Shafiq A H M A D Kamboh | University of the Punjab (original) (raw)

Papers by Shafiq A H M A D Kamboh

Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts

In contemporary media-saturated societies, media exercise a considerable influence on every aspec... more In contemporary media-saturated societies, media exercise a considerable influence on every aspect of our lives. The issues that reach public consciousness become significant and consequently exhibit more potential to influence the public policymaking process. Advocacy journalism carries a great potential to advocate human development issues to policymakers. This chapter reviews the role of advocacy journalism in human development journalism practices in a developing country such as Pakistan. It is not a comprehensive survey of the factors associated with media coverage of human development issues; instead, it offers empirical insight into the role of media in human development.

Local Environment

Being among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, Pakistan is facing a variety o... more Being among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, Pakistan is facing a variety of cases of climate injustice committed by internal and external drivers. Waisbord’s referred “Advocate-journalist” model carries a good potential to advocate these injustices to stimulate democratic dialogue among the audience that eventually pushes leadership to make eco-friendly policies. This study critically analyses advocacy journalism coverage of cases of local and regional climate injustice in the editorial contents of mainstream Pakistani newspapers by using the quantitative content analysis method. Results reveal that selected newspapers gave inappropriate coverage to climate injustice issues both in quantity and quality. Besides muddled local and regional climate injustice issues’ priorities, editorialists also excessively recommended dirty energy solutions to the policymakers. The final analysis suggests that the findings of climate and energy-related scientific studies were not being reflected in the advocacy journalism contents as well. This failure of “advocate-journalist” model to perform its normative role of potentially advocating the cases of climate injustice with compelling scientific evidence seems to attribute to the political economy of the press or editorial inattention. As a way out of this journalistic lack, Waisbord’s endorsed “civic advocacy” groups must intervene to plug the loopholes.

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

This mixed-method study investigates the state of media and information literacy education in Pak... more This mixed-method study investigates the state of media and information literacy education in Pakistan by underlining the availability of relevant courses and trained teaching and research faculty at both public and private universities. Using United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) framework, this study explores the perception of faculty members across six key areas of general education and teacher development to improve the quality of media and information literacy in the country. These six key areas include (a) policy and vision, (b) curriculum and assessment, (c) pedagogy, (d) media and information, (e) organization and administration, and (f) teachers’ professional development.

Development Policy Review, 2019

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have face... more Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have faced increased discrimination and overt racism in addition to the virus itself. In this study, the authors examined social representations of COVID-19 in mainstream newspapers. We evaluated 451 articles from three major publications representing three countries: China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A qualitative thematic analysis, conducted through the lens of social representations theory (SRT) and its concept of cognitive polyphasia, revealed four major themes: (a) the virus' portrayal as a threat; (b) the racialization of COVID-19 as a multi-faceted threat; (c) calls for collectivization to curb the racialization of the virus; and (d) speculative solutions to end discrimination against Asians. Our results suggest that print media emphasize the idea that global efforts must be made to change how people think about, talk about, and understand the COVID-19 pandemic.

Third World Quarterly

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually ap...

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2022

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have face... more Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have faced increased discrimination and overt racism in addition to the virus itself. In this study, the authors examined social representations of COVID-19 in mainstream newspapers. We evaluated 451 articles from three major publications representing three countries: China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A qualitative thematic analysis, conducted through the lens of social representations theory (SRT) and its concept of cognitive polyphasia, revealed four major themes: (a) the virus' portrayal as a threat; (b) the racialization of COVID-19 as a multi-faceted threat; (c) calls for collectivization to curb the racialization of the virus; and (d) speculative solutions to end discrimination against Asians. Our results suggest that print media emphasize the idea that global efforts must be made to change how people think about, talk about, and understand the COVID-19 pandemic.

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2022

Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps ... more Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps informed key stakeholders, and counter misinformation and disinformation being transmitted to both diaspora and foreign audiences during a pandemic. In the light of this argument, this forum article critically analyzed the Indian government's efforts to manage COVID-19 information crisis on social media during the second surge of the pandemic. Consequently, we suggest that despite restricting #ResignModi on social media and eventually curtailing the free flow of information to portray its competent management of the pandemic, such efforts seem to be counterproductive.

Third World Quarterly

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps ... more Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps informed key stakeholders, and counter misinformation and disinformation being transmitted to both diaspora and foreign audiences during a pandemic. In the light of this argument, this forum article critically analyzed the Indian government's efforts to manage COVID-19 information crisis on social media during the second surge of the pandemic. Consequently, we suggest that despite restricting #ResignModi on social media and eventually curtailing the free flow of information to portray its competent management of the pandemic, such efforts seem to be counterproductive.

