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Effects of Political Polarization of Media on Contents Credibility and Consumers in Pakistan
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between political polarization of Pakistani TV news media and their contents’ credibility among consumers. For this quantitative survey study, the data was collected from the youth of Lahore, mainly media students of six universities i.e. three each public and private sector through cluster sampling and employing the instrument of a purpose-built questionnaire comprising 20 items. Marshal McLuhan’s (1964) work “Medium is the Message” provided theoretical basis of the study. That data was analysed through SPSS while tests of Cronbach alpha and beta test applied. The study results revealed that TV news channels political polarization affected the youth consumers significantly negatively (β= -0.449) while contents’ credibility also affected negatively due to political polarization of channels (β= -0.180). This study recommends media channels, PEMRA and policy makers to ensure non-partisan political coverage to increase their contents credibility and viewership
Authors
Dr. Muhammad Shabbir Sarwar
Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Dr. Salma Umber
Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Government College University, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Dr. Amir Mehmood Bajwa
Assistant Professor and Chairman, Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Keywords
Contents Credibility, Media Polarization, Effects on Consumers, Pakistan, Political Polarization, Watching Habits
