POLITICAL ENTERTAINMENT AND AUDIENCE PERCEPTIONS: THE ROLE OF TV COMEDY IN FRAMING THE ISSUES OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN PAKISTAN
BY
SOBIA ABID
REGISTRATION# 1231216002
Doctor of Philosophy
Centre For Media & Communication Studies
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT
Session 2012-15
POLITICAL ENTERTAINMENT AND AUDIENCE PERCEPTIONS: THE ROLE OF TV COMEDY
(Page 1 of 200)
IN FRAMING THE ISSUES OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN PAKISTAN
A Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
In Mass Communication
BY
SOBIA ABID
REGISTRATION# 1231216002
Centre for Media & Communication Studies
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT
Session 2012-15 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation is the culmination of my long journey as a student. Completing this project has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life.
(Page 2 of 200)
First and Foremost all thanks to Almighty ALLAH for His all blessings and His Last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).I must take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have helped me along the way.
I have benefited greatly from the wisdom and guidance of many amazing scholars. During my undergraduate days at The University of Punjab, Lahore, my teachers there taught me to think systematically about media content, introduced me to empirical research and encouraged my budding interest in political communication. I am also appreciative of all the support and assistance I received from the distinguished Professors as of my dissertation supervisors. Prof. DrFarishUllah Yousafzai has been my advisor since the beginning. I am forever grateful for his mentorship. His commitment to doing good science helped me to complete this dissertation. I am also incredibly lucky to have developed a close working relationship with Prof. Dr. Peter Gade. The scope of his knowledge and intellectual curiosity are nothing short of inspirational, and I benefited immeasurably from his brilliant insights. I learned so very much from him as my co supervisor.
I would like to thank Muhammad Zahid Bilal, as support in my studies. It was in his course on non-traditional channels of political communication that I got the inspiration for this project. Finally, I owe a special debt of gratitude to Dr. Zahid Yousaf for his generous support; he graciously provided valuable feedback and went out of his way to guide me in my career. I could never have completed this project without the incredible support of the Centre for Media and Communication studies, University of Gujrat, which believed in me and my work and far exceeded any reasonable expectations to ensure my success. Special recognition must be given to the Gaylord College of Journalism, University of Oklahoma for supporting my research through the faculty exchange program between UOG and OU which enabled me to be there and have been blessed to meet some great professors of Mass Communication research and exchange my ideas about this research. During my time of the course work at CMCS, UOG I had the privilege of being in the company of some absolutely brilliant people. I am incredibly grateful to all my fellows and colleagues in the CMCS, UOG. I am honored and humbled to call all of these incredible individuals my friends.
(Page 3 of 200)
Lastly, I would like to thank my family. Perhaps deserving the most credit is the man to whom this dissertation is dedicated, my late father, Muhammad Aslam Abid, who was my first and most important teacher, best friend, and biggest fan. The many evenings I spent as a child sitting on the corner sofa, listening to Dad and his friends’ debate on political issues large and small inspired my interest in political news and taught me to think critically about the world. I must also thank my mother, who supported me in any way she could, often without my even having to ask. I am grateful to my siblings, Rabia, Rafia, Ramsha, Ali and Ammar for their loyal companionship and my extended family and in-laws. Finally, to my amazing husband, Muhammad Zahid Bilal, who never for a moment doubted that I could succeed and sacrificed so very much to make it happen, thank you for bring in my life all the happiness and contentment and believing in my dreams. I did some of my best thinking during our long conversations.
My children Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal and Zainab Bilal are source of inspiration and love for me, I am thankful to both of them for sometimes suffering due to my lack of attention towards them because of my educational engagements. I love you both my dear children.
Last but not the least I am very much grateful to my beloved country Pakistan, which is our pride and our motherland. Despite of many difficult situations and circumstances it provides a girl like me all equal opportunities to flourish and give me the space to live my dreams like starting my career as a professional television journalist and now as a teacher of mass media.
SOBIA ABID
(Page 4 of 200)
DEDICTION
I dedicate this work to myLate Father, “Muhammad Aslam Abid”and to my Mother,
“Abida Aslam”
SOBIA ABID
(Page 5 of 200)
DECLARATION
I Sobia AbidD/o Muhammad Aslam Abid Roll No. 12014316-002student of Ph.D(Mass Communication and Media) Centre for Media and Communication Studies, University of Gujrat hereby solemnly declare that the data quoted in this thesis titled “Political Entertainment and Audience Perceptions: The Role of TV Comedy in Framing the Issues of General Elections in Pakistan” comprises of original research and has not yet been submitted or published elsewhere. I also solemnly declare that the entire thesis is free of deliberate plagiarism and I shall not use this thesis for obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or institution. I also understand that if evidence of plagiarism is provided in my thesis at any stage, even after the award of the degree, the degree shall be cancelled or revoked by the University authority.
SOBIA ABID
I certify that Sobia Abid D/o Muhammad Aslam Abid Roll No. 12014316-002student of PhD (Mass Communication and Media) Centre for Media and Communication Studies, University of Gujrat, worked under my supervision and above stated declaration is true to the best of my knowledge. I have personally guided him through all the procedure and data collection, contents, results and conclusions reported in the manuscript and clarify its correctness and authenticity.
Prof. Dr. FarishUllah Yousafzai Dissertation Supervisor, Dean Faculty of Arts University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan Email: [email protected] Dated: ______
(Page 6 of 200)
RESEARCH COMPLETION CERTIFICATE
It is verified that the research work titled “Political Entertainment and Audience Perceptions: The Role of TV Comedy in Framing the Issues of General Elections in Pakistan” by Sobia Abid Roll No. 12014316-002 student of PhD (Mass Communication and Media) Centre for Media and Communication Studies, University of Gujrat is evaluated and acceptance for the award of degree “Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD)” in Centre for Media & Communication Studies by the following members of the Thesis / Dissection Viva Voce Examination Committee. The evaluation report is available in the Directorate of Advance Studies and research board of the University.
______Name & Signature of the External Evaluator Designation, Official Address Email
______Prof. Dr. FarishUllah Yousafzai Dissertation Supervisor, Dean Faculty of Arts University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan Email: [email protected] Dated: ______
______Dr.Zahid Yousaf Chairperson/Associate Professor, Centre for Media and Communication Studies,
(Page 7 of 200)
University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. Email: [email protected] Dated: ______
(Page 8 of 200)
TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE
LIST OF FIGURES------vii ------viii LIST OF TABLES------x ------01 LIST OF APPEENDICES------02 ------04 ABSTRACT ------05 ------06 CRAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION ------07 ------07 1.1 Political Satire and Parody------08 ------09 1.2 Political Humor ------10 ------10 1.3 Political Issues and Entertainment------12 ----- 14 1.4 Problem Statement ------17 ------18 1.5 Objectives of the Study------22 ----- 26 1.6 Research Questions of the Study ------26 ------31 1.7 Hypotheses for the Study------33 ------27 CHAPTER 02: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE------29 ------30 2.1 Political Entertainment ------30 --- 33 2.2 Political Entertainment Effects in the World------36 ------36 2.3 Political Entertainment in Pakistan------38 ----- 38 2.4 Political Issues of Pakistan------39 ----- 39 2.5 Political Issues during Elections Campaign 2013------40 ------47 2.6 Political Parties and their Leadership------47 ------49 CHAPTER 03: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK------52 ------52 3.1Political Entertainment ------72 ------103 3.2 Agenda Setting------115 ------138 3.3 Agenda Setting and Political Entertainment------138 ------139 3.4Framing ------140 ------142 (Page 9 of 200) 3.5Framing and Political Entertainment------144
------154 3.6Priming ------3.7Priming and Political Entertainment------LIST OF FIGURES CONTENTS PAGE
Figure-4.1: Multistage Sampling for Selection of Political Entertainment Content 39 ------49 Figure-4.2 : Stratified-purposive sampling from Punjab Province------
(Page 10 of 200)
LIST OF TABLES CONTENTS PAGE
Table-5.1: Political Comedy Programs on TV Channels of Pakistan------53 ------53 Table-5.2: Formats of Segments in Political Comedy Programs------54 ------55 Table-5.3: Nature of Comedy in Political Comedy Programs------57 ------58 Table-5.4: Types of Political Issues Presented in Political Comedy Programs------59 ------60 Table-5.5: Political Parties Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------61 ------62 Table-5.6: Political Leadership Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------63 ------64 Table-5.7: Issues during Elections 2013 in Political Comedy Programs------65 ------Table-5.8: Frames of Corruption Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------66 ------Table-5.9: Frames of Governance Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------68 ------Table-5.10: Frames of Energy Crisis Discussed in Political Comedy Programs---- 69 ------70 Table-5.11: Frames of Inflation Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------71 ------Table-5.12: Frames of Health Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------72 ------74 Table-5.13: Frames of Education Discussed in Political Comedy Programs------75 ------76 Table-5.14: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Corruption in Comedy 77 Programs ------78 Table-5.15: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Governance in 79 Comedy 80 Programs ------81 Table-5.16: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Energy Crisis in 82 Comedy 83 Programs ------84 Table-5.17: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Inflation in Comedy Programs 85 Table-5.18: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Health in Comedy Programs-- 86 Table-5.19: Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Education in Comedy Programs ------87
(Page 11 of 200)
Table-5.20: Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows ------88 Table-5.21: Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Anchors------89 Table-5.22: Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Characters------90 Table-5.23: Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Segments------91 Table-5.24: Comedy Shows and Audience’ Anchors choices------92 Table-5.25: Comedy Shows and Audience’ Characters choices------93 Table-5.26: Audience preference to watch Political comedy show on regular basis------94 Table-5.27: Nature of Humor that appeal to comedy show's audience------95 Table-5.28: Nature of Parody that appeal to comedy show's audience------96 Table-5.29: Nature of Satire that appeal to comedy show's audience------Table-5.30: Viewers’ Preference of comedy type------97 Table-5.31: Importance of General Elections Issues among the Viewers of Political 98 Comedy Shows ------Table-5.32: Frames of Corruption Issue during General Elections among the 99 Viewers of Political Comedy Shows------100 Table-5.33: Frames of Energy Crisis Issue during General Elections among the Viewers 101 of Political Comedy Shows------Table-5.34: Frames of Governance Issue during Governance among the Viewers 102 of Political Comedy Shows------103 Table-5.35: Frames of Inflation Issue during Inflation among the Viewers of 104 Political 105 Comedy Shows------107 Table-5.36: Frames of Health Issue during Governance among the Viewers of Political 110 Comedy Shows------Table-5.37: Frames of Education Issue during Governance among the Viewers of 112 Political Comedy Show------Table-5.38: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PML-N regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.39: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PPP regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.40: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PTI regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.41: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about ANP regarding General Elections Issues------
(Page 12 of 200)
Table-5.42: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PMLQ regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.43: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about MQM regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.44: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about JUI-F regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.45: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about JI regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.46: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PMAP regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.47: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PAL regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.48: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PAT regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.49: Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about APML regarding General Elections Issues------Table-5.50: Comparison of Issues Importance in Media and among the Public------Table-5.51: Relationship between comedy frames and Audience Frames ------Table-5.52: Discussion on Political Parties in Comedy Shows and Audience’ Perception- Table-5.53: Relationship of Issues’ Slant in Comedy Shows and Audience Perception about Political Parties------Table-5.54: Relationship of All political parties discussed in shows and audience perception------
(Page 13 of 200)
LIST OF APPENDICES CONTENTS PAGE
APPENDIX-01:Code Book ...... 110 Questionnaire------APPENDIX-02:Questionnaire/ Survey ...... 111 Questionnaire------
ABSTRACT This study argues that political entertainment and TV comedy is getting popularity among TV audience. These shows are deliberating and presenting the political culture of Pakistan in a witty and sarcastic way. Usage of Humor, Satire and Parody in these shows may provide audience with the various interpretations of political issues, political parties and their leadership. Therefore, present study is also aimed at exploring these theoretical underpinnings in response to political comedy shows. Six issues were selected to study the issues’ importance, treatment, framing and priming at the production end of TV comedy content and viewers’ consumption end. Mixed method approach was applied employing the content analysis of comedy programs during elections and survey of viewers of comedy for data collection. Framing, priming and agenda setting theories have been applied in the present research .Results of the study indicate that political issues are frequently discussed and significantly associated with certain frames that ultimately treat the issues giving them slants
(Page 14 of 200) towards certain political parties. On the other hand, viewers prefer to watch comedy and are aware of different shows, formats and segments of comedy. Their exposure to comedy also show that they have opinion about the importance of issues, frames and perception about the parties. Taking both content and survey results, Correlation was found for issues’ importance, frames, slants/ perception of political parties majorly. However, crosstabs showed some difference of scores on issues, frames and priming results. Although viewers are relying on TV comedy but they also negotiate with issues, frames and slants presented and primed in TV comedy.
Keywords: Political Entertainment, TV Comedy, Political issues, Agenda setting, Framing, Priming, Slant, perception, Election Campaign, traits
(Page 15 of 200)
CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION In recent years, in Pakistan, a surge of political entertainment based Television shows has been witnessed on mainstream news and current affairs channels of Pakistan (Eijaz, 2012; Firdous, 2012). This emerging phenomenon, it is argued in Pakistan, may be the outcome of media fragmented environment like other countries of the world (Hollander, 2005). On the other hand, these shows are getting popularity among the TV audience which is, in many ways, of a greater importance with reference to political implications (Nazir, 2013). According to a research report on ‘Media in Pakistan’ compiled by the BBC, in these shows politics is discussed in an alternative way “television shows inevitably included political satire – short, comical segments on political developments, especially the follies of senior politicians”(Yusuf &Schoemaker, 2013). Therefore, it draws the attention, of present study, towards the production and consumption patterns of political entertainment in Pakistan and host of political outcomes of political entertainment for the viewers of comedy shows.
In terms of political entertainment’s outcomes, viewers’ opinion about issues is very significant in response to content. Young (2013) discusses that political comedy presents political issues and stories in a method that is reachable and appealing and make viewers believe linked to politics and give power to them it in an active way. This is what this study argues that political comedy may also be considered important genre for the discussion and presentation of issues. In this context, Hariton (2011) argue that likewise news and current affairs, comedy also function as an agenda setting by prioritising certain issues, parties and politicians they call the viewers’ attention to specifics issues or events of the day, or set an agenda, and these issues become more important to the viewer than other events/issues that were not addressed. Therefore, political comedy could also allow to take on the agenda setting approach at both production and consumption end. Thus, present endeavour intends to gauge the agenda setting relationship between comedy issues and public importance, taking into account the six major issues during general elections in Pakistan.
Secondly, issues are discussed and presented in media with some specific aspects or frames that can also be of a significant importance to explore the comedy outcomes. These frames may be able to help to identify the responsible factors of particular issue
(Page 16 of 200) as frames are considered devices media use to organize an event or issue (Iyengar 1991). According to McCombs (2002) in highlighting the issues media use some objects and framing of those objects and explained frames as “attribute agendas”. Same is the case with political entertainment. In previous studies, framing has been studied with the help political satire and found that comedy shows utilize different frames while discussing issues. Political parties and political figures are presented employing framing in comedy which effect perception of young adults about political figures. On the other hand, it is argued, that although framing might not openly read about political participation, however, it is a creating obstruct for what does direct to participation, actually not a barrier to it (Hariton, 2011; Zukas, 2012; Castronovo, 2007). Hence, present study, attempts to extend comedy shows’ analysis in context of issues’ frames and its relationship with frames in viewers’ mind.
Consequently, with reference to issues the phenomenon of priming is also considered significant at both levels, i.e. production and consumption for the understanding of outcomes. The literature indicates about the political entertainment that it also has the quality to prime the traits of candidate while discussing the issues (Moy, Xenos, & Hess, 2005; Holbert et al., 2003; Young, 2006). These highlighted traits, according to Lindsay and Dannagal(2011) provide base for persuading efficiency, and subsequently, increase the political involvement.Therefore, this study argues that political entertainment has the ability to prime the different features of political arena that appears in construction of political attitude (Holbrook, 2003) of the viewers. Political actors can be evaluated by the audience through the priming of a specific issue in the media (Iyengar& Kinder, 1987; Pan & Kosicki, 1997). Keeping in view this importance of issues, political parties of Pakistan during general elections campaign have been taken into account with reference to their position on the issues.
These theoretical foundations Framing, Priming and Agenda setting have been studied previously with the context of serious political news and talk shows (McCombs & Shaw, 1972; Dearing & Rogers, 1996; Tversky & Kahneman, 1973, 1985; Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). These political talk shows and political news according to Hoffman & Young (2011) should be considered ‘traditional media’, after the emergence of political entertainment scholarship. They have argued that political satire and parody also have the same effects likewise traditional media. Here, this study argues that as
(Page 17 of 200) issues’ salience (McCombs & Shaw, 1972), object salience (McCombs, 1993), organizing in a particular way (Reese, 2001, p. 7), schemata of interpretation (Goffman, 1974), slant, valence and ‘perceived reality’ (Entman, 1993, p. 51), goal and intention(Entman, 1993, p. 165)effect the public opinion about the issues, political parties, political figures using agendas setting, framing and priming foundations. Similarly, political entertainment may also have the ability to effect the perception (Druckman& Nelson, 2003;Hoffman &Young, 2011;Holbert et al., 2003;Moy, Xenos & Hess, 2006; Young, 2013).Therefore, this study would provide a baseline for studying political comedy in context of Entman‘s framing approach for elaborating these theoretical foundations in Pakistan.
Methodologically, mixed method approach was employed, using content analysis and survey for data collection. This would allow to take into account the TV comedy as an independent variable and audience perception as a dependent variable as Scheufele (1999) argued that media as well as audiences framing can be studied and understand on the basis of dependent and independent variables (p. 107).Content analysis and survey both conducted during election campaign so as to capture valid data.Election campaigns are very significant for the study of media, issues and political parties because of “heightens citizens’ attention to politics direct relation to the proximity of the event. Concomitantly campaign activity is more likely to register on voters’ minds as Election Day draws near” (Sides, 2006, pp. 1-26). Previous studies based on traditional media were conducted during elections (McCombs & Shaw, 1972; Iyengar& Kinder, 1987; Shehata, 2010). This tradition has been found equally significant for political entertainment as well. Many studies related to comedy were also conducted during election campaigns (e.g. Castronovo, 2007; Compton, 2004; Leano, 2014; Hariton, 2011; Davis & Owen, 1998; Kim &Vishak, 2008; Moy, Xenos& Hess, 2005).Thus, present research also takes the advantage of seeking out the relationship of comedy and public perception during elections time.
1.1 Political Satire and Parody A modern inflow from study establishes that TV comedy can control political information, approaches, and involvement (Hoffman & Thomson, 2009; Baumgartner & Morris, 2006; LaMarre, Landreville& Beam, 2009). According to Lindsay and Dannagal (2011) satire and parody are contrastive to conventional laughline-orienting
(Page 18 of 200) late-night entertainment not just in type and subject matter, but also in outcomes upon normatively advantageous political consequences suchlike involvement.
The research proves that hilarity involves exhausting working at the audience members (Young, 2008), significant variances are expected in audiences of political entertainment contrasted with traditional TV viewers, where these spectators are informed instead of entertained (Koestler, 1964). Since the media-landscape has dynamically increased, so it's vital for scholars to start differentiating between not only program types, but also these broadcasts' effects, besides the structure that causes these effects (Lindsay &Dannagal, 2011).
Scholars do not all the time harmonize with the bruising versus salutary political entertainment's affect (Baym, 2005; Baumgartner & Morris, 2006; Young, 2007 Hoffman & Thomson, 2009). All the same, minified faith in politics is not inevitably suggestive of a knotty outcome; as a matter of fact, it might echo a hale and hearty critical assessment of regime how can surrogate positivistic behaviors.
Because the researchers did not set apart the political entertainment’s types, that’s why it is hard to make an assessment that the impact was for mimicry of politicians or possibly just single of them (Lindsay &Dannagal, 2011).The literature indicates that political comedy has the capacity to prime the traits of candidate (Holbert et al., 2003; Young, 2006 Moy, Xenos& Hess, 2005;). According to Lindsay and Dannagal (2011) priming can also play the role in persuading efficiency, and consequently, increase the political involvement.
These outcomes from increasing range of literature also validate that watching political entertainment significantly and positively affect the participation in political activities by the viewers (Hoffman & Thomson, 2009). The research also simplifies an important distinction between political entertainment’s types; for instance, traditional TV news, for which audiences need to have background information of the theme, satire calls for intellectual vibrancy of the audiences so as to ‘‘get the joke’’ (Lindsay &Dannagal, 2011). In accordance with Lindsay and Dannagal, (2011), the research outcomes submit that satire or mimicry on TV shows is not just ‘‘soft news’’ or merely labeled as ‘‘political entertainment’’ but the study suggests that parody or
(Page 19 of 200) satire possibly more analogous to the traditional TV news not as the presentation and format but similarly in effects (Lindsay &Dannagal, 2011; Fox et al., 2007)
1.2 Political Humor In a political context, the exertion of humor is an old sensation (Anagondahalli&Khamis, 2014). Political humor is rooted in ancient times in the western culture and could be retraced back to Socrates', Aristophanes', and Plato's times (Corbeill, 1996; Schutz, 1977). There are more than a few types of political humor such as; comedy, witticisms, caricature, jokes, anecdotes, invective or satire (Schutz, 1977). According to Anagondahalli&Khamis, (2014) depending on the country’s prevailing political system, humor can do many societal roles. For instance, humor reflects the principles of democracy; consequently, it is believed to be across- the-board, overt, untied, and equalitarian (Boskin, 1990).
Both political figures and their communities freely use humor within democracies (Corbeill, 1996). For instance, Political leaders apply humor to abstract political doctrines, relieve politically tense up situations, however, for the opposition or faultfinder, comedy assists the role of revealing weakness or subjugation (Nilsen,1990). All the same, the common individual also has the liberty to mock and make fun of the political leader. For instance, jokester and contemporary comedians deliver blistering critique and demonstrate unwanted truths and do not bear any consequence (Anagondahalli&Khamis, 2014). Moreover, TV's political sarcasm or political entertaining programs, for example "the Daily Show with Jon Stewart", has established the capability to influence the public opinion, behaviors and most importantly attitudes (Holbert, et al. 2007).
1.3 Issues and Entertainment
It has also been observed that jokes, mash up songs shoot on the dummies of politicians and other political satire considered significant and prominent when they relate with some defining political issues on which particular party is given advantages or disadvantages. Politicians are always come up with some particular issues to address which are ultimately become the target of satire because of its suitable appeal for the audience. It means satire also intends to take advantage of those dimensions of the political issues which suits to it. Therefore, to make the satire
(Page 20 of 200) more attractive, political entertainment programs may be of very selective for the issues to create suitable entertainment.