Third World Quarterly, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Third World Quarterly, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers
readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised
journalistic routines – as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy – are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine,
in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which
is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic
principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine
the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public
trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure
with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing
but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects
associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

The title and author names are listed on this sheet as they will be published, both on your paper... more The title and author names are listed on this sheet as they will be published, both on your paper and on the Table of Contents. Please review and ensure the information is correct and advise us if any changes need to be made. In addition, please review your paper as a whole for typographical and essential corrections. Your PDF proof has been enabled so that you can comment on the proof directly using Adobe Acrobat.

Psychology & Health, 2021

Drawing on the theory of normative conduct, which suggests that individuals get motivated by wha... more Drawing on the theory of normative conduct, which suggests that
individuals get motivated by what most people do, this commentary argues that the COVID-19 vaccine selfies carry a reasonable
potential to encourage the vaccine acceptance behavior among
social media users. Despite having both its proponents and critics,
the COVID-19 vaccine selfie could positively shape the public
response to the vaccines by highlighting health, joy, and optimism.
While discussing different strategies for taking and posting an
effective selfie, this article recommends sharing vaccine selfies
online as it is a powerful tool to send a message to anti-vaxxers
that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

Newspapers influence the formation, shaping, and molding public opinion by generating debate on v... more Newspapers influence the formation, shaping, and molding public opinion by generating debate on various issues of public interest. The "editorials" represent the voice of a daily on an issue, imply stance of the authority, and influence public opinion. The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974 between Bangladesh and India is an issue of interests for the people of both the countries as well as the global policy makers. The newspapers of both the countries have shown their concerns through analyses, comments, and observations on the same. The present study aims at understanding the stance of the newspapers of both the countries with regard to the much-talked about LBA issue by analyzing contents and discourse of the relevant editorials of six leading dailies of both the countries. It reveals that the dailies have expressed their concerns for peaceful implementation of the LBA as well as stressed on maintaining bilateral relationship and economic progress between Bangladesh and India. Simultaneously, tone of the editorials was critical of the role of the governments and the policy makers of both the countries besides criticizing both the domestic and international political dynamics.

Development Policy Review, 2020

Context: Despite being a nuclear power, Pakistan does not have satisfactory human development ind... more Context: Despite being a nuclear power, Pakistan does not have satisfactory human development indicators. The 2018 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) ranking places it at 150 out of 189 countries, the lowest in the region after Afghanistan. Purpose: This article examines advocacy journalism coverage of human development issues versus other issues in the contents of mainstream Pakistani newspapers and investigates the factors behind the inadequate space give n to them. The study further explores the association between editorial and readers' priorities. Methods: The quantitative content analysis method is used to measure and compare the frequency of sample content in five categories coupled with qualitative in-depth interviews with veteran journalists/academics to explain the factors that influence the editorial content. Findings: Rather than use precious space to comment on social hardship and ultimately improve the country's HDI value, editorial content is dominated by the discourse produced by the communication bureaucracies of powerful national and international establishments. Issues-based policies of the state and political actors that do not concern human development, and warmongering and actual conflicts with India and Afghanistan, are given considerably greater coverage. Moreover, readers' reactions to editorial content through Facebook Likes indicate a clear difference between editorial and readers' priorities. Policy Implications: The communication aspects of development programmes should actively feed editorial boards regarding current global development agendas to ensure sufficient coverage of their advocacy. It is imperative to make the UNESCO-led syllabus Teaching Journalism for Sustainable Development an integral part of the country's journalism curriculum. Relevant bodies should organize professional editorial training to raise awareness of how to use precious space wisely for the advocacy of development issues and how to be alert to the readers' priority issues.

Journal of Media Ethics

Suicide attempt rates are on the rise in predominantly Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, the... more Suicide attempt rates are on the rise in predominantly Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, there exists an indigenous academic apathy toward exploring media-suicide relationships. This study, using content analysis and interviews, examines the lack of compliance with international ethical guidelines for suicide reporting by Pakistani newspapers. In 553 reported suicide cases, 2,355 guideline violations were detected. The overall tone of suicide news stories remained overwhelmingly irresponsible, and analysis indicates that both Urdu and English language newspapers made similar violations. Largely ignorant of international standards, Pakistani journalists report attempted suicide cases just like any other crime. This study suggests a prompt action on the part of appropriate bodies to amend relevant codes of ethics and eventually educate relevant journalist fraternities to report suicides in a socially responsible way.

Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts

In contemporary media-saturated societies, media exercise a considerable influence on every aspec... more In contemporary media-saturated societies, media exercise a considerable influence on every aspect of our lives. The issues that reach public consciousness become significant and consequently exhibit more potential to influence the public policymaking process. Advocacy journalism carries a great potential to advocate human development issues to policymakers. This chapter reviews the role of advocacy journalism in human development journalism practices in a developing country such as Pakistan. It is not a comprehensive survey of the factors associated with media coverage of human development issues; instead, it offers empirical insight into the role of media in human development.

