Newspapers and the Concerns of Society Evidence from a Content Analysis

Modern societies rely on the media—of which newspapers are an important component—to disseminate information. In order to perform this role well, the media must be comprehensive in their coverage. They must inform the citizenry in an efficient manner on the diverse matters that affect societies. Modern scientific, economic and social development depends to a large extent on such a diffusion of knowledge by means of the media – an argument that is often cited in support of the drive for mass literacy in many planning and intellectual circles. Although the media comprise not only the press but radio and television as well, there are two reasons why we have chosen to focus on newspapers only. First, like many developing economies and emerging democracies, the audio-visual media (i.e., radio and TV) in Pakistan are controlled by the government. Consequently, like most public sector owned enterprises, one cannot measure this section of the media against market principles. To the extent that radio and television are being run on non-market lines, market preferences cannot be deduced by means of a content analysis of these media.