These political issues, which are selected by the political entertainment programs to create satire, may very significant to determine the image of the political parties. In Pakistani politics the political issues which remained in discussion in media and specifically in comedy shows are: Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health and Education etc (Gallup Pakistan, 2012a,2012b,2013a). Pew research project 2005 presented 48% of adults used Comic programs The Daily Show, Late Night and The Tonight Show regularly or sometimes for presidential campaign issues which shows the importance of comedy shows as a place of campaign issues. The considerations of scholars about TV programs which present information and entertainment can be effective in generating political information and awareness (Prior, 2003-2005). Otherwise research of political radio talk show programming showed little effect of the satire programs on the knowledge about politics. It was also supposed that entertainment have no effect on the political awareness as contrast to the hard news.
Druckman and Nelson (2003) argued that these political issues, which are selected by the political entertainment programs to create satire, may very significant to determine the image of the political parties. Whilst application of “decision frames” is mainly concerned with the interpretations for understanding some particular texts, they argue, News framing can be understood in form of endogenous and exogenous. They further forward the observation that the former are the results of and often an outcome of the fashion in which the contemporary media industry operates at procedural and institutional level, whilst the later are often applied internally on the content of news and attached with the production and structural elements of the news content. Different types of framing used in media as decision, news issue, collective action and audience framing. They also explain that the discourse-specific frames are issue frames deployed to understand political discourse whereas the study of social movements, protests and general collective actions is concerned with collective action frames. Finally, the measurable outcome of the process of framing in terms of individual perceptions is the “issue frames” (p.246).
(Page 21 of 200)
Lugalambi (2006) concludes, A frame is significant as it can decide whether an audience understand, notice and remember the issue as well as how an audience consider and determine to reply on the given issue (p.131). Some other impact factors on frames effectiveness are interpersonal discourse, the passage of time and the repeated exposure to the message (p.166). Brewer and Kimberly (2010) present the argument that different frames continually go on interacting with one another and exposure to an opposite frame can decrease the effect or sometimes even neutralize, and that competing frame would yield different impact, which relies upon the status of source’s credibility or lacking (p.165). This research takes into account these framing approaches as a guiding principle to explore issue frames in political entertainment shows.
1.4 Problem Statement Political entertainment through TV comedy may provide alternative ways to interpret the political parties and leadership and election campaigns in Pakistan. Studies around the globe provide sufficient evidence to establish that political entertainment have host of implications for the political gains. One of the political gains is to prioritize the political issues, frame devices for the audience that may lead to leaning towards some political parties and leadership. This study is an attempt to establish that political comedy also may have the functions that could be of very importance like pure news and current affairs programs. Thus, political comedy is an alternative to hard core journalism which would go into deep critical thinking and help to interpret the political world. Framing that could be established through comedy could be more critical in nature. Therefore, this study investigates the issue and their frames in response to the comedy shows.
1.5 Objectives of the Study This study, keeping in view the underlying problem statement, exposure patterns, nature of comedy, Issues salience in comedy, perception through comedy, and treatment of issue through comedy are the main objective to the study.
To describe the Exposure patters of political comedy in Pakistan
To explore Nature of comedy in comedy shows
To identify the issues presented in TV political comedy programs.
(Page 22 of 200)
To explore the audience perception of the issues presented in comedy programs in Pakistan
To analyze that framing of issues presented in TV comedy effect the audience perception.
To examine that how mainstream political parties and leadership of Pakistan were projected through the frames of issues in TV political comedy
To study that valence of different frames also shape the slant of audience perception
To examine the difference of patterns, issues, frames and valence in the political comedy shows with respect the different comedy programs and to observe differences of the same among the public
1.6 Research Questions of the Study RQ1:What kind of patterns were presented in the ‘Political Comedy Shows’ broadcast on mainstream TV Channels of Pakistan?
RQ1a: Do the kind of patterns presented in the ‘Political Comedy Shows’ differ by programs?
RQ2:Which ‘General Elections Issues’ were discussed frequently in ‘Political Comedy Shows’ during General Elections in Pakistan?
RQ2a: Do the ‘General Elections Issues’ discussed in ‘Political Comedy Shows’ during General Elections in Pakistan differ by programs?
RQ3:What kind of frames of ‘General Elections Issues’ were frequently discussed in ‘Political Comedy Shows’?
RQ3a: Do the kind of frames of ‘General Elections Issues’ discussed in ‘Political Comedy Shows’ differ by programs?
RQ4: What was the slant of different political parties discussed regarding the ‘General Elections Issues’ in ‘Political Comedy Shows’?
(Page 23 of 200)
RQ4a: Do the Slant discussed about the political parties of Pakistan regarding the ‘General Elections Issues’ in ‘Political Comedy Shows’ differ by political parties?
RQ5:What were the viewers’ consumption patterns of ‘Political Comedy Shows’ broadcast on mainstream TV Channels of Pakistan?
RQ5: Do the viewers’ consumption patterns of ‘Political Comedy Shows’ differ by the watching frequency?
RQ6:Which ‘General Elections Issues’ were considered the most important by the viewers of ‘Political Comedy Shows’?
RQ6a: Do theviewer’s importance of ‘General Elections Issues’differ by their watching frequency?
RQ7:What was the Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’?
RQ7a:Do the Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’ differ by their watching frequency?
RQ8:What was the Viewers’ perception about the political parties of Pakistan regarding the ‘General Elections Issues’?
RQ8a:Do the Viewers’ perception about the political parties of Pakistan regarding the ‘General Elections Issues’ differ by their watching frequency?
1.7 Hypotheses for the Study
This study argues that political comedy may also have the ability to influence likewise serious content. This may be why, here framing, priming and agenda setting have been undertaken for studying the relationship of comedy about politics and issues importance, issue salience, issue priming (Young, 2013). These three hypotheses have been derived keeping in view the agenda setting, framing and priming concepts.
H1: More the satirical salience for ‘General Elections Issues’ in ‘Political Comedy Shows’, more the public perceive them as an important issue
(Page 24 of 200)
H2: There is a significant relationship between the most salient election frames in the comedy shows and the audience’s perception of the importance of these frames.
H3: Political parties’ and issues’ slant during discussion in comedy shows will be associated with the public perception about parties.
(Page 25 of 200)
CHAPTER-2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Literature review includes the systematic study of previous researches related to the topic under exploration. This chapter has been elaborated into different sections. First section contains the literature about political entertainment, comedy, humor, political satire, and parody etc. second sections describes the studies related to political entertainment effects of media. These studies includes evidences and debate over the political entertainment media effects around the globe. It also includes the systematic review of studies related to theoretical approaches effects of political media. Third section includes the literature and political background of media in Pakistan. It also addresses the previous work on political entertainment effects in Pakistan. This section also provides overview related to political entertainment context of Pakistan. Lastly, this chapter provides literature and contextual background of Pakistani politics and political entertainment in Pakistan. It also describes the rational for the selection of different political parties and political issues of Pakistan.
2.1 Political Entertainment Political satires in Television (TV) comedy programs provide understanding of the covert political scene. This platform gives the viewer an opportunity to understand the personality traits of Politicians in depth (Young, 2004; Moy & Pfau, 2000). Colbert and Stewart articulates, presentation of news stories and issues about politics in a different form that is reachable and appealing and also making viewers associate more to political activities and information and felt it in an active and playful way (Young, 2013).
Social researchers consider the parody or mimicry as source of interaction. (Baaren, Holland&Kawakami, & Knippenberg, 2004). Maddux, Chartrand and Lakin (2005) told that they think that “Mimicry is a manifestation of the perception-behavior link at its most fundamental level. It is no more than copying other’s observables and requires only the ability to perceive the behavior in the other person and the ability to form the behavior oneself” (p.335).
Holland, et al. (2003)said about actors imitate words, accents pace of speech, pitch of voice, and sentence structure. Some people have a talent to imitate the pauses and rhythm, and tone during conversations. Negative aspect of behavior draws more
(Page 26 of 200) attention of the viewers than of positive aspects of the behavior (Fiske & Hartley, 1989; Vrana & Gross, 2004). From these psychological studies, Satire in political entertainment can easily be understood that probably target the negative aspect of the politics. This analysis maintains that the hidden side of the story, using comedy, appeals more to the viewer, providing them fun and critique at the same time.
Some people have revealed about variation of the effects take place due to the comedy programs. Another very interesting case in this research is about the mimicry and parody of the political personalities is not actually threatening for the image of politics. The interest of the audience towards politics would be foster by providing them information in the shape of entertainment. Young (2013) elaborates this idea observing substantial studies that the admirers of TV political comedy showed strong political knowledge and participation behavior as compared to those who are declared as non-viewers. He considers that the viewing political comedy would boost the level of participation People who watch Stewart and Colbert participate in politics more; they vote more; they discuss politics with friends and family more; they watch cable news more; they get news online more.
The information seeking with entertainment is another aspect of communication in this postmodern era that is gaining popularity. The term infotainment made its way combining entertainment with information. (Lilleker, 2006) viewed this concept as the combination of the words information and entertainment, suggesting a practice of blending together of their presentation within the broadcasting of news and current affairs. This study assumes that viewers have developed a taste of accepting the politics in the shape of entertainment as judge against to the news and current affairs programming.
Thussu (2008) observed this concept of information plus entertainment while Infotainment – a neologism which emerged in the late 1980s to become a buzzword, a handy catchall for all that was wrong with contemporary television – refers to an explicit genre-mix of ‘information’ and ‘entertainment’ in news and current affairs programming. That postmodernist consideration that actually depicts the style, format and mode; that contain aesthetics of art, symbolic news , computer-animated logos, virtual news sets and overlays, fast-paced visual action , attractive visuals added to music ; ultimately the content itself for news and Current Affairs programming.
(Page 27 of 200)
Young (2013) emphasized that the argument labeled political satire devastating for political discourse should be revisited. He referred researches in the domain of political communication, describes that political satire encouraged and copy promising new ways for people to know about political information. Mindich (2005) maintained that youth of US acquire lots of their information about politics and political situations from the late-night comedy shows as compared to serious news. Pew Center’s survey of 2000 exposed that the ratio of people fewer than 30 years of age were dependent on late-night talk shows was of 47 percent to get consciousness of election campaign.
Nisbet (2010)argued that political entertainment shows became element of general political discourse in USA “Stewart's Daily Show, along with The Colbert Report, and traditional network programs such as NBC's Saturday Night Live, the Tonight Show, CBS's Late Night, and even The View, hold an ever-increasing influence over political culture and public perceptions”. He also posed the question, central to the study, that whether these programs are enriching the audience with critical analysis and learning of politics or distracting them from political process? In his view these programs are politically full of important content and gave an opportunity to access the niche audience in the environment of media fragmentation.
Young (2013) viewed that these shows were breaking the regulations of the genre for consistency treat political events in entertainment context. According to him political scholar’s opinion is divided in two dimensions regarding its effects. Some believe that this is a good source of political understanding and others suppose that humorous treatment of serious political issues foster more cynicism about political process.
Fiske and Hartley (1989)viewed about comedy and TV as places of community based on referral knowledge central to the text. Viewers’ capability of decoding the content to develop gist has been easy as an element for news culture to convey message to people.
In sum, fright of the unawareness of the political events (Carpini & Keeter, 1997), young audience be inclined to avoid politics (Buckingham, 2000); youth ‘s attention for political TV comedy is the point that showed importance of the hard news
(Page 28 of 200) dependent upon the information plus entertainment, now labeled as political entertainment.
2.2 Political Entertainment Effects in the World It has been a long tradition among scholars to study agenda setting effects in political entertainment. Leano (2014) argued that the late-night comedy effects actually drafted Saturday Night Live precisely to analyze its effects via theory of agenda- setting and also as a secondary research, the research goes through prior literature signifying that humorous political news section and mimicry of political leaders have concrete effects on perception of the voters. In 2008 Election, Sarah Palin’s ratings of favorability go down due to the mimicry, illustrating Saturday Night Live’s possible influence on perception about politicians and issues by highlighting problem and blend satire with actual situation. This research explains the growth of TV program from mere entertainment to a political platform with the power to influence viewers’ political perception. Hariton (2011) also argued that through agenda setting, framing and priming political satire have less ability to lead the participation directly but it may have the capacity to contribute in a process as building block.
Zukas (2012)studied the agenda setting and framing functions between two shows “ABC World News with Charles Gibson” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. Researcher found similarity of “agenda setting” function of these shows; however, they found significant differences in framing function of these shows.
Castronovo (2007) explored the effects of political comedy on the perception. Researcher discussed the results of experimental research explaining that young adults perceive their political leaders in response to the frames presented in political comedy.
On the contrary, scholars have found the effects of framing depend upon the different factors. Slothuus (2008) focused on the mediators of framing model and individual level of framing should be considered as a moderator. Framing of issues depend upon the individual who is the recipient of frame. According to experimental research, this take place with the help of different psychological procedures. Consideration of receivers and nature of the content have strong mediated effects on framing. Framing
(Page 29 of 200) affects those who have political awareness and low political values, while who have low political awareness and strong values will not be mediated by the framing effects.
Similarly, Slothuus and DeVreese (2010) linked framing and motivated reasoning theory. They have observed that people have the biased approach towards frames and inclined to follow that frame which has more association with the party to who they are affiliated.
Elliott (2013) conducted a comparative study on political entertainment framing between US and UK media. It was found that political entertainment content of media of UK and USA used frames based on scandals and sensation of politician. It was also found that readers of political humorous content in newspapers and magazines are more likely perceive the sensational frames of political leaders.
Priming effects have also been observed in political entertainment research by the several scholars. Moy, Xenos, and Hess (2006) found that effects of political comedy during election campaign in 2000 US elections made it clear that viewers and no viewers of political comedy differ significantly when evaluate the presidential candidates George W. Bush. Boukes and Boomgaarden (2016) also demonstrated that exposure to interviews of politicians in entertainment talk shows affected participants’ trust in politicians. In this way, political figures priming in political entertainment shows influence the perception of candidates.
Matthes, Rauchfleisch and Kohler (2011) investigated the effects of humorous content of comedy, especially political parody through experimental study. Their results show political parody is more likely to affect those who have more knowledge of politics. It was found that respondents with high knowledge who were the viewers of late night comedy believed on the decrease in ratings of political candidate. They might have the understanding and ability to decode the satire and humour. They claimed that non- news sources of political information specifically political entertainment appear to play a vital role to constitute any political attitudes. Present study is also to explore the priming effects of political entertainment shows on public perception in Pakistan. All these researches provide support to study political entertainment effects within the theoretical framework of priming.
(Page 30 of 200)
Studies on political entertainment are evident that viewing political content lead to knowledge of current affairs, interest in politics. In return they are more prone to pay attention to comedy (Young, 2013).
Hence it is argued that comedy may also have the role of empowering citizens with entertaining ways. However, Kim and Vishak (2008) are of the view that entertainment is less influential in providing the current affairs knowledge as compared to serious political news and talks shows.
Scholars think about two possible reasons of the effects of political comedy while discussing methods, content and patterns of entertainment content. Firstly, entertainment shows are predominantly becoming political. On the other hand, these shows are also important to have impact on elections and campaigns. (Davis, 1997; Davis & Owen, 1998; Kerbel, 1999; Pfau, Cho & Chong, 2001). Secondly, these shows are gaining the attention of the viewers. Most importantly, Pew Research revealed that 50 percent viewers reported that they get political information from them (Kohut et al., 2004).
2.3 Political Entertainment in Pakistan
Mass media include different types of mass communication as print and broadcast media, cinema, advertising, public relations or publishing etc. In Pakistan, we have a witnessed diversity of media channels which competing each other for more and more viewership. Occasionally, audiences are worried too, whether broadcast media has affects or not. Media scholars focused on exploring theoretical underpinnings that can be used to gain large audience by such media.
In Gen Musharraf’s regime when private TV channels were given licenses, nobody could imagine the implications ( Zahid, 2012). Initially important display of power by private news media was experienced in Musharraf’s regime when TV news channels played a vigorous role during Lawyer’s movement (2007-9) in Pakistan. At that time TV channels broadcast the serious talk shows, news, debates, interviews as well as political comedy show( Zahid, 2012).
Political comedy shows here in Pakistan are very popular among the people. The parodies and satire throughout the time period of Lawyer’s movement got enormous
(Page 31 of 200) response and acceptance from the audience (Nazir, F 2013). Political comedy shows are being watched not only for humor but also to get political knowledge. Nearly all TV comedy have become “political” as political issues and activities are major content provider for these shows. Jokes/ jargons and parody songs of political satirical shows are remember by the audience. Till 2002, only a state TV news channel was there but the situation has been changed.
In Pakistan, trend of exploring the political comedy has been observed. Abida Eijaz discovered the nature of comedy in comedy shows and its impact on the perception of people. She also conducted qualitative interviews of viewers and found that these shows are more popular in Punjab as compared to the other provinces because Punjabi language is frequently used as a punch line and slang in these shows (Eijaz, 2012). On the other hand, FurrukhNazir, MPhil scholar of International Islamic University Islamabad, explored the role of political comedy during elections 2013 on the political behavior corresponding with political parties. He explored that viewer’s look for more of the political information from the political comedy shows. Political ‘satirical’ shows are main source of the political information than other political content. Satirical content plays positive role in increasing positive perception about the democratic process. Voting behavior of the viewers of the political satirical shows is not influenced and remains same that has been also proved by the different researchers (Nazir, 2013).
Besides this, student of University of Gujrat, Maryam Firdous conducted research on comedy shows with reference to its impact on viewers’ evaluation of politicians. She surveyed the university students and found that parody and mimicry of politicians helping the people in recognizing the personality traits of political figures( Firdous, 2012).
Findings of the Theses studies conducted in Pakistan are comparable to the results found in USA. Youth in Pakistan is also considered as the target audience of the political comedy shows as they are more than 65 percent of the whole. Youth is also taking keen interest in political activities and campaigns. Researchers state that audiences of political comedy shows are younger than other television programs (Young & Tisinger, 2006 ; Hollander, 2005). Pew Center survey claimed that young people take deep interest in political comedy shows to have more and authentic
(Page 32 of 200) political knowledge (Kohut et al., 2004) as is the case in Pakistan so far, young audience mostly rely on political comedy( Firdous, 2012).
Many of the researchers worked to assess the effects of political comedy shows on general public (Moy & Pfau, 2000;Baum, 2003;Prior, 2003). Many of the audiences are not the regular viewers of political comedy shows and most of them watch the comedy shows with more than one month gap. Therefore, scholars have been taking interest in different tools and methodologies used in satirical shows to attract the people. Media forms that are not traditional are playing effective role in American politics ( Holbert, et al. 2003). There should be a difference between news and entertainment contents in order to search the political effects of the media (Mutz, 2001). Comedy and entertainment stories and programs were called “soft news” by Patterson in 2000. There are political effects of entertainment television programs (Pfau et al., 2001).
Although, political comedies and jokes were being included in “state media” entertainment programs but most probably an unbiased approach towards comedy shows was seen after 2002, when private television channels started their transmission and almost the whole channels were not in the control of the state. Due to the critical approach of television channels as media was taken as “watch dog” at the government, critics were seen in political comedy shows too in the form of jokes, parodies, name-calling etc.
Parody of the political leaders is always the central theme of the TV political satire. It has been observed that TV comedy programs Mimicry artists copy the behavior of the political leaders of leading political parties of Pakistan: including, Asif Ali Zardari(Co. Chairperson, Pakistan People’s Party), Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shrif(President, Pakistan Muslim League N),AsfandYarWali(president, Awami National Party),Altaf Hussain(President, MuthiddaQaumiMovement), MowlanaFazl- ur-Rehman(President, JamiatUlama-e-Islam,F),Imran Khan(Chairman, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf),Syed Munawwar Hassan(president, Jamat-e-Islami).Artists regularly appear on the TV comedy programs and imitate the appearance, facial expressions, body gestures and postures of the political leaders.
(Page 33 of 200)
Geo News, Dunya News and Express Newsare mainstream channels that are broadcasting political comedy shows.
2.3.1 Geo News
Mir Shakeel was the founder of Geo Television. GEO TV is the certified trademark of Geo Television. Independent Media Corporation is the owner of Geo Television. The first test transmission was launched on 14 August 2002 and then started regular transmission from first October 2002. Geo is the Urdu word having English meaning “live on”. The channel got tremendous popularity after initial starting and then group started many different channels too (Geo TV, Geo Super, Aag TV). The political comedy show “Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain” is the most popular show among the audience (Eijaz, 2012).
2.3.2 Dunya News
This TV channel started regular transmission from 1st December 2008. Mian Amir Mahmood is the owner of this media group. The English meaning of Dunya is “world”. Dunya TV has launched many popular political comedy shows and giving very tough time to the competitors. Dunya TV has now included in the list of most watched TV channels in Pakistan. “Hasb e Hal” is the most popular political comedy show of it (Eijaz, 2012).
2.3.3 Express News
Express News is a Pakistani television news channel in Urdu language, based in Lahore. This was launched on January 1, 2008. Country’s largest Urdu daily, Daily Express is also run by the same group. This media group is owned by the Lakson Group. This channel also started political comedy program DarLing. Famous actor, comedian and mimic Kahalid Abbas Dar is the host of this program. This program is popular due to its musical comedy (Eijaz, 2012).
2.3.4 Political Issues of Pakistan Electoral campaign is seen as an organized activity that arouses popular interest in elections and stimulates citizens to vote. Politicians make tall claims and promises and public pledges to lure voters”. These claims and promises are presented by the
(Page 34 of 200) media as the issues of elections. “Citizens can only benefit from the fruits of democracy if they stay vigilant during all phases of democratic process. Thus, elections provide an opportunity to the people to evaluate political issues of different political parties during elections campaigns. Therefore, political issues can be the best indicators of Political parties’ ideologies, manifestoes, and leadership.
In Pakistan, personalities and symbols matter, both at the national as well as constituency level. It is not clear how many voters are aware of specific manifesto promises, and still fewer would decide their vote on the basis of one. As such the image of the leader provides a rallying point. Interestingly however, the PPP, despite giving prominence to Benazir’s image performed extremely badly. Tired of poor governance, multiple corruption scandals and a severe energy crisis; voters voted with their feet. This does not mean that the image of the leader is unimportant. Nawaz Sharif benefitted from his image as a man who gets things done, reminding voters of his success in delivering major infrastructure projects. However, it indicates that vote banks cannot be taken for granted; delivery matters.
