Abstrict
The dawn of the 21st Century brings with itself a greater power, “The Media”. Media is growing all around and has a major impact on all the spectra of life. The present study is about the impact of media growth on the social and political development of Pakistan during the period 1999 to 2009. This research study is based on the objectives to know about what impact and up to what extent has the media growth put on the different factors of Social and Political Development in Pakistan during the study period. The questionnaire was developed after a thorough review of the literature. It was validated by three concerned field experts, and pilot testing of the research instrument was conducted. One hundred and fifty university faculty and students were selected as a sample from different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa among the respective groups. The findings of Chi-Square analysis suggest that respondents view the impact of media growth on all the indicators of social and political development in Pakistan. It is recommended that media needs to play a more positive role in the development of thinking of people and politics, which can uplift society as a whole.
Keywords
Media Growth, Socio-Political Development, Pakistan, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa
Introduction
We are the inhabitants of a globalized world. The rapid technological advancement in the field of mass communication has made the world like a village. Different media organizations present different news and reports on diverse issues, which ultimately give a picture of the world. The media tells which news or report is important, and so a readymade agenda is put before the public, which moulds perceptions of the masses. In the modern-day globalized world, no one can deny the fact that change could be brought by the media through its influential power. The media assumes a vital part in affecting patterns in the new era of the world. The information era, an expression used to catch the manner in which the world has become dependent on information to carry out their daily activities. Information and communication widened and did not remain the same as it was throughout the entire existence of mankind. Information and stories presently are huge forces to change and impact the manner in which individuals think and act, and all the more significantly, the thinking they depict on different subjects in their social orders (Sen 2011). The media assumes a huge part in pushing explicit thoughts and messages to the public’s minds in the advanced world (Wilson et al., 2007). The current media has arisen as the most progressive arrangement of communication that humankind has ever experienced (Kurum 2008). The focal point of this research is the impact that media and communication have on political and social patterns
Conceptual Framework of the Study
For setting up the conceptual framework, literature related to the topic was extensively studied. The following figure furnishes an explanation of the connection between the variables included in the study.

Significance of the Study
The present study is significant because of the following main reasons:
i. It highlights the growth of media during 1999-2009 in Pakistan.
ii. It brings to the forefront the impact which media growth has made in developing the social scenario of Pakistan, specifically in Changing People’s thinking and Women Empowerment.
iii. It throws light on the impact of media growth on political factors such as the reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy and Lal Masjid Operation.
Hypotheses of the Study
Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the following hypotheses were formulated:
H01 There is no impact of media on the social development of Pakistan during 1999-2009.
H01 (A) There is no impact of media on People’s thinking in Pakistan during 1999-2009.
H01 (B) There is no impact of media on Women Empowerment in Pakistan during 1999-2009.
H02 There is no impact of media on the political development of Pakistan during 1999-2009.
H02 (A) There is no impact of media on the reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy during the period 1999-2009.
H02 (B) There is no impact of media on occasions like the Lal Masjid Operation during the period 1999-2009.
Objectives
i. To analyze the growth of media in Pakistan 1999-2009.
ii. To identify the impact of media on social development, specifically society and women empowerment, during the period 1999-2009 in Pakistan.
iii. To identify the impact of media on political development, specifically Judiciary, democracy and Political Events such as the Lal Masjid Operation that took place during the period 1999-2009 in Pakistan.
Research Design
Quantitative and descriptive design is used for establishing relationships and quantifying them (Gay and Peter, 2003). In this regard, the researcher has used quantitative and descriptive studies in nature.
Population and Sampling
All the faculty members teaching and all the students studying in public and private universities of Pakistan comprise the target population of this study. For content analysis, the population comprises all the social and political factors and political events that had taken place inside Pakistan during the said period.
As the sample is a smaller portion of the population having all the characteristics of the population, so one hundred and fifty individuals were selected from both faculty members and students separately for the collection of data as the sample of the study (Sekaran, 2003). Convenient and snowball sampling techniques were used for the selection of faculty members and students.
