TRANSFORMING IDENTITIES AND RELATIONS: A CASE OF TALIBAN PEACE TALKS IN THE PAKISTANI PRESS

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The study examines the role of Pakistani mainstream print media in framing peace talks between the Taliban and the Government of Pakistan from 1st January 2014 till 1st July 2014. This study focuses on the role played by the print media of Pakistan during the efforts for the peace talks as a LIC. Methodology: It is a quantitative research study in which researchers have used the content analysis technique to determine how print media framed the peace negotiations between the government and the TTP, editorials, and columns of two English newspapers, namely, Dawn and The News, along with two Urdu newspapers, Jang, Nawe Waqt were analyzed. Main Findings: The findings of the study show that in the peace talks between the government and TTP, the print media of Pakistan did not engage in constructive talk to facilitate the peace talking process. The media failed to give the communicative space to facilitate the political negotiating process to proceed. Narratives of despair and fear were dominant. Applications of this study: This study can be used to know about the psychology of newspapers that how they are framing the news, columns, and articles related to complex issues like Taliban peace talks. Along with it, it is necessary to see the role of newspapers in transforming identities and relations. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study contributed to the existing literature by examining that how print media of Pakistan frame the peace initiatives in the context of resolving the conflict between the Taliban and the government of Pakistan. Apart from it, it is necessary to know about the relationship between the way media was framing the peace negotiations and the way peace talks were taking a turn and whether Pakistani print media played the role of a facilitator of the peace process or framed the peace process as an inevitable risk of more violence or not.