Local Environment

Being among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, Pakistan is facing a variety o... more Being among the world’s most affected countries by climate change, Pakistan is facing a variety of cases of climate injustice committed by internal and external drivers. Waisbord’s referred “Advocate-journalist” model carries a good potential to advocate these injustices to stimulate democratic dialogue among the audience that eventually pushes leadership to make eco-friendly policies. This study critically analyses advocacy journalism coverage of cases of local and regional climate injustice in the editorial contents of mainstream Pakistani newspapers by using the quantitative content analysis method. Results reveal that selected newspapers gave inappropriate coverage to climate injustice issues both in quantity and quality. Besides muddled local and regional climate injustice issues’ priorities, editorialists also excessively recommended dirty energy solutions to the policymakers. The final analysis suggests that the findings of climate and energy-related scientific studies were not being reflected in the advocacy journalism contents as well. This failure of “advocate-journalist” model to perform its normative role of potentially advocating the cases of climate injustice with compelling scientific evidence seems to attribute to the political economy of the press or editorial inattention. As a way out of this journalistic lack, Waisbord’s endorsed “civic advocacy” groups must intervene to plug the loopholes.

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

This mixed-method study investigates the state of media and information literacy education in Pak... more This mixed-method study investigates the state of media and information literacy education in Pakistan by underlining the availability of relevant courses and trained teaching and research faculty at both public and private universities. Using United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) framework, this study explores the perception of faculty members across six key areas of general education and teacher development to improve the quality of media and information literacy in the country. These six key areas include (a) policy and vision, (b) curriculum and assessment, (c) pedagogy, (d) media and information, (e) organization and administration, and (f) teachers’ professional development.

Development Policy Review, 2019

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have face... more Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have faced increased discrimination and overt racism in addition to the virus itself. In this study, the authors examined social representations of COVID-19 in mainstream newspapers. We evaluated 451 articles from three major publications representing three countries: China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A qualitative thematic analysis, conducted through the lens of social representations theory (SRT) and its concept of cognitive polyphasia, revealed four major themes: (a) the virus' portrayal as a threat; (b) the racialization of COVID-19 as a multi-faceted threat; (c) calls for collectivization to curb the racialization of the virus; and (d) speculative solutions to end discrimination against Asians. Our results suggest that print media emphasize the idea that global efforts must be made to change how people think about, talk about, and understand the COVID-19 pandemic.

Third World Quarterly

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually ap...

Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2022

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have face... more Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Asians, particularly those in Chinese communities, have faced increased discrimination and overt racism in addition to the virus itself. In this study, the authors examined social representations of COVID-19 in mainstream newspapers. We evaluated 451 articles from three major publications representing three countries: China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A qualitative thematic analysis, conducted through the lens of social representations theory (SRT) and its concept of cognitive polyphasia, revealed four major themes: (a) the virus' portrayal as a threat; (b) the racialization of COVID-19 as a multi-faceted threat; (c) calls for collectivization to curb the racialization of the virus; and (d) speculative solutions to end discrimination against Asians. Our results suggest that print media emphasize the idea that global efforts must be made to change how people think about, talk about, and understand the COVID-19 pandemic.

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2022

Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps ... more Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps informed key stakeholders, and counter misinformation and disinformation being transmitted to both diaspora and foreign audiences during a pandemic. In the light of this argument, this forum article critically analyzed the Indian government's efforts to manage COVID-19 information crisis on social media during the second surge of the pandemic. Consequently, we suggest that despite restricting #ResignModi on social media and eventually curtailing the free flow of information to portray its competent management of the pandemic, such efforts seem to be counterproductive.

Third World Quarterly

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps ... more Prior research suggests that a country's national image is dependent on how effectively it keeps informed key stakeholders, and counter misinformation and disinformation being transmitted to both diaspora and foreign audiences during a pandemic. In the light of this argument, this forum article critically analyzed the Indian government's efforts to manage COVID-19 information crisis on social media during the second surge of the pandemic. Consequently, we suggest that despite restricting #ResignModi on social media and eventually curtailing the free flow of information to portray its competent management of the pandemic, such efforts seem to be counterproductive.