2.4 Political Issues during Elections Campaign 2013
Six issues have been selected for this study based upon the different reports. A media monitoring report, two months before the elections day, prepared by the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID, 2014)observed that Major political parties of Pakistan made different promises during elections 2013. These promises can best provide the reflection of the political issues on which they were focusing during campaign. PPP made promises in the domain of Governance and Social Development, PMLN made promises in the domain of Governance, Social Development, and Infrastructural Development. PTI focused on Economy, Local Government System, Justice, Law and Order, Education and Skills Development, MQM focused on Education, Healthcare, Justice, Social Justice/ Public Welfare, Women’s Rights, Land Reforms, JUIF emphasized on Manpower, Liberation, Social Contract, Industrial Workers Welfare, Energy, and Natural Recourses Formers Rights, Jmaat e Islami (JI) stresses on Social and Political Rights, State Sovereignty, Social Liberation, Education, Law and order, Health, L.G./Minorities Rights.
(Page 35 of 200)
Dawn Report (2013)presented the issues and political developments in Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 in Pakistan which highlights that Asif Ali Zardari’s Gas pipeline agreement with Iran, Gwadar port construction contract with China, The Supreme Court direction to arrest the accused in the rental power projects case, dismiss of Baluchistan government after the bombings in Quetta that killed over 100 people, most of them Hazaras, Supreme Court declared Yousuf Raza Gilani disqualified for contempt of court, NATO fighters killed 25 Pakistani military personnel in air strikes on two Pakistani positions in the northwestern tribal region of Mohmand. The strikes were followed by tensions between the US and Pakistan with the latter blocking supply routes to Nato in Afghanistan. Gilani was convicted for contempt over not implementing the Supreme Court’s ruling on the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), MansoorIjaz, a Pakistani-American businessman, named Husain Haqqani, the then Pakistani ambassador to the US, as the source to the memo sent to the then American military chief days after the May 2 US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, seeking his help to avert a possible military coup in Pakistan, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a firefight with US forces in Abbottabad, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks,(Asghar, n.d)reviewed that Pakistan has been concerned for the improvement of its institutional and human capacity to improve the livelihoods of its citizens since its inception. This surge for improvement in the lifestyle of its citizens is assessed by the level of good governance in the country. Pakistan lags far behind in the field of governance, as the same is evident from the world reports on governance. Pakistan needs to review and revise its policies to earn effective and efficient governance practices. Law and order, energy, economy, political stability and national harmony are the key governance issues in Pakistan, which need comprehensive policy response.
BBC Report (2013)discussed the key players of Pakistan, which include Nwaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Imran Khan, Rahheel Sharif, Pervez Musharraf. Pakistan has to overcome its shortcomings in the corruption control, accountability and mal- administration through legal frameworks in support, to ensure the good governance. Pakistan can achieve the good governance by introducing integrity, coordination, cooperation among individuals as well as institutions, besides the economic sustainability and proper policy process implementation.
(Page 36 of 200)
Saeed (2013)argued the long and often unpredictable hours of load shedding have been the cause of extreme angst, inconvenience and distress among general public, from housewives to hospital staff, factory workers to farmers and shopkeepers to students. The social upheaval so stirred had a far-reaching political impact and remained the single most important issue for the electorate in rejecting the incumbent ruling party in Islamabad in the May 2013 elections. The incompetence, mis- governance and corruption in the power sector, as manifested in unmitigated load shedding over the last five years, earned the PPP regime unprecedented ire of the judiciary, media, civil society, and public at large. Resolving the energy crisis, thus, figured prominently in the election manifestos of all the major political parties. While many of promises made in the election campaigns (like ending load shedding in 3 months) were just election slogans, still, the new PML(N) government, too, is fully conscious of the fact that it could also get the same treatment from the voters if it did not resolve the power crisis well before the next elections.
Gallup Pakistan (2013c) Conducted the content analysis of political talk shows and found Democracy (61%) dominates significantly, Political Performance/Ratings (50%) and Governance (21%). The total time grabbed by Politicians was 4808 minutes which makes their total participation in talk shows’ time of 63%. The Media followed with 16% share in the total air time allocated to guests. The top 3 political parties whose representatives took the major chunk of 61% of the total air time allocated to politicians were PPP, PML-N and PTI. The highest share was of PPP which being the ruling party dominated most of the discussions during the study period. This analysis provides an overview of the issues prevalent during elections year and the major political parties of Pakistan. Hence, it could be assumed that comedy shows might have followed the same pattern.
On the other hand, multiple surveys during elections year were conducted by the Gallup Pakistan to assess the important issue/problem of Pakistan. These results were also helpful for the selection of issues for the present study. According to Gallup Pakistan (2012a) 52% believe that inflation is the current biggest problem, 26% believe it to be unemployment, 16% term it as terrorism. While in another Gallup Pakistan (2012a) survey, 58% claim that load shedding is the most important problem of their neighborhood, 17% believe cleanliness to be the most important, 11% term
(Page 37 of 200) road building and 11% claim that clean water is the most important problem. In, Gallup Pakistan (2012b) “corruption tops the list. It is cited by 16% of Pakistanis. Other most disliked aspects of Pakistan include inflation (11%), terrorism (8%) unemployment (7%), politics (5%), load shedding (5%), current government (4%), educational system (2%)”. On the other hand, in Gallup Pakistan (2013a) “17% said corruption, 13% said terrorism, 8% said inflation and 7% said unemployment. 8% named load shedding and 7% said it was politics”.
Keeping in view the above literature, six major issues were selected for the study i.e. Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health, and Education. The most important three parties i.e. PPP, PML-N and PTI were selected along with other nine political parties i.e. PML-Q, ANP, JUI, MQM, JI, AL, PAT, APML, PKMAP.
2.4.1 Corruption
Governments in Pakistan are accused of Corruption issues. The governments do not pay attention to mitigating or eliminating corruption in the country (Hashmi, 2013). A visible amount of coverage about politician’ corruption can be witnessed in media reports in routineGallup Pakistan (2012b, 2013a).In Pakistan, corruption is considered the biggest drawback in the way of development. This has always been a people’s grave concern with reference to political actors (Riaz, 2009).
2.4.2 Governance
Good governance, in general, brings welfare to the public lives and state as a whole. Contrary to that, crisis of good governance is the continuous failure of a government to govern the state and its subjects effectively in Pakistan (Jan, Saddiq&Saleem, 2013). In Pakistan, governments of the country failed most of the time in governing it well. The reasons behind this failure are mostly found in the factors of corruption, immoral politics, authoritarianism and dearth of leadership (Mahsud, yaser&Ishtiaq, 2011).
2.4.3 Energy Crises
Pakistan needs 15,000 to 20,000 megawatts of electricity a day, but now it can produce about 11,500 megawatts a day, so there is a shortage of about 4,000 to 9,000
(Page 38 of 200) megawatts a day. This shortage has seriously hampered the country's economic growth (IPRI, 2013). In elections 2013, incumbent party i.e. PPP was blamed of this crisis (INTERMEDIA, 2010). Pakistan's energy consumption is achieved through gas, oil, electricity, coal and different levels of liquefied petroleum gas resources. PMLN claimed during election campaign to eliminate the energy shortfall with the help of coal and gas power plants in the country (Dawn, 2013).
2.4.4 Inflation
In recent years, unusual rise in prices has been observed in Pakistan. Prices may also be attributed to traders' despicable behaviour. Their only motivation is to get the most profit, so they are as much as possible from the customer to charge a lot of money (Bhatti, September 7, 2014). Government policies regarding this issue are very important to cater this issue but they failed to do so due to their vested interests (Hashmi, 2013).This failure creates a growing number of people who are getting richer and more prosperous. Hoarding is also playing a bad role in commodity price escalation. One of the most important causes of inflation is the deficit budget (Saleem, 2013). Flaws in tax policy are also responsible for price increases which is the failure of politicians (Sajid, 2011).
2.4.5 Health
Pakistan has been facing lake of health facilities since a long time. Its cause is liked with the prevailing situation of political, social and economic development of the country. In the seventy-year history, Pakistan's successive government, civil and military, did not take health as a matter of priority(Zaidi & Sahibzada1986).The Pakistani government's indifference to health is reflected in the fact that Pakistan's gross domestic product is only $ 90 million for health. The best and brightest of our doctors continue to seek more profitable career opportunities overseas (Ali, September 22, 2016). Thousands of patients are waiting in the corridors of public medical institutions. The repeated threat of drug / drug shortages continues to increase the plight of our people. On the other side, health conditions are not appropriate, cleanliness is very poor. Even people are not being provided clean water (Malkani, June 27, 2016).
2.4.6 Education
(Page 39 of 200)
Education provides the base for socio-economic development. In Pakistan, the quality of education is on the decline (Memon, 2007).Pakistan's Constitution provides free compulsory education for all children aged 5 to 16 years and increases adult literacy rates. With the eighteenth constitutional amendment, the same list of 47 subjects was abolished, and these subjects, including education, were transferred to the joint unit as an initiative of provincial autonomy IPRI (2015). Parents cannot afford school expenses for their children, so the child goes to work. Education system of Pakistan is facing new challenges. It has yet to be developed at par with other developing countries in the region (Aly, 2007).
2.5 Political Parties and their Leadership 2.5.1 Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Since its inception, the Pakistan Muslim League, together with the People's Party, has dominated the bipartisan political system. However, after the 1999 coup, the party had been drowned by the separatist, Musharraf's Pakistani Muslim (Quaid) for nearly a decade. The original party, now known as the Pakistani Muslim (Nawaz), was re- popularized when the 2008 election was elected as the main opposition party (Gilani, 2013; Rizvi, 2013). After the 2013 elections, Sharif elected the Prime Minister to obtain an unprecedented third power. The party's seat is Punjab province; since 1985, the provincial government has set up five times (except in 2002). In contrast to the leftist PPP, the party platform is generally conservative, supporting free market capitalism, infrastructure construction, strong defense, anti-regulation and trade unions (Rizvi, 2013).
2.5.2 Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Pakistani political parties by Z.A. Bhutto in 1971, the party seized power. In the elections held in 1977, the party was regained by the overwhelming majority but the results were rejected by opposition parties on the grounds that they are not free and fair. In July 1977, the army gained power. Bhutto was arrested and the military government filed some criminal cases against him. He was executed on 4 April 1979. The mantle leading the Pakistani People's Party fell on the young shoulders of Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of Bhutto. Bhutto Ms. She was elected in November 1988 to become Pakistan's first female prime minister. In 1993, Ms. Bhutto formed the government with again. President Farouk Ahmed Lageria dismissed the government
(Page 40 of 200) of Benazir in November 1996, accusing the country of its inefficiency, corruption and economic crisis. She fled the country until October 2007. Her husband was released by military rulers in November 2004. Benezir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007. Benezir Bhutto murdered shortly after the rally on December 27, 2007. After the death of banzir Bhutto party was led by asifalizardari and took part in general elections in 2008 and won the elections and made govrment but performance of their government was un satisfactory so in 2013 PPP lost the elections now PPP is an opposition party (Anwar & Jan, 2010; Gilani, 2013;Rizvi, 2013; Zahid, 2016)
2.5.3 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)
Pakistani Islamic Republic (PTI) (Urdu: Pakistani Justice Movement) is a former Pakistani political party led in 1996 by former cricketer and captain of national cricket team of Pakistan; Imran Khan. Many people believe that PTI is the political party which will lead the government in near future in Pakistan, creating a tripartite system against the Left People's Party and the conservative People's Revolutionary Party. It promoted the freedom of thought of Pakistan, the abolition of personal income tax and the removal of religious discrimination. This is a third party, the central party, and the state that is responsible for the education, health and employability of citizens. After the establishment in 1996, the party did not succeed in the early days. Khan won the Pakistani election in 2002. Although PTI chairman Imran Khan boycotted the general elections 2008 of, but in 2013 it won more than 75 million votes. In KPK province, PTI was successful to make Government while in National Assembly is the major opposition party (Anwar & Jan, 2010; Gilani, 2013; Rizvi, 2013).
2.5.4 Awami National Party (ANP)
ANP is a secular and left-wing Pashtun party in Pakistan. This party was led by Abdul Vallikhan in 1986. “ANP's political stance was considered a leftist, advocating secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government and economic egalitarianism” (Rizvi, 2013). During the 2008-13 period ANP was part of the PPP- led Cabinet and govern the province.
2.5.5 Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI)
(Page 41 of 200)
JamiatUlema-e-Islam (JUI) was established in 1945 as the result of the division of the factions in 1988, and F was named after its leader, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman. “JUI-F is the fifth largest party in Pakistan in 2013, winning 3.2 per cent of the vote, and 15 of the 272 ordinary seats in the National Assembly. It is located entirely in the south of the KPK and the northern part of Balochistan”.
2.5.6 Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
Muttahida QAUM (MQM) (Muttaḥidah Qọ̄ mī Mūwmaṅṫ) was a secular party founded by Altaf Hussain in Pakistan in 1984. APMSO was born in 1984, Muhajir Qaumi movement. In 1997, MQM removed Muhajir from the name (which represents the party's roots of the party's Urdu community) and replaced it with Muttahida ("United"). MQM is often called the party with a strong mobilization potential in Karachi, traditionally the main political force of the city. Since the late 1980s (1988 - 1990, 1990-1992, 2002 - 2007, 2008 - 2013), the party has been a key player of the Pakistani federal government as a coalition government.
2.5.7 Pakistan Muslim League (PML Q)
PMLQ (PMLQ) is a central nationalist political group in Pakistan. It is a central nationalist political group in Pakistan (Gilani, 2013). At present, it occupies two seats in the latest parliamentary elections held in 2013. Its leadership and members were part of the Pakistan Muslim Muslim League (Nawaz), chaired by former Prime Minister and current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but after the 1997 election, political differences emerged, culminating in the final Leading to the establishment of factional parties within their own. The party's dissident, led by Shujaat Hussain, called for a strong and solidarity with the military coup in 1999, the military coup led by the then chief of staff and the chief of staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pervez Musharraf.
2.5.8 Jamat-e-Islami (JI)
Jamat-e-Islami (JI) is a social conservatism and Islamist party. Its goal is to make Pakistan an Islamic state through a progressive legal and political process, under the jurisdiction of the Islamic law. Joint strongly opposed to capitalism, communism, liberalism, socialism and secularism and the provision of bank interests and other economic means. JI is the Pioneer Party: its members and "affiliates", and then under
(Page 42 of 200) them form "sympathizers" elite. The party leader is called Amy. Although it does not have a very popular follower, the party is very influential and is considered one of Pakistan's major Islamic movements, as well as Deobandi and Barelvi. JI was born in 1941 at the Lahore Foundation in India, India, by Muslim theologians and social and political philosopher Abul Ala Maududi. In 1947, after independence, the United Nations moved its business to West Pakistan. The legislators in India formed an independent organization, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. In 1948, 1953 and 1963, political parties suffered severe government repression, but in the early days of General Muhammad Zio Huck, served as "political means of political ideology", party members served as information organization radio, production, water, electricity, Natural resources(Gilani, 2013; Rizvi, 2013)
2.5.9 Pakistan AwamiTehreek (PAT)
Muhammad Tahir ulkardri is a Pakistani politician and an Islamic philosopher. He has been serving as a professor of international constitutional law at Punjab University. Tahir ulkadri is also the founding chairman of the "Minhaj International". He was also elected to the constituency of the National Assembly in 2002. He announced his resignation as a member of the National Assembly to protest against the then anti- terrorism policy of President Musharraf. In 2005, he moved to Canada. In December 2012, seven years after living in Toronto, Canada, he returned to Pakistan for political campaigns. Kadri called for a "millions of" parade in Islamabad to protest the government's corruption. On January 14, 2013, a group of people walked down the city's main avenue. Thousands of people promised to sit down until their demands were met.
2.5.10 Awami Muslim League (AML)
AMLis a Pakistani political party formed in June 2008 by Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad who is famous for his outspoken nature and appearance in mainstream media. Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad won 6 consecutive elections from this area. He lost to Javed Hashmi in 2008. He then again lost in the by-elections to Shakeel Awan after a neck to neck contest. In 2013 general elections he defeated Shakeel Awan.
(Page 43 of 200)
CHAPTER-3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Theories are formulated to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge, within the limits of the critical bounding assumptions (Sarantakos, 2012). Theoretical framework is a structure that is used for supporting a theory of any research work. It explains the theory of why the research is necessary. The framework helps the reader to make sense of the question that the research is founded on (Newman, 2003). Theoretical frameworks are obviously critical in deductive, theory-testing sorts of studies. In those kinds of studies, the theoretical framework must be very specific and well-thought out (Corley & Gioia, 2011). Present study use approaches of framing, priming and agenda setting for investigating the role of political entertainment shows in shaping the public perception about political parties and political issues. 3.1 Political Entertainment The term “political entertainment” refers to a broad category of literature, media, and performance art in which politics and entertainment are comingled”. Because of its varied and complex nature, there is no singular definition for political entertainment. However, to be considered as such, “the content should have a primary or secondary political focus and generally include implicit or explicit references to socio-political issues (LaMarre, 2017). In Pakistan, parallel to serious political talk shows, political entertainment shows are being broadcast on news and current affairs channels. “Hum Sub Ummeed Say Hain” (HSUSH) is broadcast on Geo TV, “ Hasb-e Hall” (HH) at Dunya and “Darling” at Express news are the shows which are presenting the political content applying entertainment techniques (Ejaz, 2012).
Another synonymous concept of infotainment is a postmodernist approach which rests more on mode of presentation and style; which include visual aesthetics, rhetorical headlines, fast-paced visual action, computer-animated logos, and eye-catching visuals; than the content itself, in TV news and Current Affairs programs (Thussu, 2008 ; Lilleker, 2006) . Pakistani political entertainment shows HSUSH has introduced humorous situations, standup comedy and mimicry of politicians and tried to combine the humor and political content together. HH show is interestingly designed on the parameter of talk show and its character is very popular present comedy of political figures and situation. Political news are also discussed in a funny was in these shows likewise political entertainment shows broadcast in USA.
(Page 44 of 200)
It will remain central to this study whether the portrayal of political figures in TV comic programs, entertainment media produces different patterns of political satire of political leaders; evaluation of the stance and party politics, compared to the other mainstream parties.
On the other side, with the introduction of new media outlets, traditional forms of communication are changing, and the nightly news is no exception. Increasingly, traditional news programs are incorporating commentary into their regular formats in an attempt to compete with the popularity of the opinion programming segments of cable news (Anderson, 2004). Rating and profit pressures have driven news organizations to focus on content that is quick to acquire, simple to produce, and likely to increase ratings and, consequently, profits—especially opinion and entertainment content. Some producers also approach the trend from the opposite side, relaying news from an ostensibly comedic angle instead of injecting entertainment into the traditional news format. In American media, Programs like Saturday Night Live's “Weekend Update” segment, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report have synthesized the delivery of news information with humor and satire, capitalizing on the popular combination. Spoof programs such as these are popular sources of information about current events (Jones, 2010), but this might be a cause for concern if audiences abandoned traditional news programs entirely in favor of the increasing examples of political entertainment news. Although an conventional term seems yet to be decided, scholars of the communication literature typically refer to these programs and others that blend political and entertainment content as either “political entertainment” or “entertainment news,”. Castronovo (2007) also states that the content of late night comedy has become increasingly political. And viewers seem to be giving considerable weight to what they are viewing.
3.2 Theory of Framing Framing is the process in which attention is obtained to some aspects of reality while concealing and hiding some others. The concept of framing is related to the agenda- setting theory as well but expands the research by focusing on the real meaning of the issues. Framing theory states that the media focus attention on certain events and then
(Page 45 of 200) places them within a specific field of meaning. Framing is an important area in media studies because it can have a big influence on media audience.
The beginning of the Framing theory may be traced in Walter Lippman’s book, Public Opinion (1922). As a newspaper columnist, Lippmann was perhaps first person to express concern about media influence on public attitudes. He presented his theory that the mass media create our pictures of the world. However, he also stated that these pictures of the world were most of the time incomplete.There were some more developments in the research on framing whenRobert Entman (1993) joined the team of Tuchman and Goffman as a pioneer of theframing research. He tried to improve a fractured model of framing researchthrough a unified understanding of Goffman’s original concepts of frames, framework, and framing (Goffman, 1974).
There are two types of frames: episodic and thematic. The episodic frame elaborates the public issues in terms of solid instances or specific events. It may be an accident of a vehicle, the event of a suicide bombing, a demonstration or protest against the government policies, etc. On the other hand, thematic news framing is its contrast and it usually takes the form of a detailed report aimed to achieve general objectives. It places public issues in some general or theoretical context” (Iyengar, 1994). “It may be about some social or political grievances of certain groups of a society, or consequences of the change in foreign policy etc. By its nature episodic framing is visually appealing because usually it depends on live coverage. On the other hand, thematic coverage needs interpretive analyses. It can be said that the coverage of political issues in our country is heavily episodic.
Framing theory has a close relationship with the theories of agenda setting, gatekeeping and priming. In developing the basis for agenda-setting theory, McCombs and Shaw (1972) assumed that the mass media will set the agenda for political campaigns, influencing public attitudes toward desired issues. Through their research, McCombs and Shaw focused on the effect of the media on people's perceptions and priorities specially their thinking about the political content.
Agenda-setting theory is based on the idea that media sources shape the way people think about the issues while framing plays its role behind the screen in highlighting
(Page 46 of 200) certain attributes of these issues. The difference between framing and agenda-setting theory appears in terms of the scope of influence, as well as in the salience of issues.
There are two levels of influence within agenda-setting. The first level is about the ranking of issue importance in the presentation of information in the media, while the second level relates with the framing of those issues. The framing of those objects on the media agenda can also influence the pictures of those objects in our heads. That is the second level of agenda setting (McCombs, 1999).
While setting the media agenda and framing, media organizations must first decide which news stories will be provided to the public. From a lot of potential news items incoming daily from news agencies, reporters, correspondents and other sources, the media have to reject those news stories that are not fit for public presentation. This is the function of gatekeepers because each medium whether print or electronic, only has a limited space or time daily for broadcast of the news content. Media organizations have their own criteria to decide which stories to publish or broadcast and which stories to reject. Therefore, very few media professionals (editors, news editors, and other journalists) take the roles of gatekeepers, having a control on public knowledge of actual events in the process of meeting the needs of the news medium.
McCombs (1997)stated that there was a great need for both framing an dagenda- setting in successful news reporting. Gate keeping, agenda-setting, and framing, all of them play their role in shaping the media agenda which becomes public agenda after some time. After having a detailed discussion on the neighboring theories, now we again comeback to the agenda setting role of mass communication.
3.3 Framing and Political Entertainment Zukas (2012)studied the agenda setting and framing functions between two shows The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and also ABC World News with Charles Gibson . Researcher found that both shows were successful in setting the agenda among the audience; however, they found that these shows were adopting different frames to discuss the political issues.
