), Viewers Feel Insecurity while Watching Private TV News Channel’s Coverage.

As it is indicated by overall majority of the viewers in the given table, viewers feel insecurity from Geo News (52.7%), ARY News (38.7%) and Express news (36.3%) significantly as compared to the rest of two channels like Samaa (32.3%) and Dunya News (30.4%) while watching coverage of these channels to operation Zarb-e-Azb. However gender analysis shows significant difference.

Table 4a) After watching private TV news channels’ coverage to operation Zarb-e-Azb, viewers perceive that Pakistan Army is a real defender of the Nation.

Channels	Category	Overall	Gender
Channels	Category	Overall	Male	Female
Geo News	Very Much*	58.7**	24.0	34.7
	Somewhat	32.0	19.3	12.7
	Not at all	9.3	6.7	2.6
ARY News	Very Much	68.0	33.3	34.7
	Somewhat	29.7	15.7	14.0
	Not at all	2.3	1.0	1.3
Dunya News	Very Much	60.0	30.0	30.0
	Somewhat	36.7	19.4	17.3
	Not at all	3.3	0.6	2.7
Samaa News	Very Much	58.3	32.0	26.3
	Somewhat	37.7	17.3	20.4
	Not at all	4.0	0.7	3.3
Express News	Very Much	68.0	33.7	34.3
	Somewhat	27.0	14.3	12.7
	Not at all	5.0	2.0	3.0
		100.0%	50.0%	50.0%

*: Very much means very much and much, somewhat means somewhat and rarely, not at all means not at all.

**: Figures showing percentage.

This table 4a shows how viewers perceive that Pakistan army is defending the nation in real sense after watching private TV news channels coverage of operation Zarb-e-Azb. Empirical findings show that overall majority of the viewers responded that ARY News (68.0%) and Express News (68.0%) give more coverage to Pak Army as compared to Dunya News (60.0%), Geo News (58.7%) and Samaa (58.3%); and put Pak Army as true and real defender of Pakistan during operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Exclusive analysis of data in term of gender show that, male viewers more frequently responded towards Express News (33.7%) and ARY News (33.3%) little more over Samaa (32.0%), Dunya News (30.0%) and Geo News (24.0%); while female viewers most frequently responded to Geo News (34.7%) and ARY News (34.7%), whereas male and female viewers frequently preferred to Express News and ARY News, who gave a lot of coverage to Pak Army during operation Zarb-e-Azb and developed the positive perception, that Pakistan Army is defending the Nation in real sense and that military would remove the uncertainty from the whole country.

Table 5a) After watching the following channels’ coverage to Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Public Perceive that this Military Operation eliminates the curse of terrorism.

Channels	Category	Overall	Gender
Channels	Category	Overall	Male	Female
Geo News	Very Much*	62.4**	29.3	33.0
	Somewhat	31.3	17.7	13.7
	Not at all	6.3	3.0	3.3
ARY News	Very Much	64.0	33.0	31.0
	Somewhat	31.7	15.0	16.7
	Not at all	4.3	2.0	2.3
Dunya News	Very Much	52.3	27.0	25.3
	Somewhat	44.7	22.3	22.3
	Not at all	3.0	0.7	2.3
Samaa News	Very Much	52.0	30.7	21.3
	Somewhat	44.7	18.3	26.3
	Not at all	3.3	1.0	2.3
Express News	Very Much	61.0	31.3	29.7
	Somewhat	33.0	15.7	17.3
	Not at all	6.0	3.0	3.0
		100.0%	50.0%	50.0%

*: Very Much means very much and much, somewhat means somewhat and rarely, not at all means not at all.

**: Figures showing percentage.

The table 5a shows that, after watching the TV channels’ coverage, viewers perceived that, operation Zarb-e-Azb eliminates the curse of terrorism. Empirical findings show that overall majority of viewers frequently responded towards ARY News (64.0%), Geo News (62.4%), Express News (61.0%) over Dunya News (52.3%) and Samaa (52.0%) respectively having significant difference, which shows that operation Zarb-e-Azb eliminates the curse of terrorism.

