Impact of Pakistani Television News on Youth Concerning Indo-Pak Conflicts

Abstract

The study evaluated the effect of five major Pakistani news channels’ coverage of the Indo-Pak conflict
on Pakistani youth during Prime Minister Modi’s era. Employing quantitative design and cultivation
theory, a survey designed by the authors had been conducted in four universities––two public and two
private ––of Lahore. Four hundred students filled a comprehensive questionnaire. This study
investigated whether Pakistani youth felt jingoistic after watching the news on Indo-Pak conflicts or
felt psychologically and economically insecure after watching coverage of contentious issues between
the two nuclear rivals. This study also tried to determine if the impact of conflict coverage varied for
light and heavy viewers. The results showed that Pakistani youth had felt more energetic, motivated,
and patriotic after watching the news in Narendra Modi’s regime because of his extremist Hindu
mindset precisely towards Pakistan. Yet, at the same time, Pakistani youth felt insecure from the
Indian side after watching news of threatening statements from Narendra Modi because these
statements got projection from Pakistani news channels, and this level of insecurity was high among
regular/ frequent viewers of television news.