Female Politicians And Pakistani Media: A Content Analysis Of English And Urdu Newspapers

This study explores the framing of female politicians in the print media of Pakistan. Women cover over half of the population of Pakistan and with time they are actively participating in politics and have become increasingly visible in media as well. The study compares news stories in Urdu and English (Jang/Dawn) newspapers in terms of visibility, personalization, issue coverage and tone of story through quantitative content analysis over a time period of 6 months (1st June to 30th November 2019). The study concluded that female politicians receive less negative coverage in Pakistan as compared to western countries, where personal coverage is greater than issue based coverage. Comparative analysis of Urdu and English print newspapers showed that visibility and issue type vary in Jang and Dawn while personalization and tone of the story do not vary with the type of newspaper (Jang/Dawn).