Analysing the data in term of gender, we observe that male viewers responded to Express News (33.0%) and ARY News (31.3%) respectively very much, whereas female viewers frequently responded to Geo News (33.0%) and ARY News (31.0%) respectively that shows the preference level to watch the particular TV for getting information about operation Zarb-e-Azb. These results explain how media portrayed the true picture of the story and how media tried to formulate the public opinion in the favour of Pak Army. These facts also proved the hypothesis “it is more likely viewers perceive that military operation Zarb-e-Azb eliminates the curse of terrorism.” Media articulates the opinion and people perceive that this Military Operation eliminates the curse of terrorism.

Conclusion

It is an attempt to study empirically the audience’s perception about uncertainty, insecurity and risk during Operation Zarb-e-Azb; fashioned by media in Pakistan. The purpose behind the study was to investigate, how Pakistani private TV news channels’ coverage fulfils the information need of the audience. To study how viewers perceived that the military operation eliminated the curse of terrorism in Pakistan.

As it is examined by overall majority in the table 2a, they preferred to watch ARY News (66.0%), Express News (59.0%) excessively to get information about operation Zarb-e-Azb. As it is indicated by overall majority of the respondents in the table 3a, the viewers feel fear, insecurity and uncertainty from Geo News (52.7%), ARY News (38.7%) and Express News (36.3%) significantly as compared to the rest of two channels while watching coverage of these channels to operation Zarb-e-Azb. These results strongly supported the research hypothesis, “it is more likely respondents perceive that they feel fear, insecurity and uncertainty while watching Pakistani private Television news channels’ coverage of operation Zarb-e-Azb.”

Empirical findings in the table 5a show that overall majority of audience frequently responded towards ARY News (64.0%) and Geo News (62.4%), which shows how media developed the audience perception regarding operation Zarb-e-Azb that this operation eliminates the curse of terrorism. This situation also supported the research hypothesis, “It is more likely for the viewers to perceive that military operation Zarb-e-Azb eliminates the curse of terrorism and confiscate the uncertainty.” These findings show that private TV news channels’ coverage tried its best to portray true representation of the ground battle. According to the viewers’ perception Pakistani private TV news channels' coverage to operation Zarb-e-Azb gave confidence to people, boosted the morale of Pak Army, bridged gap between civil military setups, gave sense of national integration and tried to portray true picture of story. Last but not the least; viewers perceive that, this operation eradicated the menace of hydra headed monster of terrorism in Pakistan. Keeping the past in mind this can be argued that future conflicts and wars of Pakistan cannot be fought without the equal participation of media industry. Due to its geographical location Pakistan has always been in conflict with its neighbouring countries and the provision of awareness to public spheres is as important as to tackle the conflict. In this scenario, Army sponsored TV channel is need of the hour.

References

Afridi, M. K., Yousufi, M., & Khan, M. (2014). Military Operation as a Response to Terrorism: A Case Study of Malakand Division Pakistan. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 2000-2000.

Altheide, L. D. (2006). Terrorism and the Politics of Fear, Roman and Little field Publishing group, Inc.

Anker, E. Villains, Victims and Heroes; (2005). Melodrama, Media, and September 11. Journal of Communication 55(1) (March)

Ball-Rokeach, S. J. and Rokeach, M. (1987). 'Contribution to the future study of public opinion: A symposium', Public Opinion Quarterly, 51, 184-5

Ball-Rokeach, S. J., and DeFleur, M. L. (1976). A dependency model of mass-media effects. Communication research, 3(1), 3-21.

Bennett, R. J., & Robinson, S. L. (2003). The past, present, and future of workplace deviance research.

Combs, C. C. (2003). Terrorism in the 21st Century. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Creswell, J. W., Plano Clark, V. L., Gutmann, M. L., & Hanson, W. E. (2003). Advanced mixed methods research designs. Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research, 209, 240.

Entman, R. M. (2004). Projections of power: Framing news, public opinion, and US foreign policy. University of Chicago Press.

Erick, F. (2002). Politics and mortality. (p. 23). Progress Publishers, Moscow.

Ghauri, M. S. (2009). Role of Pakistan in War against Terrorism with Particular Emphasis on its Tribal Area. MARINE CORPS COMBAT DEVELOPMENT COMMAND QUANTICO VA.

Happer, C., & Philo, G. (2013). The role of the media in the construction of public belief and social change. Journal of social and political psychology, 1(1), 321-336.

Hindman, DB (2004). "Media system dependency and public support for the press and president". Mass Communication & Society 7 (1): 29–42.