Delimitation of the Study
The study has mainly focused on the growth of media in Pakistan and its impact on Social and Political development whereby the time frame for the study has been delimited to the period 1999-2009, political development variables to reinstatement of judiciary and democracy, and Lal Masjid, and social development variables to changing people’s thinking and women empowerment. Keeping in view the time and resources, the data collection for the study had been delimited to some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The data collection had been further delimited to faculty members and students of the Journalism Department of Public and Private Universities.
Research Instrument
Keeping in view the topic and objectives of the study, the researcher has developed a closed-ended questionnaire for both faculty members and students. The questionnaire was validated by three worthy experts of the field of study, and pilot testing was done by collecting responses from 5 respondents. The internal validity was tested using SPSS. The Cronbach alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.76, which is in the acceptable range, i.e. 0.7 and above (Cortina, 1993).
Analysis
The analysis of data collected from the respondents was done with SPSS software, and interpretation was carried out using statistical tools. Chi-square analysis and regression analysis techniques of the quantitative data analysis were used to obtain appropriate, authentic and precise results for the data analysis.
Chi-square analysis was used to check the probability of the authenticity of the responses given by the sampled population as to whether they are in accordance with the expected ones or not (Moore et al., 2013). Regression analysis was done to find the impact of media growth on socio-political development (Sarstedt et al., 2014).
Chi-Square Analysis of Faculty Questionnaire
The following tables show the chi-square analysis of the data given by university faculty members.
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Media growth (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
0 |
0 |
94 |
56 |
249 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
0 |
0 |
62 |
37 |
Table 1 shows the number and percentage of the faculty members agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. According to statistics, if the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis is rejected (Ronald L. Wasserstein & Nicole A. Lazar, 2016). The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media has grown during 1999-2009
Table 2. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Changing People’s Thinking
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Media promote social and cultural values |
No. |
0 |
18 |
19 |
41 |
72 |
101 |
0 |
% Age |
0 |
12 |
12 |
27 |
48 |
|||
Media make public opinions |
No. |
0 |
0 |
41 |
51 |
58 |
104 |
0 |
% Age |
0 |
0 |
27 |
34 |
38 |
Table 2 shows the number and percentage of the faculty members agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0 for both the statements. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has brought a change in people’s thinking.
Table 3. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Women Empowerment (1999-2009)
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
|
Media empowered women (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
0 |
17 |
91 |
42 |
194 |
0 |
|
%Age |
0 |
0 |
11 |
60 |
28 |
|
Table 3 shows the number and percentage of the faculty members agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has played its due role in empowering women.
Table 4. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Role of Media growth in reinstatement of Judiciary
& democracy (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
18 |
14 |
100 |
18 |
211 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
12 |
9 |
66 |
12 |
Table 4 shows the number and percentage of the faculty members agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has played a big role in the reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy during 1999-2009.
Table 5. Chi-Square Analysis of Impartial Reporting of Media in Case of Lal Masjid Operation
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Impartial role of media in case of Lal Masjid
Operation |
No. |
0 |
18 |
14 |
100 |
18 |
211 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
12 |
9 |
66 |
12 |
Table 5 shows the number and percentage of the faculty members agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis is rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that the media has impartially reported the Lal Masjid Operation.
Chi-Square Analysis of Students Questionnaire
The following tables show the chi-square analysis of the data given by university students of the mass communication and journalism department.
Table 6. Chi-Square analysis of media growth
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Media growth (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
0 |
0 |
98 |
52 |
260 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
0 |
0 |
65 |
34 |
Table 6 shows the number and percentage of the students agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. According to statistics, if the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media has grown during 1999-2009.
Table 7. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Changing People’s Thinking
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Media promote social and cultural values |
No. |
0 |
19 |
21 |
42 |
68 |
89 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
12 |
14 |
28 |
45 |
|||
Media make public opinions |
No. |
0 |
0 |
42 |
55 |
53 |
103 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
0 |
28 |
36 |
35 |
Table 7 shows the number and percentage of the students agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0 for both the statements. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has brought a change in people’s thinking.
Table 8. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Women Empowerment (1999-2009)
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Media empowered women (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
0 |
21 |
92 |
37 |
192 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
0 |
14 |
61 |
24 |
Table 8 shows the number and percentage of the students agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has played its due role in empowering women.
