Political Affiliations of Journalists in Pakistan: A Potent Source of Threats to Professionalism

Abstract

This study explores the media landscape of Pakistan for the circumstances of political affiliations of journalists and its linkage with the partisan character of journalism and also it analyses its impacts on the levels of threats to journalists. The expanding role of media in interest’s promotions and in generating general opinion makes it obliging to gauge its parameters and effects on the professional standards of journalism and journalists whereas journalism in its pure nature is the free flow of information without any interference from any state or non-state agent as a sacred trust in the limits reckoned by local moralities and universal truth from its source to feedback. In this regard the in-depth exploration of media landscape by consulting the component parts of the press is the only way to get reliable conclusions. This study investigates ground realities and attempts to collect primary data in the form of perceptions and perspectives of working. For the purpose survey technique is used with a centralized questionnaire constructed under Likert’s Scale and engages senior journalists in face-to-face interviews. The conclusion demarcates the partisan nature of the press and provides policy guidelines for national and international institutions in these dimensions.