Caught between a rock and a hard place? A case study of how news media operated in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) during the ‘war on terror’

This PhD research examines why and how the Taliban and Pakistan military influenced news gathering inside the FATA during the war on terror 2002-2016 and what the consequences were for news reporting. The ways by which news making was affected were studied from the sociology of news perspective, with research and analysis designed to update our understanding. The methodology employed to carry out this research was to use semi-structured interviews and content analysis. It was crucial to talk to the journalists who covered events in the FATA to discover the details of what actually happened in the field. I selected 36 journalists to take part in face-to-face interviews, and prepared open-ended questions to gather evidence and record their views on the research topics. I also analysed 540 articles from The Express Tribune and Dawn newspapers, published in Pakistan between 1 May and 30 October 2011, to gather in-depth information on news coverage, including news sources, during the conflict. The research concludes that the ability of journalists to gather facts or verify the accuracy of information was severely impaired. Access to information was primarily through official news sources or the Taliban, with non-journalistic sources being developed to try to fill the gap left by the loss of experienced reporters in the field. The personal consequences for the journalists were severe – participants described abduction, torture, threats, beatings and bomb attacks on their homes, in order to stop them practising independent news reporting. This research contributes to scholarship and adds to understanding about news gathering during conflict by providing significant information about additional types of pressure such as the Taliban’s use of force in certain parts of the world. It demonstrates how power was contested within the public sphere by de-limiting the access of journalists to report the core issues