Status of Media Freedom: Comparative Study of Musharraf and Imran Khan’s Regime
Abstract
The media reflects how our culture is influenced. The goal of popular culture is to communicate with a large audience, and it currently refers to communication as digital technologies are changing how people behave in unexpected ways. The idea that people should be able to create, evaluate, and share information was the foundation upon which media networks were initially formed, not to influence behavior and societal norms. The current research article addresses the status of media freedom in the regimes of Musharraf and Imran Khan. Researchers examined the situation of media freedom in Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022, during the populist administration of Imran Khan and Pervez Musharraf's last years of his regime. The gatekeeping theory has been applied in framing the study criteria. The research is based on a qualitative study that consisted of semi-structured interviews with senior journalists from illustrious newspapers and TV networks around the nation. The participants were able to express their own thoughts, perceptions, and emotions. Twelve Pakistani journalists, most of them with a minimum of ten years' experience in the media, were interviewed for this study. The study includes a comparison to the situation in the rest of the democratic world. The dictatorship successfully restricted free expression because of the limited institutional support for journalists. A thorough perception of the state of the media in Pakistan during the rule of Musharraf and Imran Khan—understanding the complexities of media and how they relate to the Gatekeeping Theory of Communication Studies—is essential for a detailed analysis of the role of media in fostering society. President Musharraf has contributed positively to giving the media freedom and liberty. Additionally, social media is now playing a leading role in giving all residents access to the rest of the world.
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