Castronovo (2007) studied the framing effects of late night TV comedy programs on perception of adults about political figures. Researcher concluded through
(Page 47 of 200) experimental research that political comedy shows have significant framing effects on young adults.
On the contrary, scholars also argue that issue framing effects are also dependent on different factors. Slothuus (2008) Proposed a dual-process model of issue framing effects arguing that we must understand mediators of framing (the how question) in connection with individual-level moderators of framing (the whom question). Experimental results show that issue framing affects opinion through different psychological processes depending on who the receiver of the frame is. Among the moderately politically aware or those having weak political values, framing effects were mediated through processes of changing importance of considerations as well as changing content of considerations. Among the highly aware, only the importance change process mediated framing effects, while there were no framing effects among those least aware or those having strong values.
Similarly, Slothuus and De Vreese (2010)linked theory on motivated reasoning with framing research, They argued not only that citizens were more likely to follow a frame if it is promoted by ‘‘their’’ party; they also found such biases to be more pronounced on issues at the center of party conflicts and among the more politically aware.
Elliott (2013)performed a comparative study on political entertainment framing between US and UK media. Researcher found that, surprisingly, in the 2012 US election for president had just as much entertainment-framed coverage of politics as the UK, despite a much longer history of scandal and sensationalist coverage in the UK. Further it was also found that “frequent readers of entertainment magazines are more likely to judge politicians on personal or sexual scandals, demonstrating the power of the media in shaping public opinion. Therefore, this study would provide a baseline for studying political comedy in context of Entman‘s framing approach for elaborating these theoretical foundations in Pakistan.
3.4 Theory of Priming The priming hypothesis is based on empirical findings outside the area of mass communication, according to which people rely on the most accessible information in their memory when making judgments (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973, 1985).Imported
(Page 48 of 200) to communication studies, the priming hypothesis states that the media agenda affects the criteria people use to evaluate the performance of political actors (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). The hypothesis describes a process that is an extension of agenda setting. First, by emphasizing certain issues over others, the media influence the hierarchies of issues that the public recognizes as important. This is done by making these certain salient issues more accessible in an individual’s memory (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987; Price & Tewksbury, 1997). This is the agenda-setting part. Second, individuals use those issues, which are most salient and accessible in their memory, to evaluate the performance of political actors. That is, by priming a certain issue the media affect the criteria people use to evaluate political actors (Iyengar & Kinder, 1987). If, for example, the issue of foreign affairs was primed, then people would judge the president’s performance by mostly evaluating his performance in the area of foreign affairs; whereas if economy were primed, it would become the basis for evaluating the president’s performance (Pan & Kosicki, 1997).
In this study, political issues presented in comedy programs are being explored in the content and its perception among the audience. As different political parties define their association with some issues by owing them. Political parties “own” certain issues. When the media elevate one or the other issue to higher saliency, they are inadvertently helping the political party that ‘owns’ that issue (Dearing & Rogers, 1996, p. 16). This is the major argument of the issue-ownership hypothesis (Petrocik, 1997). Political parties are therefore expected to enjoy an electoral gain when the media are emphasizing their issues.
3.5 Priming and Political Entertainment Several scholars studied that the actual role of political entertainment for calculating the priming effects research. Moy, et al. (2006) addressed that the real impact of one meticulous type of infotainment— late-night comedy—during the 2000 American presidential campaign. They found that there was a main effect of watching late-night comedy on evaluations of candidates; more importantly, viewers were more likely than non-viewers to base their evaluations of George W. Bush on character traits after he appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. Boukes and Boomgaarden (2016)also demonstrated that exposure to interviews of politicians in entertainment
(Page 49 of 200) talk shows affected participants’ trust in politicians. In this way, political figures priming in political entertainment shows influence the perception of candidates.
Matthes, Rauchfleisch and Kohler (2011)investigated the content and effects of humorous late-night comedy, especially political parody through experimental study. Their results show political parody can decrease competence ratings of the politician only for individuals high in political knowledge. The reason for this effect is that viewers must already have an understanding of current political affairs to “get the joke”, that is, the implicit message transported by political parody.Holbrook (2003)also studied the priming effects of political entertainment. They claimed that non-news sources of political information specifically political entertainment appear to play a significant role in the construction ofpolitical attitudes. The focus of present study is also to explore the priming effects of political entertainment shows on public perception in Pakistan. All these researches provide support to study political entertainment effects within the theoretical framework of priming.
3.6 Agenda Setting Agenda Setting is one of the most important media theories of the present times. Our pictures of the world are shaped and refined in the way journalists presented their news stories. This function of media is called the agenda-setting function of media(McCombs, 1993)
The concept of agenda setting took its name from the idea that the mass media have the ability to carry the salience of items on their news agendas and then transfer it to the public agenda. Usually journalists deal with the news in several important ways. First of all, they decide which news to cover and which to ignore. Then they assess all of these available reports. In the words of McCombs (1997), in a typical daily newspaper, over 75 percent of the potential news of the day is rejected and never transmitted to the audience (p.4). Newspapers don’t have enough space to print each and everything that is available. There is no way other than choices. These are the first steps in gate-keeping routine. But the news items that pass through the gate of the media organizations do not receive equal treatment when presented to the audience. Some news stories are published in a greater length and prominently displayed. Others receive only brief attention.
(Page 50 of 200)
Newspapers very clearly state the journalistic salience of an item through its page placement, headline and length etc. Agenda setting claims that audiences obtain this salience of the issues from the news media, incorporating similar sets of priorities into their own agendas. Agenda setting describes the transmission of these salience as one of the most important aspects of mass communication. The news media not only inform us about the world at large, giving us the major elements for our pictures of the world, they also influence the prominence of those elements in these pictures.
In the 1968 presidential election of the USA the agenda-setting role of the news media was investigated by the two researchers McCombs and Shaw(1972). They simultaneously collected data on the agenda of the news media and the agenda of the public. They argued that any impact of the news media was most likely to be measurable among the undecided voters. In their study, they surveyed undecided voters in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA and analyzed the content of the local and national news media outlets, both print and broadcast, regularly used by these voters. A great degree of relationship between these two agendas of political and social issues established a relationship that became a substantial chain of evidence for an agenda- setting role of the media (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). The research of McCombs and Shaw gave birth to a new mass communication theory which opened new doors of mass media research.
This theory can be divided into a couple of dimensions. The first dimension is about the transmission of issue or object salience from the media agenda to the public agenda. The second dimension relates to the media’s role in framing those issues and events in the public minds. From a general theoretical point of view, the determination of Shaw and McCombs on the cognitive effects of the mass media regarding the awareness and information supplying functions of the media has an important consequence. It provides an explanation and clarification about the broad theoretical paradigm in which the agenda-setting function of the media persists. Hence, the agenda setting becomes one of the processes in which the media in the modern societies participate in the social construction of reality for the people to whom they serve.
The authors wrote:
(Page 51 of 200)
“The agenda-setting function of mass communication clearly falls in thisnew tradition of cognitive outcomes of mass communication. Perhaps more thanany other aspect of our environment, the political arena—all those issues andpersons about whom we hold opinions and knowledge is second-hand reality.Especially, in national politics, we have little personal or direct contact. Ourknowledge comes primarily from the mass media. For the most part, we knowonly those aspects of national politics considered newsworthy enough fortransmission through the mass media” (McCombs and Shaw, 2002, p.5)
Agenda Setting and Political Entertainment It has been a long tradition among scholars to study agenda setting effects in political entertainment. Leano (2014)explored the effects of the late-night sketch comedy Saturday Night Live in the political sphere, specifically analyzing its impact using agenda-setting theory. As primarily secondary research, this study reviewed previous studies suggesting that satirical news segments and critical portrayals of politicians have a tangible effect on voters’ perceptions of political issues. In the 2008 Presidential Election specifically, vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s favorability ratings dropped in accordance with the program’s parodies, illustrating Saturday Night Live’s possible influence on public perceptions of politicians and political issues by spotlighting critical issues and blending humor with truth. This study sheds light on the evolution of the program from mere entertainment to a political platform with the potential to influence viewers’ political beliefs. Hariton (2011)also argued that through agenda setting, framing and priming political satire may not directly lead to participation in politics, however, it is a building block for what does lead to participation, not a barrier to it.
3.7 Dynamics of Political Entertainment Political entertainment is a scholarly concept defining the media presentation of political issues in entertaining way. It includes several sub-concepts. Which are going to be explained in detail as follows:
3.7.1 Projection of political parties through Political entertainment
(Page 52 of 200)
The major focus of present study is to investigate the role of comic programs in shaping perception of Pakistani political parties. Projection of the political parties’ leaders, their party policies on different national and international issues and their political activities remains the target of comedy artists in TV political comedy programs by making satire. This political satire makes its way representing political parties and their leadership through political news, interviews, press conferences, political debates in TV talk shows, address to public gatherings and meetings with state institutional heads in an entertaining way to make the audience amused, relaxed, entertained and lighted on politics. These TV programs intend to provide the viewers with political information in a way that viewers can take interest in the serious and routine political scene of the country. Political entertainment through political satire is considered the most powerful tool to achieve this target among different political communication scholars. They are of the view that projection through political satire is of greater importance to assess the political discourse and narrative of the political parties.
DeLauder (2010)wrote in his thesis titled Unburdened by Objectivity: Political Entertainment News in the 2008 Presidential Campaign that Political comedy and entertainment or fake news shows have been accused of replacing traditional news and talk programs, misinforming citizens, propagating cynicism, and even challenging democracy. But some of those who question the usefulness of political entertainment news programs have made the mistake of comparing them directly to the news programs that they parody, finding the similar content lacking chiefly because it integrates serious public affairs information with humor. Rather than hold political entertainment news and other non-traditional media up to a standard they cannot meet, Jones (2008)suggests a cultural approach to what he calls new political communication, one that recognizes its importance as it is used and defined by viewers. This perspective values communication as ritual, studying how audiences engage in communication as a means of communion and social integration—not exclusively for the purpose of accumulating information (Jones, 2006).
The mainstream political parties which would be central to this study are: Pakistan People’ Party(PPP) , Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN_Nawaz Sharif), PTI;Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf, PMLQ;Pakistan Muslim League(Quaid e Azam), Jamat e Islami,
(Page 53 of 200)
JamiatUlma e Islam(F), MuthiddaQuomi Movement, Awami National Party and their leaders Asif Ali Zardari, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Imarn Khan, ChudheryShujaat Hussain, Syed Munawwar Hassan, MowlanaFazalurRehman, Altaf Hussain and AsfandYarWali Respectively.
Comparison would be made of each political party and their leaders keeping in view the four main attributes of projection (image, vision, performance, leadership) extending them further into the respective indicators. On the basis of this comparative analysis this study would be able to provide more depth to the public sphere accessible because of entertaining politics.
3.7.2 Political issues in Political Entertainment
It has also been observed that jokes, mashes up songs shoot on the dummies of politicians are crucial for the politics and political issues. Discussion of political issues in a satirical style may have advantages and disadvantages for the political parties. Politicians always come up with some particular issues to address which ultimately become the target of satire because of their suitable appeal for the audience. It means satire also intends to take advantage of those dimensions of the political issues which suits to it. Therefore, to make the satire more attractive, political entertainment programs may be of very selective for the issues to create suitable entertainment.
These political issues, which are selected by the political entertainment programs to create satire, can be very significant to determine the image of the political parties. In Pakistani politics the political issues which remained in the media during last year which can be considered the pre campaign for the election 2013 are: including, load shedding, inflation, Rental power case, Asghar Khan Case etc.
3.7.3 Stereotyping of State institutions in Political entertainment
Another dimension of the study is to address the concerns that the state institutions like Judiciary, Parliament, executives, Bureaucracy are being targeted by these programs criticizing their lawful role in the society. Some of the intellectual circles of the society consider it against the traditional sanctity of these institutions. The
(Page 54 of 200) question about the traditional sanctity of the state institution would also be central to this study.
Mindich (2005) stated that youth in US find lots of news about political situation and current affairs from late-night TV comedy in comparison to the serious news . A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2000 revealed that 47 percent of people fewer than thirty years of age were dependent on late-night talk shows to get awareness of presidential campaign. This study is an attempt to explain why young people have gradually turned away from conventional outlets of political communication, namely Television news and current affairs programs. Fear of the young public ignorance of the political issues (Carpini & Keeter, 1997), youth tend to avoid politics(Buckingham, 2000); interest of the youth in entertainment based politics(West & Orman, 2003); are the indicators of the significance of the news based on information and entertainment, which is commonly now termed infotainment.
Medhurst (2005)revealed that television and humor unite the people of the society where the comic programs and comedy occurs. He describes comedy as a brief embrace in a threatening world, a moment of unity in a lifetime of fissures a haven against insecurity, a refuge from dissolution, a point of wholeness in a maelstrom of fragmentation, a chance to affirm that you exist and that you matter. Since comedy works mostly in deconstructing ideology it also utilizes cultural signs and symbols in order to play with cultural conventions. He claims that comedy, more so than any other genre, contributes more to establishing and reinforcing a national identity because it is so relational to the culture.
It will remain central to this study whether the mimicry of political figures in TV comic programs entertainment media produces different patterns of political perception of political leaders; evaluation of their stance and party politics, compared to the news media.
Kim and Vishak (2008)found entertainment media are less effective in acquiring factual information, particularly in retaining issue and procedural knowledge as compared to the news and current affairs programs including news bulletin, talk shows of serious nature.
(Page 55 of 200)
Like television itself, comedy is both inclusive and exclusive. If the sole purpose of comedy is to provide pleasure to those listening or watching, then all are welcome to participate. Though comedy does rely on physical humor that can be pleasurable to multiple audiences, much of humor is derived from cultural references.
3.7.4 Political Awareness in Political Entertainment The study, for the first time in Pakistan, would render that political entertainment news facilitates political satire in creating political awareness as compared to the hard news based TV programs of serious nature. To determine political awareness, citizens must be informed about their political systems, political actors, and political processes. It is considered established assumption that news media and network news provide the political information. Recently, in Pakistan and all over the world entertainment media is gaining popularity among the youth.The trend of the mass communication researchers has been observed in the last decade that when they take a turn towards political entertainment they come across a new and interesting phenomenon operative in the communication process. In 2005 Pew internet and American project showed 48% of adults regularly or sometimes, used Comic programs The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, and Late Night for the acquisition of campaign news.
Data for this research will be collected from content of political comedy programs of mainstream channels of Pakistan keeping in view media agenda setting approach.
3.8 Elements of Political Entertainment Shows 3.8.1 Formats/ Patterns/Genre In this study, one of the dimensions is to explore the techniques of the political satire which are being used in Pakistani TV political entertainment programs. On the other hand, diversity of formats and patterns would also be investigated in the present research. Emerging new genres of political comedy are gaining popularity among the audience. It has been observed that phenomenon of political entertainment has sought the attention through different formats of political satire like parody and mimicry of politicians, mash up songs, sitcoms, skits, standup comedy, situation comedy , laughter, discussions with dummies of politicians, funny news bulletin, and jokes.
(Page 56 of 200)
3.8.2 Levels of Political Satire
The study would also find out the intensity of political satire of TV political comedy shows according to levels of political satire. The indicators to discover directions of intensity would be low, medium and high levels of political satire. Contents of these TV political comedy programs sometimes contains misrepresentation of political parties through twisting their stance on different issues related to audiences but with various levels and script treatment also tilted towards humiliation of personality of politicians.
3.8.3 Cultural Dimension of Political Satire
Dynamics of political satire would also discover through cultural dimensions of political norms and values. Pakistan is a traditional but heterogeneous society with different regional languages, ethnicity and value systems so that any joke (JUGAT) in Panjabi language could be incomprehensible for all nationals of Pakistan other than Panjabi speaking people.
(Page 57 of 200)
CHAPTER-4 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY This study will employ mixed methods approach. One category of mixed methods is defined by Johnson, Onwuegbuzie and Turner (2007) as a type of research which combines elements of both Content Analysis and Survey methods to ensure a broader understanding of a research topic. Content Analysis includes research instruments such as coding, and is analysed by a researcher to provide answers to a question about type of coverage (salience, prominence) manifested in media content that can be tested statistically in various ways. Surveys are audience perception in response to that content presented in media collected through questionnaires to give answers to questions about effects of content.
By combining both Content Analysis and Survey methods quantitatively, the deficits of each individual method are accounted for. Content analysis research often lacks direct insight from participants and provides little context to situations, as only presentations sides are reported. Survey research provides the context in which the content is being used by audience that missing in purely content data. Using a mixed method approach in this study will give us perception of politics presented through political entertainment in TV comedy. In addition, by using several different methods we are able to examine the both ends i.e. Production patterns and consumption patterns.
4.1 Content Analysis This study relied on a content analysis of Pakistani TV Comedy shows’ coverage of the issues presented during General Elections 2013. The analysis sought to identify the prominent frames, especially focusing on the campaign issues as identified during general elections of Pakistan. The largest portion of our data came from a detailed content analysis of political comedy segments in four TV political comedy shows aired on three mainstream TV Channels of Pakistan: Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain, Khabarnaakfrom the Geo TV Channel; Hasb e Hall, from the Dunya TV, and Darling from the Express TV.
Content analysis deals with “the systematic, objective, quantitative analysis of
(Page 58 of 200) message characteristics” that can be applied to “written text, transcribed speech, verbal interactions, visual images, characterizations, nonverbal behaviors, sound events, or any other message type” (Neuendorf, 2002, pp. 1, 24). Content analysis is a method by which large amounts of text or information are compressed as quantitative data into categories based on specific rules laid out in a codebook (Stemler, 2001). This allows us to sort through many segments and extract information relevant to our study, and then analyze that information using statistics.
For the purpose of this study, our content analysis provided us with both basic information about comedy segments in each program, and descriptive information about the political issues and actors present in comedy segments, tone towards political parties and their political leadership, and frames used. Several past studies on media framing have used content analyses, including Scammell’s (2005) study on how the UK press covered the 2004 US presidential election, which included a content analysis of both TV and Newspaper coverage. Because of this, we felt that a content analysis was the best way to look at both our primary question regarding framing, and secondary questions about tone in coverage and entertainment segments of political comedy programs.
4.2 Universe and Sampling Universe of the study is the political entertainment content in Pakistan. Further sample was drawn from this universe through multi-stage sampling procedure. In stage 1, news and current affairs channels were selected. In stage 2, time period was selected for the political entertainment content. In last stage, programs were selected for coding the content.
FIGURE 4.1 Multistage Sampling for Selection of Political Entertainment Content Sampling Stage 1 Selection of Sources Geo TV, Dunya TV and Express TV
Sampling Stage 2 Selection of Time 1 year before General Elections – 2013 (from June 2012 to May 2013)
Sampling Stage 3 Selection of Political “Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain”, Entertainment “Khabarnaak”, “Hasb e Hall”, and
(Page 59 of 200)
Shows “Darling”
4.3 Unit of Analysis Unit of Analysis for this content analysis was defined as any segment of a TV comedy show and this segmentation of the show was based on the topic of discussion. One complete topic of discussion will be considered a unit of analysis for the content analysis of the present study. Words, phrases and images uttered in the content including all dialogues, jokes, analysis of political issues and lyrics, on screen written words and question, answers in interview format all were counted and coded through this unit of analysis. Thus, one complete comedy shows may have as many segments as the topics of discussion. In previous studies break to break segmentation is applied but present study applying topic of discussion seems more appropriate.
(Page 60 of 200)
4.4 Procedures This research examined TV Comedy shows from three mainstream TV Channels of Pakistan Geo TV, Dunya TV and Express TV because they represent major competing TV Channels covering national and international issues in Pakistan. These comedy shows were selected through searches in the different database, using search terms of selected shows’ titles “Hum Sub Umeed Se Hain”, “Khabarnaak”, “Hasb e Hall”, “Miss Dunya”, “Mazak Raat”, “Darling”, and “Siyasi theatre”. Those programs were excluded when they did not address the political comedy and not were one hour time slot program broadcast periodically. Mazak Raatand Miss DunyaatDunyaTvandSiaysi Theatre at Express TV were also shortlisted for the purpose of content analysis of around one year TV content of comedy during general elections in Pakistan which starts from June 2012 to May 2013, but these three programs don’t have content during this period of time so, we confined our study to above said four political TV comedy shows.Only the sample included shows broadcast from June 2012 to May 2013 — the one year study which include campaign and post-elections scenario, as the elections held on May 11, 2013. In total, this dissertation ended up coding 1118 segments of different comedy shows,i.e. 515 from Geo TV, 490 from Dunya TV and 113 from Express TV.
These 1118 segments of the shows were divided into three types based on how much they dealt with political issues. If a segment dealt with only political issues, it was classified into the category of Political Issues. If it dealt with economic issues, it was classified into Economic issues. If the issue dealt with social issues as well as political issues; it was placed into the category of Social issues.
4.4.1 Coding Reliability
The pilot study was conducted for the coding of content. Five coders who were the MPhil students at Center for Media and Communication Studies, University of Gujrat selected and trained for the coding, providing them the details of coding instructions (Appendix 1). Inter-coder reliability test was run on 10 percent of the total 1118 segments of political entertainment shows i.e. 111 segments. These segments were the representative of four shows.95 percent segments were placed into respective categories however 5 percent segments were overlapped due to some confusions about humor and satire.On the basis of these confusions, coding instructions were
(Page 61 of 200) revised and clear definition were made regarding humor and satire so that coders could differentiate between them clearly.On the other hand, to define the frame of corruption kickbacks was provided synonymous word commission.
4.4.2 Coding Scheme
In order to quantify data in the segments of political comedy programs, we developed a codebook that ensured each segment would be coded for information relevant to this study. Our codebook was based off of a codebook used by the different studies in Pakistan of similar nature and literature review of different researches and surveys conducted by the Gallup Pakistan, FAFEN, and PILDAT. It includes sections on general segment information, topics of discussion in each segment, tone and political party bias. We also structured our codebook in a similar order, going from descriptive information (TV channel, comedy program, format, comedy type, issue category, issue type) at the start, to more detailed codes such as segment frame, party frame, and tone and party biases at the end.
4.4.3 Codebook
Our codebook includes a table that lays out the six issues and there twenty four frame classifications: Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health and Education and the specific frames that come under these classifications. We coded a first batch of 30 segments using our developed codebook, and then altered it to reduce the number of “topic” codes, which was initially over 12. Since the topic of each segment is not the main question of this study, we condensed topic codes; for example, instead of coding specifically for the in dual politician’s corruption or incompetency of any politician we coded for “four frames of corruption”. After about 50% of our segments were coded, we brought in the codebook to a small group and went through the codes and descriptions with them. We made several changes based on their suggestions, clarifying the coding directions for a few of the sections, including what constitutes a “major topic of discussion” of any segment. Whenever changes were made to the codebook, we went back to the segments previously coded to make sure they were still coded appropriately.