Table 9. Chi-Square Analysis of Role of Media Growth in Reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Role of Media growth in reinstatement of Judiciary
& democracy (1999-2009) |
No. |
0 |
19 |
15 |
100 |
16 |
211 |
0 |
%Age |
0 |
12 |
10 |
66.7 |
10 |
Table 9 shows the number and percentage of the students agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis will be rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that media growth has played a big role in the reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy during 1999-2009
Table 10. Chi-Square Analysis of Impartial Reporting of Media in Case of Lal Masjid Operation
Statement |
Responses |
SDA |
DA |
N |
A |
SA |
?2 |
P |
Impartial role of media in case of Lal Masjid
Operation |
No. |
21 |
76 |
0 |
53 |
0 |
150 |
0 |
%Age |
14 |
50 |
0 |
35 |
0 |
Table 10 shows the number and percentage of the students agreeing or disagreeing with the statements along with the probability value, which is 0. As the probability value is less than 0.05, the result will be significant, and the null hypothesis is rejected. The alternate hypothesis which is accepted is that the media has impartially reported the Lal Masjid Operation.
Regression Analysis
The following analysis shows the impact of media
growth on the selected indicators of political and social development.
Regression Analysis of Faculty Questionnaire
The following results show the analysis of the data collected from university faculty members through asking different questions regarding the impact of media growth on the political and social development of Pakistan during the period 1999-2009.
Impact of Media Growth on Social Development
Table 11. Impact of Media Growth on Social Development (Faculty)
Parameter |
B |
Sig. |
Exp(B) |
Role
of Media Growth is changing People’s Thinking |
14.038 |
0.000 |
1249800.386 |
Role
of Media Growth in Women Empowerment |
0.962 |
0.186 |
2.618 |
Table 11 shows the results of regression analysis of the faculty’s questionnaire in which the role of media growth in changing people’s thinking shows a significant value which is the probability value of the tested hypothesis, which is 0.00. This shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted, which states that media growth has impacted the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy with a significant impact factor of 14.038, as shown in the column represented by B value. The second indicator has a significance value of 0.186, which is higher than 0.05, which implies that the null hypothesis can be accepted, which states that there is no impact of media on Women Empowerment in Pakistan during 1999-2009.
Impact of Media Growth on Political Development
Table 3. Impact of Media Growth on Political Development (Faculty)
Parameter |
B |
Sig. |
Exp(B) |
Role of Media Growth in Reinstatement of Judiciary
and Democracy |
14.8 |
0.00 |
2870823.974 |
Role of Media Growth in Lal Masjid Operation |
-1.327 |
0.26 |
0.265 |
Table 12 shows the results of regression analysis of the faculty questionnaire in which the role of media growth in the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy shows a significant value which is the probability value of the tested hypothesis, which is 0.00. This shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted, which states that media growth has impacted the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy with an enormous impact factor of 14.8, as shown in the column represented by B value. The second indicator has a significance value of 0.26, which is higher than 0.05, which implies that the null hypothesis can be accepted, which states that there is no impact of media on occasions like the Lal Masjid Operation during the period 1999-2009.
Regression Analysis of Students Questionnaire
collected from university students through asking different questions regarding the impact of media growth on the political and social development of Pakistan during the period 1999-2009.
The following results show the analysis of the data
Impact of Media Growth on Social Development
Table 13. Impact of Media Growth on Social Development (Students)
Parameter |
B |
Sig. |
Exp(B) |
Role of Media
Growth is changing People’s Thinking |
5.781 |
0.000 |
323.931 |
Role of Media
Growth in Women Empowerment |
0.824 |
0.062 |
2.280 |
Table 13 shows the results of regression analysis of the students’ questionnaire in which the role of media growth in changing people’s thinking shows a significant value which is the probability value of the tested hypothesis, which is 0.00. This shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted, which states that media growth has impacted the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy with a significant impact factor of 5.781, as shown in the column represented by B value. The second indicator has a significance value of 0.062, which is higher than 0.05, which implies that the null hypothesis can be accepted, which states that there is no impact of media on Women Empowerment in Pakistan during 1999-2009.
