The Mediatization of Politics in Pakistan: A Structural Analysis

Last two decades of twentieth century saw a development in media due to growing influence of privately-owned television channels. This TV era was so influential that society and politics in Western democracies became dependent on the media and its logic. This process was theorized as mediatization of politics and/or society. Though initially a western phenomenon, soon it started to diffuse in the developing world. Using mediatization as a key concept, this article presents a theoretical framework to analyze the media development in Pakistan. The unprecedented influence media exerted in political discourse of recent years reveals that Pakistani politics is going to be mediatized. As majority of studies on Pakistani media are of descriptive nature and only narrate the history of Pakistani media, this study tries to establish a structural framework in which media, its development, and transformation from an observer to an active player in political stage can be studied further