(Page 62 of 200)
4.5 Operationalization of the Issues of the study
For the purpose of this study we developed definitions of both general frame classifications and specific frames, which we discussed in the theoretical framework section. Six issues were selected based on the review of media monitoring reports and surveys during the time of elections. These six issues were Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health and Education.
4.5.1 Corruption The issue of corruption was structured into the following general frames: Money Laundering, Kickbacks/Commission, Tax Evasion, Incompetency, Bad Governance, and Violation of Merit. On the other hand, Swiss Accounts, Memo gate, Surrey palace, Rental power scandal, Hujj scandal, NLC Scandal, NATO containers Scandal were identified as specific frames. While tone of these general and specific frames was measured as favourable or unfavourable towards mainstream political parties of Pakistan, PMLN, PPP, PTI, ANP, MQM, JUI, JI,PAL, PAT,APML etc.
4.5.2 Money Laundering topic of discussion about unlawfully money transfer to abroad and invested for the purpose of; Swiss Accounts, Sarray Palace, Foreign Investments/Business/Accounts, London Flats etc. were coded as money laundering.
4.5.3 Commission/Kickbacks if segment discusses that money was unlawfully earned using the Public office/Govt. offices in dealing with; new rental power projects, Foreign gifts, Hujj Corruption, NLC Scandle, NATO Container Scandal, Metro tenders, Ittefaq refinery/factory Iron in every projects, Foreign funding for Madaris, funding from agencies(Asgar Khan Case), Bhatta(illegal fund raising from markets), Ten Percent, Diesel etc. were coded as Commission/Kickbacks.
4.5.4 Tax Evasion
Topic of discussion aboutHiding annual income, Hiding Property, not filling tax returns, anonymous property, Bank loan of huge amounts, privilege of exemption for Bank Loan returning , were coded as Tax Evasion.
(Page 63 of 200)
4.5.5 Merit Violation
Topic of discussion about illegal recruitments, Illegal’s appointments of high officials, Nepotism in selection of ministers, nepotism in fund releasing, unfair fund releasing, courtesies for personal loyal individuals or groups, quotas for only party loyal people, Unfair selection for the party candidate, unfair distribution of employments, Laptop distribution, recruitment of school educators, avoiding due process for the allotment of contracts for mega projects etc. were coded as merit violation
4.5.6 Governance The issue of Governance was structured into the Performance, Delivery, Development, Law and order, Terrorism, Reforms, Trade, Kashmir issue, and Foreign policy frames of general nature. Specific frames with reference to these general frames were identified as
4.5.7 Performance
Promises made in previous elections, claims of reforms, development projects/ fake development, Economic growth, Just showing off projects, sincere efforts are not made, incompetent, inexperienced, efficient/smart, Laptop distribution, Danish schools, Benazir income support program, Reforms, news universities, Devolution of power to provinces, Tax reforms, Social welfare projects, NFC award, International trade, export volume, Foreign reserves, GDP, Contribution from Oversees Pakistanis,Tax collection, circular debt of energy distribution firms. Foreign Policyissues like; Memo Gate, Drone attacks, Kashmir issue, Pak-India relations, Pak- US relations, Pak-China relations, Pak-Saudi relations, Pak-Iran, Gwadar port, Foreign delegation’s visit to Pakistan, Pakistan’s delegations visit to abroad, Raymond Davis case, commission on Memo Gate Scandal, Commission on Usama Bin Laden’s death in Abottabad operation by US troops, Salala Check post attack, Natto supply proscribed
4.5.7 Democratic Culture
Successors of Military establishment, Anti-establishment, experience of parliamentary affairs, Justice for all, fair play, integrity, values, principles, Traditional, rhetorical, Vote bank, province party, party of all province, ethnic party, fascist party
(Page 64 of 200)
4.5.8 Law & Order/Terrorism
Thana Culture(police station culture), Target Killing, Bhatta(forced fundraising) , banned organisations, Counter terrorism department, Drone attacks, suicide attacks, Swat operation, Madrassa reforms(religious school reforms), peace dialogue, police reforms, intelligence agencies, terrorists attacks, security measures, criticism on VIP security culture, civil military coordination, Rivalry between state institutions, writ of the Govt.( Raymond Davis Case, Governor Salman Taseer murder), Judicial activism,
4.5.9 Accountability
Role of NAB(National Accountability Bureau), Role of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, politics of reconciliation to escape from accountability,
4.6 Energy Crisis Energy crisis issue was identified as a frame of Priority, Electricity Crisis, Gas Shortage, CNG Crisis, New power projects, Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline, while Rental power scandal, payments to rental projects, and Load shedding, Coal Power projects, Gas power projects, and Thar coal projects were the specific frame of study.
4.6.1 Electricity Crisis
Priority of the Issue of electricity shortage, Load shedding due to shortage, effects of load shedding on different segments of society, protest against crises
4.6.2 CNG shortage
Stoppage of CNG for week days in different areas, long quest at CNG stations, CNG price hike, alternative fuel option(large no CNG stations), Difficulties faced by general public due to CNG shortage
4.6.3 Sui Gas Shortage load management of Gas for industry, Gas load shedding for domestic use, problems faced by household females due to stoppage of Gas during cooking time, Weather conditions, LPG, Protest against crises
4.6.4 Solutions
(Page 65 of 200)
Crisis is due to the policies of Gen. Musharraf dictatorship and its political allies, criticism of provincial Govt. on federal Govt.,Payment of Circular debt, load management, new energy resources like Dams and Pak-Iran Gas pipeline, new rental power projects, unfulfilled date announcements to overcome the crises, Thar Coal power projects, Gas power projects
4.7 Inflation The issue of inflation was conceptualized as, in this study, consisting on the general frames of Trade Policy, Govt. Control, Price Control, Prices of basic necessities, OGRA, IMF/ World Bank, and international loans. In response to these general frames specific frames were structured as
4.7.1 Monetary Policy
IMF, World, Asian Development Bank, Foreign Aid, Loan, international trade, system of taxation, Devaluation of Pakistani rupee, Increase in US dollar value, increase in prices of imports, OGRA and oil prices and surplus budget, slow agriculture development, slow industrial development, subsidies for domestic actors, unnecessary expenditure, IMF, OGRA, World Bank, Budget allocation for Health, Budget allocation for Education, Budget allocation for development, unemployment
4.7.2 Basic Food Essentials
Soaring prices of basic food items include Flour, Sugar, lentils, vegetables are beyond the purchasing poor of poor, labour class, Government/ politicians are insensitive and have no interest to ensure basic necessities of life to the lower class, elite class have no problem with the increasing inflation, farmers are not being provided with subsidies etc. were coded as Basic Food Essentials regarding the issue of inflation.
4.7.3 Control
Monitoring of overcharging, Market control, price control, Unemployment and reasons of unemployment due to lack of control of government institutes
4.7.4 Statistical Gimmicks
Printing excessive banknotes, Fake claims of prosperity, just playing with statistics to
(Page 66 of 200) show good indicators,
4.8 Health Different indicators and frames through which the issue of Health in Pakistan was discussed are as under
4.8.1 Lack of Health Facilities
Bad condition of Govt. Hospitals, availability and accessibility to hospitals, non- availability of Hospital in rural areas/ insufficient basic health units, presence of staff in hospitals, lack of infrastructure in the hospitals, price hike of medicines, price control of medicine, free medicine availability at Hospitals, effective monitoring of facilities, accountably of hospital management
4.8.2 Fake Medicine
Illegal distribution networks, fake companies, ineffective licensing system for companies, non-certified medical stores, slandered of medical store, writ of the Govt. Raid to eliminate fake medicines, causalities due to fake medicines( Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore Case), network of fake medicines, Ephedrine Case,
4.8.3 Young Doctor’s Strikes
Demands of young doctors,salary structure of YDA, Hectic workload of doctors in Emergencies of hospitals, Dialogue with YDA, Health reforms
4.8.4 Health Conditions
Failure of Polio Vaccination Campaign, Availability of Pure Drinking Water, Adulteration of food items, ineffective Basic Health units
4.9 Education Different indicators and frames through which the issue of Education in Pakistan was discussed are as under
4.9.1 Primary Schools
(Page 67 of 200)
Bad condition of Govt. Primary schools, drop out of children, Ghost schools, Ghost teachers, unqualified teachers, merit violation in teacher appointments, Private schools high fee structure, non-availability of trained staff.
4.9.2 Higher Education
Issues of Devolution of Higher Education Commission, new public sector universities, skilled based education, Mushroom growth of private universities, lack of qualified teacher and staff, lack of research infrastructure, industrial linkage failure,
4.9.3 Quality Education
Priority of education in budget, monitoring system, Curriculum development, qualified teachers, issues regarding syllabus, Laptop distribution to meet the digital divide, indigenous and oversees scholarships for PhD,
4.9.4 Uniform Curriculum
Equal opportunities for elite, middle and lower classes, Madrasah reforms, equal levels of schools system, Uniform curriculum for all schools
4.10 Slant of Issues
As it has been described earlier, researcher also measured the slant of the issues towards political parties. It was measured on three point scale of Favourable, Neutral and Unfavourable. It is defined as below.
4.10.1 Favourable
It was measured if any segment of the political entertainment show supports specific political party on issue under coding. For example, It is the constitutional privilege to Prime Minister that he cannot be question or trailed on money laundering. It was coded as the issue corruption and slant favourable towards PML-N. On the same pattern, other issues and parties slant was also coded.
4.10.2 Neutral
It was measured if any segment of the political entertainment show neither supports, nor criticizes specific political party on issue under coding.If a segment reveals that
(Page 68 of 200) not only government but opposition is also involved in money laundering. It will be coded as issue corruption, slant neutral towards PML-N. On the same pattern, other issues and parties slant was also coded.
4.10.3 Unfavourable
It was measured if any segment of the political entertainment show criticizes or don’t support specific political party on issue under coding. For example, if a segment portray on the issue of corruption, that government transferred money to foreign banks. It will be coded as issue of corruption, slant unfavourable towards ruling party PML-N. On the same pattern, other issues and parties slant was also coded.
4.11 Survey Method Audience interaction with political entertainment in this study was explored by employing a survey method. Perception was also examined by using survey method technique. A questionnaire was developed because Questionnaire is a Set of structured, focused questions that employ a self-reporting (Salkind, 2006, p.311).Reliability of questionnaire was tested in pilot study and anomalies were corrected that were identified by the respondents. Data was collected from the sampled audience through questionnaire based on close ended questions as “In Close- ended question respondents select an answer from a list provided by the researcher” (Wimmer& Dominick, 2011, p.188).
4.11.1 Population and Sample Population of the study are the registered voters of Punjab. Data was collected from 492 registered voters through stratified-convenient sampling. Stratum was made on the basis of location. There are 10 divisions of Punjab province. Minimum 45 individuals were selected from each division of the province. Furthermore, only those individuals were selected who were the registered voters during elections-2013. Individuals were accessed at public places i.e., markets, shopping bazars, parks, hotels and restaurants. Females were also included in this study, which were available easily. In Pakistan, minimum age for voter registration is 18. So, only those individuals were selected who have their age more than 18 years.
4.11.2 Pre-testing
(Page 69 of 200)
Before starting the data collection from the specified sample, a pre-test was taken in the population of the study. The researcher got an advance opportunity to explore the weaknesses in the questionnaire.50 questionnaires got filled in this process to get initial assessment of the reliability of the questionnaire. In the light of pre-testing, several changes were made in developing the final questionnaire. Some response categories were changed and some were added.
Two changes were made in the question number 5 and 6 according to the selection of political TV comedy shows of content analysis and respondents were asked about their choices of TV show anchor and prominent characters. Last question was designed to explore the slant of the political issues with reference to political parties but this question replaced after pre-testing and asked directly about the portrayal of leaders of these particular political parties to facilitate the respondents(Appendix 2).
4.12 Administration of Questionnaire
Questionnaire was administered by a 10member’s team trained by the researcher. All team members were MPhil Students of communication studies. Questionnaire was translated in Urdu language so that a lay man could understand it easily. Each member visited the public places of the selected city and requested to the voters to fill the questionnaire. Questionnaires were filled by the respondents in the presence of surveyor. According to the surveyors most of the respondents came across during the survey told that they take interest in political entertainment shows however more than 70% among them were inclined to respond. Majority of them were male of average age between 20-60 years. More than 30% of respondents were female voters.
FIGURE 4.2 Stratified-purposive sampling from Punjab Province Division Sample Size
Bahawalpur 47
Dera Ghazi Khan 47
(Page 70 of 200)
Faisalabad 46
Gujranwala 46
Lahore 56
Multan 56
Rawalpindi 53
Sahiwal 48
Sargodha 46
Sheikhupura 47
Total Sample Size 492
4.13 Questionnaire The set of variables explored through the questionnaire were based on consumption patterns, issues importance, frames importance, public perception about political parties. These variables were measured under the operational definitions given below.
4.13.1 Consumption Patterns
Consumption patterns of the respondents were explored through eleven question items; interest in comedy programs on mainstreams channels of Pakistan, preferred nature of political content, frequency of watching comedy shows, favourite political comedy show, favourite anchor of TV comedy, favourite character of comedy shows, favourite segment of shows, favourite type of comedy, humorous acts in shows that appeal, parody acts that appeal, satire acts that appeal. Response of viewers for question one was take on two point scale Yes or No. for those who answered No were requested to stop the questionnaire filling. Frequency was captured on four point scale; regularly, sometimes, hardly, never. Option given for favourite program were;Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain, Hasb-e-haa, Khabarnaak, DarLing. Four anchors were provided as an option for favourite anchor i.e. SabaQamar, JunaidSaleem, Aftab Iqbal and Khalid Abbas Dar. For favourite character five option were given to respondent; Azizi (Hasb-e-Haal), Darling (DarLing), Dummy Museum (Khabarnaak), Funny Host (Hum sab umeed say hain), Dummy political leaders (like Musharraf in Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain). Favourite segment was taken on three categories; anchor
(Page 71 of 200) based, character based, music based. Type of comedy was responded against three categories i.e. satire, humour, parody. Response of humours appeals was categorized into four options; Jokes, Funny situations, Funny Expressions, Funny Labels. On parody, response was taken against four categories; Mimicry of politician/Imitation, Dummy Museum, Parody songs, funny Re-enactments of political situations. Satire appeals were operationalized as; pointing something between the lines, Sarcastic remarks on political situation, Critical evaluation, politician’s personal traits, Punch lines/Juggat.
4.13.2 Issues’ Importance
Importance of issues during general elections in Pakistan 2013 was measured by asking two questions to the respondents. Question one was about the importance issues among the categories of issues i.e. political issues, economic issues, and social issues. On the other hand, second question was asked about their opinion about the importance of issues during general elections among the following six issues: Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health, and Education.
4.13.3 Issues’ Framing
Respondents were asked to identify the important frames of various issues during elections i.e. frames of corruption issue, frames of governance issue, frames of energy crisis issue, frames of inflation issue, frames of health issue and frames of education issue. Respondents were to identify the following frames of corruption issue: Money Laundering (ML), Kickbacks and Commission (KB), Merit Violation (MV), Tax Evasion (TE) while from the frames of governance: Performance (PR), Law and Order/ Terrorism (LO), Democratic Culture (DC), Accountability (AC). Among the frames of Energy Crisis, Electricity Crisis (EC), CNG Shortage (CS), Sui-Gas Shortage (SS), Solutions (SL) frames were asked to identify. Inflation issues’ frames i.e. Monetary Policy (MP), Basic Food Essentials (BF), Unemployment (UE), Statistical Gimmicks (SS) were given to respondents to determine their importance during elections. Lack of Health Facilities (HF), Fake Medicines (FM), Young Doctors’ Strikes (YD), and Health Conditions (HC) were the frames of Health issue importance of which was to identify by the respondent. Question six was about the importance of Primary Schools (PS), Higher Education (HE), Quality Education (QE)
(Page 72 of 200) and Uniform Curriculum (UC) frames of Education issue.
4.13.4 Audience’ Perception
Perception of respondents about the political leaders was measured on three point scale i.e. favourable, unfavourable and neutral. Twelve questions were asked about perception of twelve political parties’ respective leadership among the audience during general elections.
4.14 Statistical Tests
Research questions RQ1,RQ1a, RQ2,RQ2a, RQ3, RQ3a,RQ4 and RQ4a were respectively about Comedy patterns, ‘General Elections Issues’ frequency, frames of the issues, and slant of political parties regarding the issues. RQ1a, RQ2a, RQ3a and RQ4a were explored by running Chi Square test to find out the difference of political entertainment presentation in the selected comedy programs of the study. On the other hand, research questions RQ5, RQ5a, RQ6, RQ6a, RQ7, RQ7a, RQ8 and RQ8a were respectively about consumption patterns, issues importance, frames consideration, perception about political leaders and RQ5a, RQ6a, RQ7a and RQ8a were explored through Chi Square test for differences of political perception of political entertainment among the varied viewers of political comedy shows. Hypotheses of this study i.e. H1, H2, H3 explore the relationship of political entertainment presentation and political perception among the audience. These were addressed by running Spearman rho test and Pearson Chi Square test of independence.
(Page 73 of 200)
CHAPTER-5 RESULTSAND DISCUSSION Political comedy shows’ relationship with viewers is the central to this study. Thus, the results of present endeavour come from two data sets i.e. content analysis of 1118 segments of political comedy shows and survey of 492 respondents. Each data set corresponds with separate research questions of the study while combination of both corresponds with the hypotheses of the study. Therefore, in this chapter, results have been divided into three sections.
First section, political comedy shows, discuss the results which address the eight research questions RQ1,RQ1a, RQ2,RQ2a, RQ3, RQ3a,RQ4 and RQ4a which are about comedy patterns, ‘General Elections Issues’ frequency, frames of the issues, slant of political parties regarding the issues and their differences by the programs. On the other hand, in second section, audience perception of political comedy, discuss the results responding to the research questions RQ5, RQ5a, RQ6, RQ6a, RQ7, RQ7a, RQ8 and RQ8a which are about consumption patterns, issues importance, frames consideration, perception about political parties and their differences with respect to the viewer’s watching frequency.
Third section of this chapter, presents the results that are based on the combination of two data sets i-e content analysis of political comedy shows and survey from the audience of these shows. This part of the chapter corresponds with the Hypotheses of this study. Responding to the hypotheses, H1, H2, H3, results have been presented that deal with the relationship of comedy content and audience perception. 5.1 Results for the Content of Comedy Shows In this section the results of comedy shows’ content analysis are included which account for the results of eight research questions RQ1,RQ1aq RQ2, RQ2a RQ3, RQ3a and RQ4, RQ4a. Keeping in view these questions, results under this section
(Page 74 of 200) have been divided into four sub-sections i.e. Patterns in political comedy shows, Issues in political comedy shows, frames in political comedy shows and slants or specific frames in political comedy shows.
5.2 Patterns in Political Comedy Shows
This portion provides, from Table No 5.1 to Table Non 5.6, the results that address to the RQ1 and RQ1a.
TABLE 5.1 Political Comedy Shows on TV Channels of Pakistan (N=118)
TV Channels TV Comedy Program Geo Dunya Express Total News News News Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 218 - - 218 Hasb-e-Haal - 490 - 490 Khabarnaak 297 - - 297 DarLing - - 113 113 Total 515 490 113 1118
Table 5.1 shows that three Television Channels i.e. Geo News, Dunya News and Express news are broadcasting political comedy programs. Geo broadcast two programs whereas Dunya and Express one program respectively. In these programs, 1118 segments related to political comedy content were found. Geo News, Dunya News, and Express News’ programs were consisting of 515, 490, 113 segments respectively. Although Dunya News has the one program related to political comedy, its segments are higher with 490 segments as compared to the other programs. Therefore, it is concluded that Dunya News’ program Hasb-e-Haal broadcast more political comedy based segments as compared to the other political comedy programs.
(Page 75 of 200)
However it is pertinent to mention that length of the segments vary in different shows. Hasb-e-Haal might have more short segments.
TABLE 5.2 Formats of Segments in Political Comedy Programs(N=1118)
Format of Segment Programs Anchor Character Music Total Based Based Based Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 63(29%) 87(40%) 68(31%) 218 Hasb-e-Haal 161(33%) 244(50%) 85(17%) 490 Khabarnaak 180(60.6 90(30.3%) 27(9%) 297 %) DarLing 14(12.3%) 30(26.5%) 69(33%) 113 Total 418(37 451(40%) 249(23 1118 %%) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 309.664a 6 .000
Table 5.2 indicates that political comedy programs are mainly consisting on three formats i.e. Anchor Based, Character Based and Music Based respectively. Over all, in political comedy programs, Character Based segments are manifested with high score of 451(40%). On the other hand,Anchor Based segments are at the second number with score of 418(37%). Music Based segments are at the third number with score of 249 (23%). According to the chi square test, Khabarnaak has significantly higher percentage(60.6%) of anchor-based comedy than other programs. Hasb-e-Hall has significantly higher percentage of (50%) character-based comedy than other programs. While on the other hand DarLing has significantly higher percentage (33.3%) of music-based comedy than other program.Therefore, it is concluded that
(Page 76 of 200)
Khabarnaak, Hasb-e-Haaland DarLing are respectively anchor, character and music oriented program with respect to political comedy.
TABLE 5.3 Nature of Comedy in Political Comedy Programs(N=1118)
Nature of Comedy Program Humour Parody Satire Total Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 116(53) 81(37%) 21(10%) 218 Hasb-e-Haal 217(44) 106(22) 167(34) 490 Khabarnaak 36(12% 31(10%) 230(78) 297 ) DarLing 04(3.5 40(35.3) 69(61%) 113 %) Total 373(33 258(23% 487(44 1118 %) ) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 327.516a 6 .000
Table 5.3 shows that in political comedy programs, in Pakistan, Satire is presented with more proportion 487(44%) as compared to the Humour 373(33%) and Parody 258(23%).
Nature of comedy significantly differ with respct to program. Khabarnaak significantly has higher percentage of satire than other programs i.e. 78%. Hasb-e-Hall used more Humour with percentage 44% significantly than the other shows. Parody was used significantly more by Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain (37%) and DarLing (35.3%) respectively than other programs.Hasbe-e-Hall has significantly higher percentage (53%) of humour than other shows.
(Page 77 of 200)
Therefore, it is concluded that Satire is predominantly used in political comedy programs in Pakistan as compared to Humour and Parody.Khabarnaak utilized more satire, DarLing produced more parody while Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain produced more humourthan other shows.