Third World Quarterly, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised journalistic routines-as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy-are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine, in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Third World Quarterly, 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research r... more COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has reportedly been rising in poliostricken Pakistan. Prior research reports a variety of contributing factors including information sources, particularly the newspapers
readers generally consult to stay abreast of vaccine roll-out developments. This viewpoint article argues that three commonly practised
journalistic routines – as explicated by Tandoc and Duffy – are promoting COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Urdu-language newspaper readers in Pakistan. The first is a distinctive news sourcing routine,
in which extracts of news items reporting COVID-19 vaccine campaigns from across the globe are combined in one news story, which
is useful to keep readers updated but compromises the journalistic
principle of completeness. Second, news values, which may determine
the newsworthiness of a vaccine-related event, might reduce public
trust in ongoing vaccine roll-outs. Third, an innovative news structure
with striking headlines is used to make a newspaper visually appealing
but may also support generalised impressions of the adverse effects
associated with COVID-19 vaccinations.

The title and author names are listed on this sheet as they will be published, both on your paper... more The title and author names are listed on this sheet as they will be published, both on your paper and on the Table of Contents. Please review and ensure the information is correct and advise us if any changes need to be made. In addition, please review your paper as a whole for typographical and essential corrections. Your PDF proof has been enabled so that you can comment on the proof directly using Adobe Acrobat.

Psychology & Health, 2021

Drawing on the theory of normative conduct, which suggests that individuals get motivated by wha... more Drawing on the theory of normative conduct, which suggests that
individuals get motivated by what most people do, this commentary argues that the COVID-19 vaccine selfies carry a reasonable
potential to encourage the vaccine acceptance behavior among
social media users. Despite having both its proponents and critics,
the COVID-19 vaccine selfie could positively shape the public
response to the vaccines by highlighting health, joy, and optimism.
While discussing different strategies for taking and posting an
effective selfie, this article recommends sharing vaccine selfies
online as it is a powerful tool to send a message to anti-vaxxers
that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

Newspapers influence the formation, shaping, and molding public opinion by generating debate on v... more Newspapers influence the formation, shaping, and molding public opinion by generating debate on various issues of public interest. The "editorials" represent the voice of a daily on an issue, imply stance of the authority, and influence public opinion. The Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974 between Bangladesh and India is an issue of interests for the people of both the countries as well as the global policy makers. The newspapers of both the countries have shown their concerns through analyses, comments, and observations on the same. The present study aims at understanding the stance of the newspapers of both the countries with regard to the much-talked about LBA issue by analyzing contents and discourse of the relevant editorials of six leading dailies of both the countries. It reveals that the dailies have expressed their concerns for peaceful implementation of the LBA as well as stressed on maintaining bilateral relationship and economic progress between Bangladesh and India. Simultaneously, tone of the editorials was critical of the role of the governments and the policy makers of both the countries besides criticizing both the domestic and international political dynamics.

Development Policy Review, 2020

Context: Despite being a nuclear power, Pakistan does not have satisfactory human development ind... more Context: Despite being a nuclear power, Pakistan does not have satisfactory human development indicators. The 2018 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) ranking places it at 150 out of 189 countries, the lowest in the region after Afghanistan. Purpose: This article examines advocacy journalism coverage of human development issues versus other issues in the contents of mainstream Pakistani newspapers and investigates the factors behind the inadequate space give n to them. The study further explores the association between editorial and readers' priorities. Methods: The quantitative content analysis method is used to measure and compare the frequency of sample content in five categories coupled with qualitative in-depth interviews with veteran journalists/academics to explain the factors that influence the editorial content. Findings: Rather than use precious space to comment on social hardship and ultimately improve the country's HDI value, editorial content is dominated by the discourse produced by the communication bureaucracies of powerful national and international establishments. Issues-based policies of the state and political actors that do not concern human development, and warmongering and actual conflicts with India and Afghanistan, are given considerably greater coverage. Moreover, readers' reactions to editorial content through Facebook Likes indicate a clear difference between editorial and readers' priorities. Policy Implications: The communication aspects of development programmes should actively feed editorial boards regarding current global development agendas to ensure sufficient coverage of their advocacy. It is imperative to make the UNESCO-led syllabus Teaching Journalism for Sustainable Development an integral part of the country's journalism curriculum. Relevant bodies should organize professional editorial training to raise awareness of how to use precious space wisely for the advocacy of development issues and how to be alert to the readers' priority issues.

Journal of Media Ethics

Suicide attempt rates are on the rise in predominantly Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, the... more Suicide attempt rates are on the rise in predominantly Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, there exists an indigenous academic apathy toward exploring media-suicide relationships. This study, using content analysis and interviews, examines the lack of compliance with international ethical guidelines for suicide reporting by Pakistani newspapers. In 553 reported suicide cases, 2,355 guideline violations were detected. The overall tone of suicide news stories remained overwhelmingly irresponsible, and analysis indicates that both Urdu and English language newspapers made similar violations. Largely ignorant of international standards, Pakistani journalists report attempted suicide cases just like any other crime. This study suggests a prompt action on the part of appropriate bodies to amend relevant codes of ethics and eventually educate relevant journalist fraternities to report suicides in a socially responsible way.