ISPR, Update – North Waziristan Agency Operation, June 15, 2014, https://www.ispr. gov.pk/front/main.asp?o=t-press release & date=2014/6/15

Javaid, U. (2015). Operation Zarb-e-Azb: A Successful Initiative to Curtail Terrorism. South Asian Studies (1026-678X), 30 (2).

Kaura, V. (2013). TALIBANIZATION OF PAKISTAN DURING MUSHARRAF ERA.

Lule, J. (2001). Daily News, Eternal Stories: The Mythological Role of Journalism. New York: Guilford.

Miller, K. (2005). Communication theories: perspectives, processes, and contexts.(2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Mockaitis, T. R., Rich, p. B. (2003). Grand Strategy in the War against Terrorism: London Press

Mueller, J. E. (2006). Overblown: How politicians and the terrorism industry inflate national security threats, and why we believe them. Simon and Schuster.

Nacos, Brigitte L., (2002). Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The Central Role of the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Ognyanova, K.; Ball-Rokeach, S. J. (2012). "Political Efficacy on the Internet: A Media System Dependency Approach". Academia.edu. Retrieved 5 May 2014. Pew Global Survey, (2013).

Pew Global Attitudes Project. (2006). The great divide: How Westerners and Muslims view each other.

Puri, S. (2012). Pakistan's war on terrorism: strategies for combating jihadist armed groups since 9/11. Routledge.

Qayyum Bhatti, A. (2013). MEDIA CONSTRUCTION OF TEHREEK-E-TALIBAN PAKISTAN: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the News Reports of the FATA Conflict Published in Pakistani newspapers, The Daily Jang and Daily Nawa-i-waqt.

Rogers, Evert M. & Seidel, Nancy. (2003). “Prometheus” vole, 20 ‘Diffusion of News of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, pp, 209, 218.

Saeed, L., Syed, S. H., & Martin, R. P. (2014). Historical patterns of terrorism in Pakistan. Defence & Security Analysis, 30(3), 209-229.

Semetko, Holli A., Joanne Bay Brzinski, David Weaver and Lars Wilnot (2007). “TV News and U.S. Public Opinion About Foreign Countries: The Impact of Exposure and Attention.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 4: 18-36.

Shabbir, G., Hassan, A., Madni, A. R., & Ahmed, N. (2014). War on Terror: Interplay between Press (Daily the Nation & Daily Times of India) and Governments (Pakistan & India) Policies. Global Media Journal: Pakistan Edition, 7(1).

Shah M. (Aug 16th, 2014). Comparing Pakistan’s Past Military Operations with Operation Zarb-E-Azb, Published On: National Opinion, Defence.pk

Slone, Michelle. (2000). “Responses to Media Coverage of Terrorism.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 44: 508-522.

Toffler, Alvin and Heide, War and Anti-war. Little, Brown and Company: Boston, 1993, p. 165.

Table 3a) Viewers feel Insecure while Watching Private TV News Channels’ Coverage to Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Channels	Category	Overall	Gender
Channels	Category	Overall	Male	Female
Geo News	Very Much*	52.7**	27.7	25.0
	Somewhat	37.3	16.7	20.7
	Not at all	10.0	5.7	4.3
ARY News	Very Much	38.7	20.7	18.0
	Somewhat	49.7	22.3	27.3
	Not at all	11.6	7.0	4.7
Dunya News	Very Much	30.4	17.0	13.3
	Somewhat	59.3	27.0	32.3
	Not at all	10.3	6.0	4.3
Samaa News	Very Much	32.3	17.0	15.3
	Somewhat	54.3	26.0	28.3
	Not at all	13.4	7.0	6.3
Express News	Very Much	36.3	17.0	19.3
	Somewhat	48.3	24.0	24.3
	Not at all	15.4	9.0	6.3
		100.0%	50.0%	50.0%

*: Very much means very much and much, somewhat means somewhat and rarely, not at all means not at all.

**: Figures showing percentage.

Graph 3b), Viewers Feel Insecurity while Watching Private TV News Channel’s Coverage.

