*PhD Scholar, Department of Mass Communication, Gomal University, D.I.Khan, Pakistan
**Assistant professor, Department of Communication Studies, College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa, Ministry of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman
***Assistant professor, Department of Mass Communication, Gomal University, D. I. Khan, KPK (Pakistan)
Online published on 21 November, 2013.
The aim of this study was to document sensationalism in news and current affair programs in Pakistani private Urdu news channels. For the purpose, three independent variables-dramatic subject, breaking news and soft news were examined to measure frequency of sensationalism on these channels. Six leading news channels Geo, Dunyya, Express, Aaj, Ary and Sama news were selected. The respondents believe that the channels are sensitizing the issues frequently regarding politics, crime, terrorism, and celebrity etc. The study also reveals that Geo has a greater viewer ship and has considered being the most sensational channel at the same time. Results show that these channels are manipulating ‘breaking news’ and present routine news events as breaking news to create hype. Results indicate that a reasonable portion of news bulletins is consisted of soft news. The variable ‘dramatic subject’ is denotes to the presence of the category in news items like celebrity, sports, violence, disasters, riots, floods, bomb blasts, drone attacks, crime, drugs, calamity etc. The population for the study was the audiences from urban and rural areas of Islamabad who have access to cable TV. The data was collected through questionnaire from 350 respondents by using systematic random sampling technique.
Sensationalism, Cable news channels, breaking news, soft news, dramatic subject