Impact of Media Growth on Political Development
Table 14. Impact of Media Growth on Political Development (Students)
Parameter |
B |
Sig. |
Exp(B) |
Role of Media
Growth in Political and Judicial Affairs |
7.343 |
0.000 |
1545.833 |
Role of Media
Growth in Lal Masjid Operation |
-0.476 |
0.464 |
0.622 |
Table 14 shows the results of regression analysis of the students’ questionnaire in which the role of media growth in the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy shows a significant value which is the probability value of the tested hypothesis, which is 0.00. This shows that the null hypothesis is rejected and alternate hypothesis is accepted, which states that media growth has impacted the reinstatement of judiciary and democracy with a significant impact factor of 7.343, as shown in the column represented by B value. The second indicator has a significance value of 0.464, which is higher than 0.05, which implies that the null hypothesis can be accepted, which states that there is no impact of media on occasions like the Lal Masjid Operation during the period 1999-2009.
Findings
The Chi-Square analysis of the responses collected
from both the university faculty members and students of the mass communication and Journalism department found that media growth has impacted the social and political development in Pakistan during the period 1999-2009. However, the regression analysis of the respondents found that media growth has impacted reinstatement of Judiciary and Democracy and changed the people thinking enormously but has not impacted occasions like Lal Masjid Operation and did not empower women during the period 1999-2009.
Conclusion
The results show that the media growth is having significant effects on Judiciary and Democracy. Findings of the chi-square analysis suggest that media act as a watchdog on the affairs of government like it impartially reported the case of Lal Masjid to the public. The findings taken from the regression model mentioned the media growth argued that the media growth is having a significant impact in changing people’s thinking in every society. It is worth noting that there exists a dilemma in conceptualizing the role of media in making perceptions and changing the direction of society.
Recommendations
On the basis of findings, it is recommended that media needs to portray the real image of society and the political arena so that a role model social and political order can be developed.
References
- Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of applied psychology, 78(1), 98.
- Gay, L. R., & Airasain, P. (2003). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications.
- Kurum, B. (2018). The Role of Media in Shaping Political and Socio-Economic Narratives, 1-18.
- Moore, D. S., Notz, W. I., & Flinger, M. A. (2013). The basic practice of statistics (6th ed.). New York,
- Sarstedt, M., & Mooi, E. (2014). A Concise Guide to Market Research.
- Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons.
- Sen, A. (2011). Peace and Democratic society,
- Wasserstein, R. L., & Lazar, N. A. (2016) The ASA Statement on p-Values: Context, Process, and Purpose, The American Statistician, 70(2), 129-133.
- Wilson, M., Warnock, T., & Schoemaker, E. (2007). At the heart of change: The role of communication in sustainable development.
Cite this article
-
APA : Khan, M. A., Khan, T. M., & Nisar, M. (2021). A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009). Global Political Review, VI(I), 192-200. https://doi.org/10.31703/gpr.2021(VI-I).18
-
CHICAGO : Khan, Muhammad Altaf, Taj Moharram Khan, and Muhammad Nisar. 2021. "A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009)." Global Political Review, VI (I): 192-200 doi: 10.31703/gpr.2021(VI-I).18
-
HARVARD : KHAN, M. A., KHAN, T. M. & NISAR, M. 2021. A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009). Global Political Review, VI, 192-200.
-
MHRA : Khan, Muhammad Altaf, Taj Moharram Khan, and Muhammad Nisar. 2021. "A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009)." Global Political Review, VI: 192-200
-
MLA : Khan, Muhammad Altaf, Taj Moharram Khan, and Muhammad Nisar. "A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009)." Global Political Review, VI.I (2021): 192-200 Print.
-
OXFORD : Khan, Muhammad Altaf, Khan, Taj Moharram, and Nisar, Muhammad (2021), "A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009)", Global Political Review, VI (I), 192-200
-
TURABIAN : Khan, Muhammad Altaf, Taj Moharram Khan, and Muhammad Nisar. "A Case Study of Media Growth and its Impact on Socio-Political Development of Pakistan (1999-2009)." Global Political Review VI, no. I (2021): 192-200. https://doi.org/10.31703/gpr.2021(VI-I).18