TABLE 5.4 Types of Political Issues Presented in Political Comedy Programs(N=1118)
Category of Political Issues Program Political Social Economi Total c Hum Sab Umeed Say 122(56% 40(18%) 56(26%) 218 Hain ) Hasb-e-Haal 321(66% 37(7%) 132(27% 490 ) ) Khabarnaak 179(60% 54(18%) 64(22%) 297 ) DarLing 43(38%) 37(33%) 33(29%) 113 Total 665(59% 168(15 285(26% 1118 ) %) )
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2- sided) 61.695a 6 .000
Table 5.4 shows that under the umbrella of Political issues, political issues in comedy programs are discussed with high percentage of 59% while Economic and Social 26%, 15% respectively. It is manifested that social issues are less discussed in comedy programs as compared to pure political and economic.
Hasb-e-Hall has high percentage 66% for political issues while DarLing utilized significantly higher percentage of social 33% and economic issues 29%.
(Page 78 of 200)
Therefore, it is concluded, in Pakistan, comedy shows discuss political issues morethan other issues. Hasb-e-Haal discussed more political issues than other shows.
(Page 79 of 200)
TABLE 5.5 Political Parties Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=1118) Political party mainly discussed in the segment
Program Total PML-N PPP PTI ANP JUI- MQ PML- JI PAL PM PA APM F M Q AP T L HSUSH 56(26) 63(29) 61(28%) 3 6 3 4 2 4 2 6 8 218 Hasb-e-Haal 105(21) 140(29) 83(17%) 10 15 15 25 10 20 11 20 36 490 Khabarnaak 75(25% 64(22%) 71(24%) 6 10 5 10 5 11 5 15 20 297 ) DarLing 30(27) 44(39%) 13(12%) 2 2 3 4 3 1 1 6 4 113 Total 266 311(28 228(20 21 33 26 43 20 36 19 47 68 1118 (24%) %) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 49.906a 33 .030
(Page 80 of 200)
Table 5.5 indicates that PPP, PML-N, PTI discussed predominantly in political comedy programs with to score of 311, 266 and 228 respectively. On the other hand, Political parties that have representation in parliament were discussed less i.e. PML- Q43, ANP 21, MQM 26, PMAP 19, JUI-F 33, and parties that have less representation or no representation were discussed more i.e. PAT 47, APML 68, PAL 36. On the other hand, DarLing(27%) and Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain (26%) significantly discussed more PML-N than other shows. Darling significantly discussed more PPP with higher percentage 39 % than others programs. Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain with higher percentage discussed PTI i.e. 28% than other shows. TABLE 5.6 Political Leadership Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=1118) Programs Political leadership mainly discussed in the segment Mainstream Provincial Parliamentary Total Leadership Leadership Leadership Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 126(58%) 37(17%) 55(25%) 218 Hasb-e-Haal 347(71%) 79(16%) 64(13%) 490 Khabarnaak 193(65%) 54(18%) 50(17%) 297 DarLing 79(70%) 22(19%) 12(11%) 113 Total 745(67%) 192(17%) 181(16%) 1118
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2- sided) 21.194a 6 .002
Table No.6 shows that Mainstream political leadership of Pakistan is discussed preferably in political comedy programs with high percentage 67%. Provincial and parliamentary leadership is discussed at the 2nd and 3rd preference the percentage of 17% and 16% respectively. Hasb-e-Hall discussed mainstream leaders with significantly higher percentage 71%, DarLing discussed the provincial leadership with significantly higher percentage and
(Page 81 of 200)
Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain discussed parliamentary leaders with significantly higher percentage (19%). Therefore, it is concluded that Mainstream political Leadership remain the target of comedy programs. While it is also evident that discussion about different levels of leadership differs with respect to different comedy shows. 5.3 Issues in Political Comedy Shows In this portion, table No 5.7 presents the results for research question RQ2 and RQ2a.
TABLE 5.7 Issues during Elections 2013 in Political Comedy Programs (N=1118) Types of Issues Program Corrupti Governan Energy Inflatio Health Educati Tot on ce Crisis n on al HSUSH 60(27%) 58(26%) 35(16%) 25(12% 25(12 15(7%) 218 ) %) Hasb-e- 160(33 165(34% 89(18%) 40(8%) 22(4% 14(3%) 490 Haal %) ) ) Khabarna 77(26%) 105(35% 42(27%) 23(8%) 22(8% 28(9%) 297 ak ) ) DarLing 13(12%) 32(28%) 19(16%) 21(19% 13(12 15(13% 113 ) %) ) Total 310(28 360(32% 185(17 109(10 82(7% 72(6%) 111 %) ) %) %) ) 8
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 68.614a 15 .000
Table 5.7 provides the comparison of issues discussed during general elections 2013 in Pakistan. Content of the programs was categorized into six categories representing six selected issues for the purpose of study. Governance was at the top with 360 (32%), Corruption was at second with 310 (28%), Energy Crisis at third with 185 (17%) while inflation, health and education were at fourth, fifth and sixth respectively
(Page 82 of 200) with 109(10%), 82(7%), 72(6%).Therefore, it is concluded that Governance and Corruption were at the top agenda of discussion in political comedy program. Energy Crisis and Inflation issues were moderately discussed whereas Health and Education were ignored with less discussion. Hasb-e-Haal discussed corruption issue (33%)and energy crisis issue (18%) with higher percentage significantly than other shows.Khabarnaak discussed significantly more governance issue as compared to the other shows.While DarLing discussed significantly inflation, health and education with higher percentages i.e. 19%, 12%, 13% respectively than other shows. Hum Sub Umeed Say Hain alos discussed the health issue significantly with higher percentage 12% than other programs.
Frames in Political Comedy Shows Table 5.8 to table 5.13 presents the results for research question RQ3 and RQ3a. TABLE 5.8 Frames of Corruption Discussed in Political Comedy Programs (N=310) Comedy Shows' Framing of Corruption Shows Money Kickback Tax Merit Tota Launderi s & Evasio Violatio l ng Commissi n n on Hum Sab 19(32%) 18(30%) 13(21% 10(17%) 60 Umeed Say ) Hain
Hasb-e-Haal 47(29%) 42(26%) 26(16% 45(28%) 160 )
Khabarnaak 30(39%) 26(34%) 12(16% 09(11%) 77 )
DarLing 04(32%) 05(38%) 02(15% 02(15%) 13 )
Total 100(32 91(29%) 53(18% 66(21%) 310 %) )
(Page 83 of 200)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 54.125a 15 .000
Table 5.8 indicates that Money Laundering and Kickbacks/ Commission were given more discussion with 32% and 29% segments respectively. On the other hand, Merit Violation and Tax Evasion were given less discussion in comedy shows with 21% and 18% respectively.
There were significant differences between comedy shows and frames of corruption with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 310) = 54.125, p =.000. Khabarnaak discussed Money Laundering frame with 39%, DarLing discussed Kickbacks/ Commission framewith 38%, Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain discussed Tax Evasionframe with 21% while Hasb- e-Haal discussed Merit Violation frame with 28% significantly higher than other shows.
TABLE 5.9 Frames of Governance Discussed in Political Comedy Programs (N=360) Comedy Shows' Framing of Governance Shows Performa Law Democra Accountab Total nce & tic ility Order Culture Hum Sab 22(38%) 13(22 11(19%) 12(21%) 58 Umeed Say %) Hain
Hasb-e-Haal 91(55%) 37(22 16(10%) 21(22%) 165 %)
Khabarnaak 42(40%) 28(27 15(14%) 20(19%) 105 %)
DarLing 09(28%) 08(25 09(28%) 06(19%) 32 %)
(Page 84 of 200)
Total 164(46% 86(24 51(14%) 59(16%) 360 ) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 38.312a 15 .001
Table 5.9 indicates that among the Frames of Governance issues Performance frame was discussed with high percentage (46%) as compared to the Law & Order/ Terrorism frame (24%), Accountability frame (16%) and Democratic Culture frame (14%).
Therewere significant differences between comedy shows and frames of Governance with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 360) = 54.125, p =.001.Hasb-Haal discussed the Performance (55%) and Accountability (22%) frames significantly with higher percentages as compared to other shows. While on the other hand, Khabarnaakdiscussed the Law & Order frame(27%) and DarLing discussed the Democratic Culture frame(28%) with higher percentages than other shows.
TABLE 5.10 Frames of Energy Crisis Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=185) Comedy Shows' Framing of Energy Crisis Shows Electric CNG Sui Solutions Total ity Shorta Gas Crisis ge Shorta ge Hum Sab Umeed 15(43% 8(23% 7(20% 5(14%) 35 Say Hain ) ) )
Hasb-e-Haal 49(55% 12(13 11(12 17(20%) 89 ) %) %)
Khabarnaak 17(40% 13(31 8(19% 4(10%) 42 ) %) )
(Page 85 of 200)
DarLing 9(47%) 5(26% 3(16% 2(11%) 19 ) )
Total 90(49% 38(20 29(16 28(15%) 185 ) %) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 28.656a 15 .018
Table 5.10 indicates that among the Frames of Energy Crisis issues, Electricity crisis frae was discussed in considerably higher percentage i.e. 49% as compared to CNG shortage frame (20%), Sui Gas frame 121(16%) and Solution frame (15%).
Therewere significant differences between comedy shows and frames of Energy Crisis with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 185) = 28.656, p =.018. Hasb-e-Haalsignificantly discussed the Electricity Crisis frame more considerably with higher parentage (49%) along with higher percentage of Solutions frame (20%) than the other shows. While Khabarnaak discussed CNG frame (31%) and HSUSH discussed the Sui-Gas frame (20%) significantly higher than other programs.
TABLE 5.11 Frames of Inflation Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=109) Comedy Shows' Framing of Inflation TV Comedy Moneta Basic Unemploy Statistic Tota Show ry Food ment al l Policy Essentials Gimmic ks Hum Sab 4(16%) 11(44%) 5(20%) 5(20%) 25 Umeed Say
(Page 86 of 200)
Hain
Hasb-e-Haal 8(20%) 18(45%) 10(25%) 4(10%) 40
Khabarnaak 3(13%) 13(57%) 4(17%) 3(13%) 23
DarLing 5(24%) 11(52%) 3(14%) 2(10%) 21
Total 20(18 53(49%) 22(20%) 14(13% 109 %) )
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 138.315a 15 .000
Table 5.11 indicates that Basic Food Essentials frame (49%) and Unemployment frame (20%) of inflations issue were discussed with higher percentage as compared to the other frames. Monetary Policy (18%)and Statistical Gimmicks (13%) frames were discussed with low percentage.
Therewere significant differences between comedy shows and frames of Energy Crisis with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 109) = 138.315, p =.018. Khabarnaak discussed the BFE frame significantly with higher percentage (57%) than other shows. Hasb-e- Haal discussed significantly with higher percentage (25%) than other shows. Monetary Policy frame and Statistical Gimmicks were significantly discussed with lower percentages 24% and 20% by DarLing and HSUSH respectively as compared to other shows.
TABLE 5.12 Frames of Health Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=82) Comedy Shows' Framing of Health TV Comedy Show Lack Fake Young Healt Tota
(Page 87 of 200)
of Medic Doctor h l Health ine ’s Condi Facilit Strike tions ies Hum Sab Umeed 16(64 04(16 03(12 02(8 25 Say Hain %) %) %) %) Hasb-e-Haal 05(23 11(50 02(9% 04(18 22 %) %) ) %) Khabarnaak 09(41 08(36 02(9% 03(14 22 %) %) ) %) DarLing 05(38 04(31 01(8% 03(23 13 %) %) ) %) Total 35(43 27(32 08(10 12(15 82 %) %) %) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) 289.166a 15 .000
Table 5.12 indicates thatLack of Health Facilities frame and Fake Medicine frame were discussed with high percentages (43% and 32%) while Health Conditions and Young Doctor’s Strike frames were discussed with lower percentages (15% and 10%).
There was a significant differences between comedy shows and frames of Health with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 82) = 289.166, p =.018. HSUSH discussed the LHF frame of Health issue with significantly higher percentage (64%) than other shows. Hasb-e- Haal discussed FM frame with significantly higher percentage (50%) than other shows.Darling discussed the Health Conditions frame with significantly higher percentage (23%) as compared to other programs.
(Page 88 of 200)
TABLE 5.13 Frames of Education Discussed in Political Comedy Programs(N=72) Comedy Shows' Framing of Education TV Comedy Show Primar Higher Qualit Unifor Tota y Educat y m l School ion Educat Curricu s ion lum Hum Sab Umeed 05(33 03(20 02(14 05(33% 15 Say Hain %) %) %) ) Hasb-e-Haal 03(21 04(29 05(36 02(14% 14 %) %) %) ) Khabarnaak 12(43 09(32 03(11 04(14% 28 %) %) %) ) DarLing 04(27 05(33 03(20 03(20% 15 %) %) %) ) Total 24(34 20(28 14(19 14(19% 72 %) %) %) )
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 103.341a 15 .000
Table 5.13 indicates that Primary Schools frame and Higher Education frame were discussed with higher percentages (34%, 28%) respectively while Quality Education frame (19%) and Uniform Curriculum frame were discussed with lower percentages.
There was a significant relationship between comedy shows and frames of Education issue with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 72) = 103.341, p =.018. Khabarnaak (43%) discussed the Primary Schools frame, Hasb-e-Haal discussed the Quality Education frame (36%), and DarLing discussed the Higher Education frame (33%) while HSUSH discussed the Uniform Curriculum frame (33%) significantly with higher percentages than other shows.
(Page 89 of 200)
Slants in Political Comedy Shows Table 5.14 to table 5.19 presents the results for research question RQ4. TABLE 5.14 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Corruption in Comedy Programs (N=310) Slant of Corruption Issue Political Parties Favourable Unfavourab Neutral Total le PML-N 05(10%) 29(57%) 17(33 51 %) PPP 07(7%) 77(80%) 12(13 96 %) PTI 19(31%) 19(31%) 23(38 61 %) ANP 0 16 04 20 JUI-F 0 0 02 02 MQM 0 6 0 06 PML-Q 0 5 05 10 JI 12 0 0 12 PAL 04 2 10 16 PMAP 0 5 0 05 PAT 0 14 07 21 APML 0 10 0 10 Total 40(13%) 183(59%) 87(28 310 %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig.
(Page 90 of 200)
(2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 450.029a 33 .000 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results. Table 5.14 shows that 59% discussion on corruption was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 28% discussion was Neutral and 13% discussion was in favour of political parties.
There were significant differences ofPolitical parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of Corruption issue in the segments of political comedy programs with Chi- Square X2 (33, N = 310) = 450.029, p =.000.PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (80%) regarding the issue of corruption as compared to other parties. PTI was given neutral discussion with high percentage (38%) than others.
(Page 91 of 200)
TABLE 5.15 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Governance in Comedy Programs (N=360) Slant of Governance Issue Political Parties Favourable Unfavourabl Neutral Tota e l PML-N 20(19%) 53(52%) 30(29%) 103 PPP 10(10%) 68(68%) 22(22%) 100 PTI 17(24%) 39(54%) 16(22%) 72 ANP 02 07 03 12 JUI-F 03 03 07 13 MQM 01 03 03 07 PML-Q 01 03 05 09 JI 0 01 05 06 PAL 0 02 06 08 PMAP 0 03 04 07 PAT 0 01 06 07 APML 2 09 05 16 Total 56(16%) 192(53%) 112(31 360 %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 86.668a 33 .000 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results.
Table 5.15 showsthat 53% discussion on governance issue was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 31% discussion was Neutral and 16% discussion was in favour of political parties.
There were significant differences ofPolitical parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of governance issue in the segments of political comedy programs with Chi-
(Page 92 of 200)
Square X2 (33, N = 360) = 86.668, p =.000. PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (68%) regarding the issue of governance as compared to other parties. PML-N was given neutral coverage (31%) while PTI was given favourable discussion with high percentage (16%) than others.
TABLE 5.16 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Energy Crisis in Comedy Programs (N=185) Slant of Energy Crisis frames Political Parties Favourable Unfavourabl Neutral Total e PML-N 29(55%) 22(42%) 2(3%) 53 PPP 04(9%) 38(84%) 3(7%) 45 PTI 10(50%) 07(35%) 3(15%) 20 ANP 6 08 0 12 JUI-F 3 0 0 3 MQM 2 02 4 8 PML-Q 9 03 4 16 JI 3 03 3 9 PAL 2 1 2 5 PMAP 0 0 1 1 PAT 0 0 1 1 APML 3 08 1 12 Total 69(37%) 92(50%) 24(13%) 185
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 96.456a 33 .000 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results.
(Page 93 of 200)
Table 5.16 shows that 50% discussion on energy crisis issue was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 37% discussion was favourable toward political parties. There were significant differences of Political parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of energy crisis issue in the segments of political comedy programs with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 185) = 96.456, p =.000. PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (84%) regarding the issue of energy crisis as compared to other parties. PML-N was given significantly favourable with higher percentage 55%.
TABLE 5.17 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Inflation in Comedy Programs (N=109) Slant of Inflation frames Political Favourabl Unfavourable Neutral Total Parties e PML-N 16(31%) 28(54%) 8(15%) 52 PPP 02(8%) 23(92%) 0 25 PTI 03(42%) 2(29%) 2(29%) 07 ANP 0 1 2 03 JUI-F 0 1 3 04 MQM 1 2 1 04 PML-Q 2 0 0 02 JI 1 0 4 05 PAL 0 0 0 0 PMAP 0 0 0 0 PAT 0 0 3 3 APML 1 0 3 4 Total 26(24%) 57(52%) 26(24%) 109
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig.
(Page 94 of 200)
(2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 60.887a 33 .002 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results.
Table 5.17 showsthat 52% discussion on inflation issue crisis issue was Un- favourable towards political parties whereas 24% discussion was favourableand neutral 24% discussion toward political parties.
There were significant differences ofPolitical parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of inflation issue in the segments of political comedy programs with Chi- SquareX2 (33, N = 109) = 60.887, p =.002.. PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (92%) regarding the issue of inflation as compared to other parties. On the other hand, PTI was given significantly favourable and neutral discussion with higher percentage 42% and 29% respectively.
(Page 95 of 200)
TABLE 5.18 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Health in Comedy Programs (N=82) Slant of Health frames Political Parties Favourab Unfavourable Neutral Total le PML-N 5(20%) 18(72%) 2(8%) 25 PPP 3(23%) 08(62%) 2(15%) 13 PTI 2(33%) 3(50%) 1(17%) 06 ANP 1 4 0 05 JUI-F 1 3 1 05 MQM 1 2 2 05 PML-Q 4(50%) 3(38%) 1(12%) 08 JI 0 3 1 04 PAL 0 1 0 01 PMAP 0 2 0 02 PAT 0 2 1 03 APML 3 2 0 05 Total 20(24%) 51(62%) 11(14% 82 )
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 61.325 33 .002 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results.
Table 5.18 showsthat 62% discussion on health issue issue was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 24% discussion was favourableand 14% neutral discussion toward political parties.
There were significant differences ofPolitical parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of health issue in the segments of political comedy programs with Chi-
(Page 96 of 200)
SquareX2 (33, N = 82) = 61.325, p =.002.PML-N was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (72%) regarding the issue of health as compared to other parties. PTI was given significantly favourable with higher percentage 33%.
(Page 97 of 200)
TABLE 5.19 Slant of Political Parties regarding the Issue of Education in Comedy Programs (N=72) Slant of Education frames Political Parties Favourabl Unfavourabl Neutral Total e e PML-N 02(13%) 08(53%) 5(33%) 15 PPP 0 07(78%) 2(22%) 09 PTI 3(38%) 01(12%) 4(50%) 08 ANP 0 2 0 02 JUI-F 1 2 0 03 MQM 3 5 1 09 PML-Q 5 2 1 08 JI 1 2 0 03 PAL 0 2 0 02 PMAP 0 1 0 01 PAT 2 2 0 04 APML 5 3 0 08 Total 21(30%) 37(51%) 14(19% 72 )
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 38.366a 33 .239 Note: when some cells are large and others small or empty then chi square is significant. this limitation should be kept in mind while viewing the results.
Table 5.19 shows that 51% discussion on education issue was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 30% discussion was favourable and 19% neutral discussion toward political parties.PPP was given unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (78%) regarding the issue of education as compared to other parties. PTI
(Page 98 of 200) was given significantly neutral (50%) and favourable (38%) discussion with higher percentage than other parties.
Results for Survey In this section, results of the public survey have been presented. 492 respondents of the survey were asked the questions about their exposure of political comedy shows, their patterns of watching comedy and their perception about the content presented in comedy shows.
Audience Perception of Political Comedy Survey results address to the following research questions of the study; RQ5, RQ5a, RQ6, RQ6a, RQ7, RQ7a, and RQ8, RQ8a.These questions are about consumption patterns, issues importance, frames consideration, perception about political parties.This section has been sub-divided into five sections.
Audience Consumption Patterns This section presents the results for an aspect of research questionsRQ5,‘What were the viewers’ consumption patterns of ‘Political Comedy Shows’ broadcast on mainstream TV Channels of Pakistan?and RQ5a, ‘Do the viewers’ consumption patterns of ‘Political Comedy Shows’ differ by the watching frequency?Table No. 5.20 to Table No.5.25 address to consumption patterns.
In survey results, the researcher found that 147( 30%) of respondents preferred political comedy shows as their first choice to seek political news and information whereas 302( 61%) preferred serious political talk shows broadcast on TV news channels to get political news and only 43(09%) preferred TV news bulletins.
(Page 99 of 200)
TABLE 5.20 Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows Frequency of Audience preference to watch Political comedy show watching on regular basis Tota political comedy Hum Hasb-e- Khabarn DarLin More l shows Sab Haal aak g than Umeed one Say show Hain Never 0 4 1 2 0 7 Hardly ever 4 11 7 4 2 28 Sometime 100(35 101(35% 35(12%) 36(13% 15(5% 287 %) ) ) ) Regularly 38(22%) 40(24%) 69(40%) 18(11% 5(3%) 170 )
Total 142(29 156(32% 112(23% 60(11% 22(5% 492 %) ) ) ) )
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1251.82a 20 .000
Table 5.20 shows that there are significant differences in audience preference of watching four selected TV comedy shows by frequency of watching TV comedy with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (20, N = 492) = 1251.82a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that frequency of watching TV comedy is also related to the choice of respondents about selected TV comedy shows of this study. Regular viewers significantly watched Khabarnaak whereas HSUSH and Hasb-e-Haal significantly preferred by all type of viewers. Very few respondents have choice of more than one programs and it is due to the onair timing of the shows. Three of all these shows were telecasted simultenously.