Download PDF

Ideological Islamophobia: Conception and Function Normative Truths and New Reality
read more
Muslim Union: Need of the Hour
read more
Post-Qaddafi Libya: What went wrong?
read more
China Pakistan Economic Corridor Reinvigorating Blue Diplomacy by Linking Eurasian Continental Plate with Indo-Australian Oceanic Plate
read more
Present stage of Urbanization in Pakistan: Some Features and Problems
read more
Groundwater Contamination: A Brief Review for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
read more
Indian Sea-Based Nuclear Developments: Impacts on Strategic Stability of South Asia
read more
Channels of Knowledge Transfer of Sultan Bahoo's Teachings in Modern Era
read more
Geopolitics of the Caspian Sea Basin in the 21st Century and its Implications for Regional and Extra-Regional Actors
read more
Sufism in the Works of Arab-American Writers: Mikhail Naimy and Khalil Gibran
read more
Genesis of the Kashmir and Junagadh Issues: Embedded in the Deviations between the Principles Founded vs the Principles Implemented
read more
Cyber Bullying Victimization Among University Students: An Empirical Exploration in Perspective of Gender
read more
Strategic Importance of the North-West Frontier Rail and Road Networks on the Chessboard of the Great Game
read more
Turkey-Pakistan Relations: Towards Multidimensional Regional Integration
read more
The EU Democracy Promotion in Tunisia
read more
Nexus between Political Regime and FDI Revisited: A Cross-Country Evidence
read more
Is Democracy a Universal Phenomenon? Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s Contribution to a Contemporary Debate on Democracy
read more
Is U.S. Middle East Foreign Policy Dominated by Neo-Realist School of Thought?
read more
Impact of Religious Affiliation of Retailer on Consumer Buying Motive: The Mediating Role of Consumer Perceived Value
read more
Foreign Policy Preferences of Pakistan: A Comparative Analysis 2008-2018
read more
Maritime Security Cooperation in Indian Ocean Region: Challenges and Opportunities
read more
Turkish Foreign Policy in the Post-Arab Spring Period: A Case Study of Syria
read more
Space Weaponization and Future Threats of Satellite Nuclearization
read more
Indo-U.S Aspirations To Dominate Indian Ocean Region Mainly Through India And Its Implications On Regional And Extra Regional Powers
read more
Human Trafficking In OIC Countries
read more
Saudi Arabia and the Arab Spring: the Kingdom’s Endurance
read more
Middle East Conflict: Bridging History and Contemporary Realities
read more
Social Skills Predict Cyber Bullying Among University Students
read more
Racism, Islamophobia and Western Media: An Analysis How Western Media Portrays Muslims and Islam in the West
read more
An Investigation Research on Dera Ismail Khan People Acceptance of CPEC: A Public Opinion Survey of District in KPK, Pakistan
read more
Indian State Sponsored Terrorism and Illegal Interventions: A Case Study of South Asia
read more
The new Great Game in Central Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for Pakistan
read more
47 Years Of Organization Of Islamic Cooperation-OIC: A Critique
read more
Pak-China Relations & Pakistan Studies in China: An Analysis from Chinese Perspective
read more
Ideological Similarities of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
read more
Amir Abdul Qadir Algeri: A Role Model for Modern Sufi Movements
read more
Review of Natural Hazards and Disasters and their Impacts in Pakistan
read more
Analysis of Parents Attitude towards Females Higher Education in Remote Areas
read more
Determinants of Credit Risk: A Study of Pakistan’s Banking Sector
read more
Brief Perspective of the Educational Problems in Pakistan and their Solution
read more
Studying Muhammad Iqbal’s Works in Azerbaijan
read more
Islam and Muslims in the Media: Industry Challenges and Identity Responses
read more
Hadhrat Sultan Bahoo's Proposed Human Society
read more
Cyber Bullying Victimization: Perceptions and Experiences among University Students
read more
Reduction of Science into Scientism
read more
Police Investigation in Homicidal Cases: Critical Analysis of the Supreme Court Jurisprudence from 2007 to 2017
read more
Redefine the Branding in the Changing Business Environment; An Islamic View Point
read more
Electronic Voting Keeping in View the Democratic Principles
read more
Social Media, Moralities and Teenagers: To analyse the Effects of Social Media on Teenagers
read more
Role of Urdu Language in Pakistan Movement: A Historical Review
read more
Virtual Reality Educational Transforms and Prospect for Pakistan
read more
Analysis of Groundwater Quality and its Impact on Human Health: A Review
read more
Palestine-Israel Conflict and Israeli Strategies
read more
Role of Workplace Spirituality in Achieving the High Job Performance and Job Satisfaction: Employees of Social Welfare Organizations of Pakistan
read more
Contextualizing Divine Qur'an and Islamic Concepts of International Relations
read more