(Page 100 of 200)
TABLE 5.21 Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Anchors Frequency of Audience preference of comedy show's anchors watching SabaQa JunaidSa Aftab Khalid More Total political mar leem Iqbal Abbas than comedy shows Dar one Anchor Never 0 4 1 2 0 7 Hardly ever 4 11 7 4 2 28 Sometime 100(35 101(35% 35(12% 36(13 15(5%) 287 %) ) ) %) Regularly 38(22%) 40(24%) 69(40% 18(11 5(3%) 170 ) %)
Total 142(29 156(32% 112(23 60(11 22(5%) 492 %) ) %) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1251.82a 20 .000
Table 5.23 shows that there are significant differencesin audience preference of anchors of four selected TV comedy shows and frequency of watching TV comedy with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (20, N = 492) = 1251.82a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that frequency of watching TV comedy is related to the choice of respondents about anchors of selected TV comedy shows of this study.Regular viewers significantly liked Aftab Iqbal whereas SabaQamar and JunaidSaleem significantly preferred to watch by all type of viewers.
(Page 101 of 200)
TABLE 5.22 Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Characters Audience preference of comedy show's character Frequency of Azizi of Darling Dummy Funny Dummy Tota watching political Hasb-e- of Museu Host of Political l comedy shows Haal DarLing m of HSUS leaders in Khabarn H all shows aak Never 4 2 1 0 0 7 Hardly ever 11 3 8 0 6 28 Sometime 94(33%) 25(9%) 36(13% 17(6%) 115(39%) 287 ) Regularly 49(29%) 15(9%) 71(42% 8(5%) 27(15%) 170 )
Total 158(32% 45(9%) 116(24 25(5%) 148(30%) 492 ) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1287.23a 20 .000
Table 5.22 shows that there are significant differences between audience preference of watching four selected TV comedy shows by frequency of watching TV comedy with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (20, N = 492) = 1287.23a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that frequency of watching TV comedy is also related the choice of respondents about selected TV comedy shows of this study.
(Page 102 of 200)
TABLE 5.23 Viewers’ Choices of Comedy Shows’ Segments Audience preference of segment Frequency of watching format in comedy shows Total political comedy shows Anchor Characte Music Based r Based Based Never 0 7 0 7 Hardly ever 0 28(100 0 28 %) Sometime 0 82(29%) 205(71 287 %) Regularly 117(69 19(11%) 34(20% 170 %) )
Total 117(24 136(28 239(49 492 %) %) %)
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1984.00a 12 .000 Table 5.23 shows that there are significant differencesin audience preference of segment format in TV comedy shows by frequency of watching TV comedy with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N = 492) = 1984.00a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that regular viewers prefer anchor-based formats(69%). Sometimes viewers prefer music (71%) and character based (29%). Those who hardly ever watch the shows prefer character based only.
(Page 103 of 200)
Audience Comedy Patterns
In this section, nature of comedy and its patterns of audience has been explored. Table No. 5.24 to table No. 5.30 provide the results for viewers’ pattern of comedy, addressing an aspect of RQ5 and RQ5a.
TABLE 5.24 Comedy Shows and Audience’ Anchors choices Audience preference to watch Audience preference of comedy show's Political comedy show on anchors Total regular basis Saba Junai Aftab Khali More Qam dSale Iqbal d than ar em Abba one s Dar Ancho r Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 142 Hasb-e-Haal 156 Khabarnaak 112 DarLing 60 More than one show 22 Total 492
Table 5.24 shows the audience preference of watching TV comedy also related to the choice of respondents about the anchors of selected TV comedy shows of this study.
(Page 104 of 200)
TABLE 5.25 Comedy Shows and Audience’ Characters choices Audience Audience preference of comedy show's Total preference to watch character Political comedy Azizi Darlin Dummy Funny Dummy show on regular of g of Museum Host Political basis Hasb- DarLi of of leaders e-Haal ng Khabarn HSUS in all aak H shows HSUSH 13 0 0 6 123 142
Hasb-e-Haal 130 0 0 0 26 156
Khabarnaak 0 0 112 0 0 112
DarLing 4 44 0 0 12 60
More than one show 11 1 4 0 6 22
Total 158 45 116 6 167 492
Table No. 5.25 shows that respondents who like to watch their preferred comedy program also have the preference to watch the characters of those shows.
(Page 105 of 200)
TABLE 5.26 Audience preference to watch Political comedy show on regular basis Audience preference to Audience preference of segment watch Political comedy format in comedy shows Total show on regular basis Ancho Characte Music r r Based Based Based Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 25 13 104 142 Hasb-e-Haal 21 75 60 156 Khabarnaak 57 21 34 112 DarLing 11 19 30 60 More than one show 3 8 11 22 Total 117 136 239 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1389.82a 15 .000
Table 5.26 shows that there are significant differences between audience preference of watching TV comedy and audience preference of segment format in TV comedy shows with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 492) = 1389.82a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that respondents who preferred HSUSH also significantly like music based segments(104) , most number of khabarnaak fans like anchor based segments(57) and respondents who like Hasb-eHaal mostly like character based segments( 75).
(Page 106 of 200)
TABLE 5.27 Nature of Humor that appeal to comedy show's audience Nature of Humour that appeal to comedy Frequency of watching show's audience Total political comedy shows Jokes Funny Funny Fun Situati Expressi ny ons ons Labe ls Never 7 0 0 0 7 Hardly ever 28 0 0 0 28 Sometime 74 74 37 102 287 Regularly 85 85 0 0 170 Total 194 159 37 102 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1531.05a 16 .000
Table 5.27 shows that there are significant differences between frequency of watching TV comedy and nature of humor that appeals the audience with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1531.05a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that regular viewers of TV comedy significantly like Jokes(85) and Funny situations(85) whereas sometimes viewers mostly like Funny labels(102).
(Page 107 of 200)
TABLE 5.28 Nature of Parody that appeal to comedy show's audience Frequency of watching Nature of Parody that appeal to comedy Total political comedy shows show's audience Mimicry Dumm Parod Funny of y y Re- politicia Museu Songs enactme n/Imitati m nts of on political situation s Never 0 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 0 28 0 0 28 Sometime 42 0 156 89 287 Regularly 10 140 11 9 170 Total 52 175 167 98 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1997.68a 16 .000
Table 5.28 shows that there are significant differences between frequency of watching TV comedy and nature of parody that appeals the audience with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1997.68a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that regular viewers significantly like Dummy Museum (140) as nature of parody while sometimes viewers mostly like parody songs (156) in comedy shows.
(Page 108 of 200)
TABLE 5.29 Nature of Satire that appeal to comedy show's audience Frequency of Nature of Satire that appeal to comedy show's watching audience Total political Pointing Sarcastic Critical Punch comedy shows somethin remarks evaluation lines/ g on of Juggat between political politician’s the lines situation personal traits Never 0 0 0 7 7 Hardly ever 0 0 13 15 28 Sometime 0 37 0 250 287 Regularly 19 0 117 34 170 Total 19 37 130 306 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1888.92a 16 .000
Table 5.29 shows that there are significant differences between frequency of watching TV comedy and nature of satire that appeals the audience with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1888.92a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that regular viewers significantly like critical evaluation of politician’s personal traits (117) as nature of satire while sometimes viewers mostly like Punch lines/ Juggat (250) in comedy shows.
(Page 109 of 200)
TABLE 5.30 Viewers’ Preference of comedy type Frequency of watching Preference of comedy type Total political comedy shows Humour Parody Satire Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 13 0 28 Sometime 105 96 86 287 Regularly 29 81 60 170 Total 156 190 146 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Chi-Square 1229.57a 12 .000
Table 5.30 shows that there are significant differences between frequency of watching TV comedy and type of comedy that appeals the audience with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N = 492) = 1229.57a, p =.000. Therefore, it is concluded that regular viewers significantly like Parody (81) as preferred comedy type while sometimes viewers mostly like Humour (105) in comedy shows. Audience’ Issues Importance In this section public perception about the importance of general elections issues has been explored. This section presents the results for the research question RQ6:Which ‘General Elections Issues’ were considered the most important by the viewers of ‘Political Comedy Shows’?andRQ6a: Do the viewer’s importance of ‘General Elections Issues ‘differ by their watching frequency? Table No. 5.31 address question RQ6 and RQ6a. Issues of Governance and corruption are related to the political issues category, whereas energy crisis and inflation fall into the category of economic issues. On the other hand, health and education are the social issues according to conceptualization of the researcher.
(Page 110 of 200)
TABLE 5.31 Importance of General Elections Issues among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of Importance of Issues Type among Audience watching Corrup Govern Ener Inflat Heal Educat Tota political tion ance gy ion th ion l comedy shows Crisi s Never 4 1 0 2 0 0 7 Hardly ever 3 7 6 4 6 2 28 Sometime 66 64 61 42 36 18 287 Regularly 47 34 31 25 23 10 170 Total 120 106 98 73 65 30 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1146.598a 24 .000
Table 5.31 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and ranking of the most important issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1146.598, p=.000. Table results show that regularly and sometime viewers of political comedy shows consider the importance of General Elections Issues Ranking the Issue of Corruption at the top order followed by Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health and Education.
(Page 111 of 200)
Audience’ Frames Consideration for General Elections Issues This section presents the results for research questionsRQ7: What was the Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’? and RQ7a: Do the Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’ differ by their watching frequency? Table No. 5.32 to table No. 5.37 address to question RQ7 and RQ7a.
TABLE 5.32 Frames of Corruption Issue during General Elections among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Corruption Frequency of Audience's Frames of Corruption Issue during watching General elections Total political Money Kickbacks Merit Tax comedy shows Launder /Commiss Violati Evasi ing ions ons on Never 7 0 0 0 7 Hardly ever 28 0 0 0 28 Sometime 103 79 48 57 287 Regularly 48 9 103 10 170 Total 186 88 151 67 492
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1693.714a 20 .000
(Page 112 of 200)
Table 5.32 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Corruption issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (20, N=492)= 1693.714, p=.000. Table results show that viewers of political comedy shows consider the Money Laundering, Merit Violation, Kickbacks/ Commission, Tax Evasion an important aspects (Frames) of Corruption with the score of 186, 151, 88, and 67 respectively. Hardly ever viewers consider the Money Laundering as a sole frame of Corruption. Regularly viewers less focus on Kickbacks frame.
ss TABLE 5.33 Frames of Energy Crisis Issue during among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Energy Crisis Audience's Frames of Energy Crisis Issue during Frequency of General elections Total watching Electrici CNG Sui-Gas Solutions political ty Crisis shorta Shortag comedy shows ge e Never 0 0 7 0 7 Hardly ever 0 13 15 0 28 Sometime 101 39 109 38 287 Regularly 19 87 22 42 170 Total 120 139 153 80 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1607.340a 24 .000
(Page 113 of 200)
Table 5.33 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Energy Crisis issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1607.340, p=.000. Table results show that Sometime viewers of political comedy shows consider the Sui-Gas Shortage, CNG Shortage, Electricity Crisis and Solutions an important aspects (Frames) of Energy Crisis with the score of 109, 101, 39, and 38 respectively. Regularly and Hardly ever viewers did not consider the Electricity Crisis as a frame of EC.
TABLE 5.34 Frames of Governance Issue during Governance among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Governance Frequency of Audience's Frames of Governance Issue during General watching elections Tota political Perform Law& Democr Accountability l comedy shows ance Order/ atic Terrori Culture sm Never 0 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 0 15 0 0 28 Sometime 67 141 27 52 287 Regularly 85 32 31 22 170
(Page 114 of 200)
Total 152 195 58 74 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 1554.590a 24 .000
Table 6.34 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Governance issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1554.590, p=.000. Table results show that viewers of political comedy shows consider the Law and Order, Performance, Democratic Culture, and Accountability an important aspects (Frames) of Governance with the score of 188, 152, 58, and 74 respectively. Regular viewers believe that Performance with score 85 is an important frame whereas sometime viewers give value to Law and Order with 141.
(Page 115 of 200)
TABLE 5.35 Frames of Inflation Issue during Inflation among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Inflation Frequency of Audience's Frames of Inflation Issue during watching General election Tota political Monet Basic Unemploy Statisti l comedy shows ary Food ment cal Policy Essenti Gimmi als cks Never 0 0 0 7 7 Hardly ever 0 0 13 15 28 Sometime 56 49 91 91 287 Regularly 24 51 19 76 170 Total 80 100 123 189 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1457.543a 24 .000
Table 5.35 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Inflations issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1457.543, p=.000. Table results show that viewers of political comedy shows consider the Statistical Gimmicks with score 182, Unemployment with 123, Basic Food Essentials with 100 and Monetary Policy with 80, an important aspect (Frames) of Inflation respectively. Regular viewers believe that Statistical Gimmicks with 76 score as an important frame whereas sometime viewers consider Unemployment and Statistical Gimmicks as a significant frame with 91 score.
(Page 116 of 200)
TABLE 5.36 Frames of Health Issue during Governance among the Viewers of Political Comedy Shows Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Health Audience's Frames of Health Issue during Frequency of General elections Total watching Lack Fake Young Health political comedy of Medici Doctor Conditi shows Health ne 's ons Faciliti Strike es Never 2 2 3 0 7 Hardly ever 10 4 1 13 28 Sometime 97 79 70 41 287 Regularly 47 57 24 42 170 Total 156 142 98 96 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1473.455a 24 .000
Table 5.36 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Health issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1473.455, p=.000. Table results show that viewers of political comedy shows consider the Health Lack of Health Facilities and Fake Medicinesas important aspects (Frames) of Health with score of 154and 140respectively. Young Doctor’s Strikes and Health Conditions were consider
(Page 117 of 200) less important frames with score of 95 and 96 respectively. Regular viewers believe that FM andLHF with 57 and 47 score as an important frame whereas sometime viewers consider LHF and FM frame as important frames with score 97 and 79 respectively.
(Page 118 of 200)
TABLE 5.37 Frames of Education Issue during Governance among the Viewers of Political Comedy Show Frequency of watching political comedy shows * Public Frames of Education Frequency of Audience's Frames of Education Issue during watching General elections Total political Primar Higher Quality Uniform comedy shows y Educatio Educati Curricul School n on um s Never 2 0 1 4 7 Hardly ever 11 7 4 6 28 Sometime 126 40 71 50 287 Regularly 60 19 58 33 170 Total 199 66 134 93 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1392.376a 24 .000
Table 5.37 shows that there are significant differences between viewers’ political comedy shows watching frequency and Frames of Education issue during general elections with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492)= 1392.376, p=.000. Table results show that sometime viewers of political comedy shows consider the Primary Schools andQuality Education an important aspect (Frames) of Education issue with score of 126 and 71 respectively. Regular viewers also believe that PS and QE with 60 and 58score.
Audience’ Perception about Political Parties This section describes results for research question RQ8: What was the Viewers’ perception about the political parties of Pakistan regarding the ‘General Elections Issues’? Table No. 5.38 to table No. 5.49 address to the question RQ8a.
(Page 119 of 200)
Table 5.38 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PML-N regarding General Elections Issues Perception about PML-N regarding Frequency of watching Campaign Issues Total political comedy shows Unfavorabl Neutral Favorabl e e Never 0 0 7 7 Hardly ever 0 13 15 28 Sometime 63 122 102 287 Regularly 79 30 61 170 Total 142 165 185 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1268.298 12 .000 a
It indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PML-N with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1268.298, p=.000. Results in the table shows that PML-N viewers of comedy shows perceive the political party PML-N more favorable than that of neutral and unfavorable. Regular viewers perceive negatively whereas sometime viewers perceive positively and neutral
(Page 120 of 200)
TABLE 5.39 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PPP regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about PPP Unfavorab Neutral Favorabl Total le e Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 13 0 28 Sometime 260 27 0 287 Regularly 60 99 11 170 Total 342 139 11 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1493.389a 12 .000
Table 5.39indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PPP with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1493.389, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PPP negatively than that of neutral and favourable.
On the other hand, a few respondent 11 positively perceive the PPP on Elections issues. Sometime viewers have unfavorable 260 and neutral 27 view while regular respondents have more neutral 99 and least favorable 11 view.
(Page 121 of 200)
TABLE 5.40 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PTI regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about PTI Tota Unfavorab Neutra Favorabl l le l e Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 0 13 28 Sometime 0 93 194 287 Regularly 18 14 138 170 Total 40 107 345 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1607.979a 12 .000
Table 5.40indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PTI with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1607.979, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PTI favorable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 345, while 107 are neutral and a few respondent are negatively perceive the PTI. Regular viewers have more positive view about PTI with score of 194.
(Page 122 of 200)
TABLE 5.41 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about ANP regarding General Elections Issues Perception about ANP Frequency Total Unfavorab Neutral Favorab le le Never 0 7 0 7 Hardly ever 0 28 0 28 Sometime 225 34 28 287 Regularly 96 44 30 170 Total 321 113 58 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1456.680a 12 .000
Table 5.41indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, ANP with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1456.680, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the ANP unfavourable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 321, while 106 were neutral and a few respondent 58 were in favour of ANP. Sometime viewers were more unfavourable with score of 225.
(Page 123 of 200)
TABLE 5.42 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PMLQ regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about PML-Q Total Unfavourab Neutra Favourabl le l e Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 13 0 28 Sometime 199 20 68 287 Regularly 86 46 38 170 Total 307 79 106 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Pearson Chi-Square 1256.491a 12 .000
Table 5.42indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PML-Q with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1256.491, p=.000. Results in the table shows that majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PML-Q unfavorable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 300, while considerable minority with score 106 also consider PML-Q favorable. Sometime viewers were more unfavorable with score 199.
(Page 124 of 200)
TABLE 5.43 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about MQM regarding General Elections Issues Perception about MQM Frequency of watching political Unfavourabl Neutral Total e Never 0 7 7 ardly ever 13 15 28 Sometime 251 36 287 Regularly 86 84 170 Total 350 142 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1340.164a 8 .000
Table 5.43indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, MQM with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (8, N=492) = 1340.164, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the MQM unfavorable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 350, while 135 were neutral and no respondent was in favor of MQM. Sometime viewers were more unfavorable while regular viewers were equally unfavorable and neutral with score of 86 and 84 respectively.
(Page 125 of 200)
TABLE 5.44 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about JUI-F regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about JUI-F Total Unfavorable Neutral Favorabl e Never 0 0 7 7 Hardly ever 13 0 15 28 Sometime 71 148 68 287 Regularly 50 61 59 170 Total 134 209 149 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1232.296 12 .000 a
Table 5.44 indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, JUI-F with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1232.296, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the JUI-F neutral regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 209, while 142 were favorable and 134 were unfavorable. Sometime viewers were more unfavorable with score of 71 while regular viewers were unfavorable with 50, neutral with 61 and favorable with 59 respectively.
(Page 126 of 200)
TABLE 5.45 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about JI regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about JI Unfavourabl Neutral Favourab Total e le Never 0 0 7 7 Hardly ever 0 13 15 28 Sometime 0 72 215 287 Regularly 20 44 106 170 Total 20 129 343 492
Chi-Square Tests Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1228.501 12 .000 a
Table 5.45 indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, JI with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1228.501, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the JI favorable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 3336, while 129 were neutral and 20 respondents unfavorable. Sometime viewers were more favorable while regular respondents showed unfavorable perception as well with 20 score.
(Page 127 of 200)
TABLE 5.46 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PMAP regarding General Elections Issues Perception about PMAP Frequency Unfavourabl Neutral Favourabl Total e e Never 0 7 0 7 Hardly ever 13 15 0 28 Sometime 7 204 76 287 Regularly 11 134 25 170 Total 31 360 101 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1338.003a 12 .000
Table 5.46 indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PMAP with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1338.003, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PMAP neutral regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 353, while 101 were favorable and 31 were unfavorable. Sometime viewers were more neutral while regular respondentsshowed neutral perception as well.
(Page 128 of 200)
TABLE 5.47 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PAL regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about PAL Unfavourabl Neutral Favourabl Total e e Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 0 13 28 Sometime 30 144 113 287 Regularly 48 61 61 170 Total 100 205 187 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1301.025 12 .000 a
Table 5.47indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PAL with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1301.025, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PAL neutral regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 205, while 187 were favorable and 93 respondents were unfavorable. Sometime viewers were more favorable and neutral with score of 113 and 144 respectively.
(Page 129 of 200)
TABLE 5.48 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about PAT regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about PAT Total Unfavourabl Neutra Favourab e l le Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 0 13 28 Sometime 82 150 55 287 Regularly 32 138 0 170 Total 136 288 68 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1377.444a 12 .000
Table 5.48indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, PAT with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1377.444, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the PAT neutral regarding the ‘Elections Issues’ with score of 288, while 136 minus 7 non viewers were unfavorable and 68 were favorable.
(Page 130 of 200)
TABLE 5.49 Political Comedy Viewers’ Perception about APML regarding General Elections Issues Frequency Perception about APML Unfavoura Neutral Favourabl Total ble e Never 7 0 0 7 Hardly ever 15 0 13 28 Sometime 174 83 30 287 Regularly 136 20 14 170 Total 332 103 57 492
Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2sided) Chi-Square 1260.840a 12 .000
Table 5.49indicates that there are significant differences between frequency of watching political comedy program and perception about political party, APML with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N=492) = 1260.840, p=.000. Results in the table shows that Majority of the viewers of comedy shows perceive the APML unfavorable regarding the ‘Elections Issues’. Sometime viewers were more unfavorable with score of 174.
(Page 131 of 200)
Combined Results for Content Analysis and Survey This section of results, presents the combined results of content analysis of political comedy shows and public survey. Uniting both, provide the association of political comedy and public perception about the political content presented in comedy shows regarding politics, during elections. Relationship of Political Comedy Shows and Audience Perception Political issues, framing of the political issues and slants of political parties are the variables that have been studied in this research at the both ends i.e. content and survey, corresponding to the hypotheses H1, H2 and H3. Thus, the results have also been divided into three sub-sections. Relationship between Issues Discussion and Audience’ Importance Here, the table 5.50 describes the result for the hypothesis H1: More the satirical salience for ‘General Elections Issues’ in ‘Political Comedy Shows’, more the public perceive them as an important issue. TABLE 5.50 Comparison of Issues Importance in Media and among the Audience Importance of Issues Type among Audience Types of Corruptio Governan Energy Inflation Health Education 99.00 Total Issues n ce Crisis Corruption 30 36 21 12 8 9 194 310 Governance 46 29 28 25 14 11 207 360 Energy Crisis 17 18 16 14 9 4 107 185 Inflation 14 7 13 9 14 3 49 109 Health 8 8 16 6 9 2 33 82 Education 5 8 4 7 11 1 36 72 Total 120 106 98 73 65 30 626 1118 N=1118(content units), N=492(survey respondents), 99 is a missing value treatment whereas N= 1118-626=492
Issues Comedy Frequency Public Frequency Governance 360 (32.2%) 106 (21.54 %) Corruption 310 (28%) 120 (24.39 %) Energy Crisis 185 (16.6%) 98 (19.91%)
(Page 132 of 200)
Inflation/Unemployment 109 (9.7%) 73 (14.83%) Health 82 (7.3%) 65 (13.21%) Education 72 (6.4%) 30 (6.09%) Total 1118 492 Pearson Chi-Square 69.628 Df 30 Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) .000
The table indicates that there is a significant association between political comedy shows’ frequency of discussion on the six issue and viewers’ importance of these issues with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (30, N=1118) = 69.628, p=.000.
Results show that frequency of issues in comedy shows and audience frequency is predominantly same except the issue of Corruption and Governance. In shows, Governance issue is on the top with score 360 (32.2%) than that of audience 106 (21.54 %). On the other hand, Corruption issue is on the top of audience response with 120 (24.39 %). Therefore, it is concluded that on majority of the issues there is an association betweenissues presented in comedy shows and their importance among public. Missing Value treatment is an attempt to equalize the content analysis units and respondents units.
Relationship between Comedy Shows’ Framing and Audience’Perception Table 5.51 address to the Hypothesis H2: There is a significant relationship between the most salient election frames in the comedy shows and the audience’s perception of the importance of these frames. TABLE 5.51 Relationship between comedy frames (N=1118) and Audience Frames (N=492) Comedy Shows’ Audience’ Frames Frames Corruption Governance Energy Inflation Health Education Crisis Corruption -.092 .002
Governance .110
(Page 133 of 200)
.000
Energy Crisis .090 .003
Inflation .140 .000
Health .145 .000
Education .250 .000
Spearman correlation N=1118(content units N=492(survey respondents
Table 5.51describes the correlations between the frames of different elections issue presented in media and audience frames with correlation Spearman rho test. Comedy shows frames of corruption with the audience frame is negatively correlated rs=-.092, p=.002. On the other hand, there is a significant positive correlation between comedy shows and audience’ frames of governance (rs=.110, p=.000), frames of Energy Crisis (rs=.090, p=.003), Inflation frames (rs=.140, p=.000), Health frames (rs=.145, p=.000), Education Frames (rs=.250, p=.000). Itclearly indicates that the frames of different six issues discussed in the media have a relationship with the Audience perception on those issues. On the frames of corruption, there is a disagreement among the audience and media. Overall, media frames are positively correlated with audience frames.
(Page 134 of 200)
Relationship of Political Parties’ Discussion in Comedy Shows and Public Perception Here, table No. 5.52 to 5.54 presents the results which respond to the H3: Political parties’ and issues’ slant during discussion in comedy shows will be associated with the public perception about parties. Table 5.52 shows the Pearson Chi Square Association and Spearman rho correlation of parties’ discussion in comedy shows and public perception on three scales i.e. favourable, unfavourable and neutral. Table 5.53 indicates Spearman rho correlation of slant of political issues and public perception of political parties on three point scale. While table 5.54 presents the spearman rho correlation of particular political party discussion in comedy shows and public perception about all political parties. TABLE 5.52 Discussion on Political Parties in Comedy Shows and Audience’ Perception Parties Audience Perception about Pearson Chi Spearma Total Discussed Parties Square n Favourab Unfavourab Neutral Correlati le le on PPP 11(2.2%) 342 139 X2=180.86, rs=.377, 311 (69.5%) (28.2% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (27.8 ) %)
PML-N 185(37.6 142 165 X2=186.61, rs=.355, 266 %) p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (23.7 %) PTI 345(70.2 40 107 X2=184.35, rs=.363, 228 %) p=.000. df=33 p=.000 (20.3 %) APML 57 332(67.4%) 103 X2=180.22, rs=.375, 68 p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (6.08 %) PAT 68 136 288 X2=182.48, rs=.367 47 (58.5% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (4.2% ) )
(Page 135 of 200)
PML-Q 106 307(62.3%) 79 X2=182.15, rs=.372, 43 p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (3.8% ) PAL 187 100 205 X2=183.11, rs=.374, 36 (41.6% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (3.2% ) ) JUI-F 149 134 209 X2=183.02, rs=.363, 33 (42.4% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (2.9% ) ) MQM 0 350(71.1%) 142 X2=178.82, rs=.371, 26 p=.000, df=22 p=.000 (2.3% ) ANP 58 321(65.2%) 113 X2=184.35, rs=.372, 21 p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (1.8% ) JI 129 20 343 X2=181.47, rs=.354, 20 (69.7% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (1.7% ) ) PMAP 101 31 360 X2=182.97, rs=.365, 19 (69.5% p=.000, df=33 p=.000 (1.6% ) ) N=1118(content units) N=492(survey respondents)
Table shows that there is a relationship between comedy shows’ discussion on different political parties and audience perception about those political parties on three point scale i.e. favourable, unfavourable and neutral. Results indicate that the dimension or slant which media take to discuss the party may lead public perception about that party. Pearson Chi Square and Spearman’s rho have a positive significant correlation among all political parties discussed in comedy shows and public perception about parties.
Cross tabulation results are evident that 71.8 % discussion in political comedy shows was about the three political parties PPP 311(27.8%), PML-N 266 (23.7%) and PTI228(20.3%) respectively.Other nine political parties shared remaining 28.2%
(Page 136 of 200) discussion in comedy programs, APML 68 (6.08%), PAT 47(4.2%), PML-Q 43(3.8%), PAL 36(3.2%), JUI-F 33(2.9%), MQM 26(2.3%), ANP 21(1.8%), JI 20(1.7%) and PMAP 19(1.6%) respectively.
Public have very clear understanding and perception about those political parties, either in favourable or unfavourable, which were discussed in increased number of segments. On the other hand, parties that have been discussed in comedy shows with decreased number of segments, public don’t have a clear perception about them and go for neutral option in increased number. Four political parties, results elaborate, PPP, PMLN, PTI and APMLN were discussed more with 311(27.8%), 266 (23.7%), 228(20.3%) and 68 (6.08%). Therefore, audience seems to have favourable or unfavourable view for them, PPP (unfavourable=342, 69.5%), PML-N (favourable=185, 37.6%), PTI (favourable=345, 70.2%) and APML (unfavourable=332, 67.4%).
On the other hand, respondents perceived those parties on neutral which may have not been discussed much through comedy satire and humour, PAT, PAL, JUI-F, JI, PMAP were marginally discussed in shows with 47(4.2%), 36(3.2%), 33(2.9%), 20(1.7%), 19(1.6%) respectively. Therefore, respondent have more neutral perception about them PAT (neutral=288, 58.5%), PAL (neutral=205, 41.6%),JUI-F (neutral=209, 42.4%), JI (neutral=343, 69.7%), PMAP (neutral=360, 69.5%). Some parties which were less discussed but audience perceive them unfavourable with regard to the issues of elections would be due to their incumbency factor and performance.
(Page 137 of 200)
TABLE 5.53 Relationship of Issues’ Slant in Comedy Shows and Audience Perception about Political Parties Perception of Political Parties regarding Campaign Issues Slant PML- PPP PTI ANP PMLQ MQM JUI-F JI PMAP PAL PAT APML N Corruption -.096** -.110** -.09**7 -.102** -.111** -.107** -.098** -.095** -.101** -.108** -.113** -.103** .001 .000 .001 .001 .000 .000 .001 .002 .001 .000 .000 .001
Governance .044 .038 .041 .045 .047 .040 .042 .039 .047 .030 .043 .032 .141 .207 .173 .`134 .113 .186 .160 .194 .114 .323 .151 .287
Energy Crisis .103** .092** .104** .105** .095** .093** .099** .116** .107** .093** .109** .091** .001 .002 .000 .000 .001 .002 .001 .000 .000 .002 .000 .002
Inflation .156** .150** .156** .164** .163** .156** .154** .166** .153** .152** .153** .150** .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
Health .150** .149** .155** .145** .144** .150** .150** .149** .149** .150** .148** .151** .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
Education .274** .281** .283** .281** .275** .273** .273** .276 .286** .266** .273** .280**
(Page 138 of 200)
.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 Spearman correlation is significant at .oo1 level. N=1118(content units) N=492(survey respondents)
(Page 139 of 200)
This 5.53 table describes the relationship of Issue slant in comedy shows and audience perception about political parties which remain the target of parody, satire and humour in comedy programs on certain issues. Content of comedy shows was categorized into favourable, unfavourable and neutral about the political parties on six selected issues. On the other hand, audience was asked about their perception about different twelve political parties on six elections issues.
Spearman’s correlation of these two variable shows that there is an agreement between comedy shows’ issue slant and audience perception about political parties on four issues, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health, and Education, as the spearman’s correlation is positively significant. While, on the other hand on issue of Governance there is no agreement among the audience and shows presentation as the spearman’s correlation is insignificant for the Governance issue. Nonetheless, the issue of Corruption is significant but negatively correlated which means that media and audience are in the different directions on the issue of corruption. It is pertinent to mention that slant is determined keeping in view the favorability, neutrality and unfavorability.
(Page 140 of 200)
TABLE 5.54 Relationship of All political parties discussed in shows and audience perception Perception of Political Parties regarding Campaign Issues Party PML-N PPP PTI ANP PMLQ MQM JUI-F JI PMAP PAL PAT APM discussed L PML-N .355 .377 .363 .372 .372 .371 .363 .354 .365 .374 .367 .375 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
PPP .914 .923 .937 .909 .941 .927 .931 .952 .895 .892 .926 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
PTI .952 .960 .942 .953 .894 .890 .905 .930 .936 .947 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
ANP .936 .923 .936 .909 .931 .943 .936 .944 .939 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
PMLQ .911 .954 .916 .906 .926 .894 .904 .917 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
MQM .937 .919 .897 .916 .952 .923 .939
(Page 141 of 200)
.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
JUI-F .927 .919 .921 .909 .922 .916 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
JI .950 .959 .919 .865 .929 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
PMAP .964 .895 .916 .911 .000 .000 .000 .000
PAL .908 .919 .935 .000 .000 .000
PAT .917 .959 .000 .000
APML .923 .000
N=1118(content units N=492(survey respondents
(Page 142 of 200)
This table 5.54 shows the relationship of all the political parties discussed in media and audience perception about them. It is evident that all parties discussed in shows have positive and significant correlation with same political parties on one hand while on the other hand, each party also have significant and positive correlation with other political parties.
It may also conclude that comedy about one political party in the comedy shows may highlight the salient features of other political parties. That may be why respondent who have the perception about particular party will have the opinion for other parties too. It is pertinent to mention that slant is determined keeping in view the favorability, neutrality and unfavorability.
(Page 1 of 200)
Discussion of the Study In media studies, analysing the issues’ importance, treatment and perception during elections have been a long tradition, from agendas setting and framing to primingin USA and other parts of the world (Scheufele, 1999; Nisbet, 2007; McLeod et al., 2009). In Pakistan, media freedom has taken many new turns since last two decades, which have led the media to exercise a role in democratic process(Rasul&Proffiff, 2013). This role has been recognized among the academia, intellectuals and civil society (Jan, 2010). This role of the media is prone to many changes in the society specifically for the development of democracy (Saleem&Hanan, 2015). Thus, agenda setting, framing and priming seem relevant in Pakistan to analyse the political implications of electronic media.
In many ways, media and democracy are considered very important for the development of democratic attitude of society. Like other Asian countries, in south Asia Pakistan is the country whose media, particularly electronic media have gone through an enormous development since the start of this century, after the liberalization of global economic markets(Rasul&Proffiff, 2013).People in Pakistan are enjoying a diverse range of TV news channels and heavily relying on TV news and current affairs shows for political information (Saeed, 2015).These shows may providing interpretation of political issues to audience and become key for host of political processes.
Parallel to the news and current affairs talk shows, in TV news channels of Pakistan, a trend of political comedy shows have also been witnessed(Eijaz, 2012; Subhni, 2012) . In contrary to the serious political shows, political comedy shows are presenting the political issues and political leadership and their respective political parties in a way that seems to more appealing to audience (Yusuf &Schoemaker, 2013).These shows are popular among the audience and are also the subject of debate that how are these shows providing an alternative of traditional talk shows? How the political issues are being given treatment in these shows? And what political consequences of these shows can have an influence on the perception of the audience regarding the political attitude and behaviour.
Therefore, implications of political issues’ treatment in comedy shows and its interpretations among the audienceare also getting attentions of the political communication scholarship(for
(Page 2 of 200) instance, Baumgartner & Morris, 2006; Hoffman & Thomson, 2009; LaMarre, Landreville, & Beam, 2009; Young &Tisinger, 2006). Theoretical approaches framing, agenda setting and priming mayequally be applicable on political comedy content broadcast on news channels, likewise traditional news and talk shows, to understand political system of any society (Young, 2013; Mulligan &Habel (2011). Present study results also suggest that agenda setting, framing and priming effects are visible in political comedy shows and among its audience.
Political Comedy Shows This section, discusses and analyses the ‘Content Analysis’ results of comedy shows’ patterns, issues, frames and slants, during the general elections 2013 in Pakistan, addressing the research questions RQ1, RQ1a, RQ2, RQ2a, RQ3, RQ3a and RQ4, RQ4a of this research.
Patterns Mainstream News Channels of Pakistan broadcast comedy shows based on current political activities on regular basis like the other countries of the world (Jones, 2010). During elections 2013 in Pakistan, Geo News, Dunya News and Express news were the main channels that broadcast political comedy programs regularly.Dunay News’ comedy show Hasb-e-Hall discussed the more political content 490 (44%) segments out of 1118, than the other shows. Geo News broadcast HSUSH and Khabarnaak with 218(19%) and 297(27%) segments. Express news’ DarLing discussed 113(10%) segments.Thus, it is concluded that political comedy show are very much prevalent and there is a competitive trend of political humour on mainstreams TV channels of Pakistan, as Jones has discussed that in USA, political satire shows are very popular (Jones, 2010).This trend is being followed by the Pakistani TV Channels. It indicates, in media fragmented environment (Hollander, 2005), that TV channels of Pakistan have also realized that new genres are necessary to grab the attention of viewers for political content.
Unlike the traditional talk shows, comedy shows utilize variety of segments and formats that help to produce comedy. Structurally, in Pakistan, these shows usemainly three formats, ‘Anchor Based’, ‘Character Based’ and ‘Music Based’.Characters are very popular in these showsand appeared very frequently in dummy characters of politicians or any symbolic representation of society (42%). They might have the liberty to make parody, mimic and copy of the expressions of political figures in a humourous way and this helps communicate much of the political
(Page 3 of 200) substance between the lines. These results are similar toAnagondahalliandKhamis (2014) who discussed that jokester and contemporary comedians deliver blistering critique and demonstrate unwanted truths. Compton (2004) also discussed that characters-driven criticism is a very common and potential feature of these shows which are also prevalent in political satire in Pakistan.
Anchors are also an important part of these shows (38%) like traditional shows but they seem to have a different role here. They are more interactive, witty and come up with more work that help to engage the characters, audience and laughter in a meaning full way.Compton (2004) while describing the format of satirical shows, considered the job of a host “mirroring process of reputational pre-emption” in these shows. Young (2013) also found that host of TDS and CR differently treat the shows. Therefore, it is evident that in Pakistan, comedy shows are also employing the host based format who are giving the treatment to these shows differently.
Music based (20%) segments are also included to produce humour, parody and satire in the shows. Lyrics of music segment describes the political happenings in a funny way that helpful to amuse the audience. On the other side, lyrics with music and visuals helpful to inform them about the political events and their contexts. Movements and performances of characters in the music segments are helpful to create a humour as Attardo (2001) argue that humour is produced with the visual, musical, paralinguistic, and intertextual sings or clues (p. 100–101)
Therefore,it is evident that politics is being presented with the help of humour and satire in very diverse ways in Pakistan which is the harbinger of political interest and awareness. Comedy programs are popular on the basis of three segments, characters, anchors or music. ‘Hasb-e-Hall’ of ‘Dunya News’ is more character based and popular due its ‘character Azizi’ who is well known and famous artist of theatre. Khabarnaak of Geo News is more anchor centric show whose anchor Aftab Iqbal known by his creative, passion and hard work. He seems to be ruling over the shows with his timely and witty insertions in the show. DarLing of Express News include large amount of political content based on musical lyrics and visuals.These results indicate that hosts, comedian and shows are famous around the globe as Colbert and Stewart who are popular in USA, Ehring in Germany for his show ‘Extra-3’, ‘Les Guignols’ in France and ‘The Last Leg’ in Australia.
(Page 4 of 200)
Political comedy in these shows is produced through humour, parody and satire. Satire is predominantly used 487(44%) in comedy shows as compared to Humour 369(33%) and parody 262(23%). In Khabarnaak and DarLing, more satire is used (78%) and (61%) respectively while Hasb-e-Hall used more humour (44%) and Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain used more Parody (37%). Hasb-e-Hall and Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain utilized the complete range of comedy including humour, parody and satire.
Result of present study highlight that different types of political comedy humour, satire and parody are contrastively used in these shows. In previous studies, scholars have identified contrasts of these concepts related to comedy. Lindsay and Dannagal (2011) argued that satire and parody are contrastive to each other. Schutz (1977) categorized humour into comedy, witticisms, caricature, jokes, anecdotes, invective or satire. Matthes, Rauchfleisch and Kohler (2011) have investigated effects of political parody on the ratings of the politicians. They are of the view that parody helpful to transport implicit message. Pfau et al., (1990) mentioned three types of attacks which are made by the comedian in TV Comedy i.e. monologue-attack, parody- attack, and conventional-attack.
Therefore, it is concluded, addressing the RQ1 that variety of comedy patterns are being used by the comedy programs in Pakistan.Diverse political comedy programs on mainstream channels of Pakistan i.e. HSUSH, HH, KN and DarLing; various forms of comedy i.e. satire, humour and parody; several basis of comedy i.e. anchor, character and music are very much visible in Pakistan. On the other hand, significant chi square differences, answering to RQ1a indicatethat these shows are utilizing patterns with varying degree.
Issues Analysis about the type of issues discussed in the comedy shows and frequency of discussion is also an important part of this research. Mostly, under the umbrella of Political issues, pure political issues (59%) in comedy shows were discussed more frequently as compared to economic (26%) and social issues (15%). Comedy shows, Hasb-e-Hall 321(66%) of its total 490 segments, Khabarnaak 179(60%) 0f 297 segments and Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain 122(56%) of total 218 segmentsdiscussed political issues largely. Consequently, political issues, corruption and governance remain top priority, economic issues inflation, unemployment and energy crisis
(Page 5 of 200) are placed in the middle while social issue, health and education are less discussed or ignored. This is very strange that the issues directly related to people are not given priority. Although the comedy shows have the liberty to treat the issue with their own way but here it seems they are following the traditional shows’ issue trend (Gallup, 20013). Therefore, these results draw our attention toward the relationship between traditional and comedy showsas Baym (2005) analysed that satire is providing new ways of political journalism in 21st century. Similar agenda is also evident from the results among all major TV comedy shows in Pakistan as Zukas(2012) found in ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘Saturday Night’.
Issues are discussed with reference to political parties. Results brought another fact in front of us is that only major political parties are discussed in the comedy shows with reference to issues. Data shows that three political parties remained the top priority of discussion, PPP (28%), PML- N (24%), PTI (20%). On the other hand, political parties, PML-Q, ANP, MQM, PMAP, JUI-F which have more representation in parliament discussed in comedy shows marginally whereas parties PAT, APML, PAL which have minor or no representation in parliament discussed with priority. It confirms that how media is more inclined to make comedy about those parties that are not equally popular than those who are primarily in power.Consequently, like the parties, mainstream political leadership of Pakistan is discussed preferably in political comedy programs with high percentage 67 % (745). Provincial and parliamentary leadership is discussed at the 2nd and 3rd preference 17 %( 92), 16% (181) respectively.
Here, the results provide an evidence of media’ priority for some political parties and some political leadership over the others.Hariton (2011) argued that likewise general media, comedy also performed the same function in terms of agenda setting by prioritising certain issues, parties and politicians “they call the viewers’ attention to specifics issues or events of the day, or set an agenda, and these issues become more important to the viewer than other events/issues that were not addressed”. Consequently, as results shows political partiesPMLN, PPP, PTI, which are mainstream parties in general elections 2013 because these were contesting from all Pakistan constituencies given more importance by TV political comedy as well as PAT and APML which were not in power corridors also been given more importance than other comparatively large political parties like MQM, ANP, PMLQ and JI.
(Page 6 of 200)
Subsequently, issues discussed in comedy shows also discussed with varied frequency which provide analysis about the issue preferences at the part of comedy shows. It is found that Governance (32%) and Corruption (28%) were at the top agenda of discussion in political comedy shows. Energy Crisis (17%) and Inflation (10%) issues were moderately discussed whereas Health (7%) and Education (6%) were marginally less discussed. This pattern of discussion about issues shows that shows inclined to less discuss those issues which are related to the social and economic needs of the people. That can be one of the reasons that politicians don’t pay attention to the issue of people like Health and Education instead they heedful to those issues important for their political gains. Therefore, it is concluded, addressing the RQ2 that political issues were presented more frequently in comedy other than economic and social issues.On the other hand, significant chi square differences, answering to RQ2a indicate that these shows are giving importance to issues with difference.
Frames Frames are the processes by which media organize an event or issue (Iyengar 1991). Thus,the windows through which media discuss the issues may be different aspects of the same issue through which discussion is made can be named as frames. Six issues selected for the present study were also checked on the levels of frames. Thus, it was tested that which frames were used by the comedy shows to discuss the issues. Each issue was taken into account against the four frames. Chi-Square differences between comedy shows and issues’ frames was positive.
In shows, during general elections following frames were employed to discuss the issues. Frames of ‘Corruption’ issue, ‘Money Laundering’ (ML), ‘Kickbacks/Commission’ (KB), ‘Tax Evasion’ (TE) and ‘Merit Violation’ (MV) were discussed with Chi-Square X2(15, N = 1118) = 54.125, p =.000. For the issue ‘Governance’, four frames, ‘Performance’ (PR), ‘Law & Order/ Terrorism’ (LO), ‘Democratic Culture’ (DA) and ‘Accountability’ (AC) were used with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 1118) = 54.125, p =.001. In ‘Energy Crisis’, ‘Electricity Crisis’ (EC), ‘CNG Shortage’ (CS), ‘Sui Gas Shortage’ (SS), ‘Solutions’ (SL) were deliberated with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 1118) = 138.315, p =.018. ‘Inflation’ issue was debated under the frames, ‘Monetary Policy’ (MP), ‘Basic Food Essentials’ BF), ‘Unemployment’ (UE) and ‘Statistical Gimmicks’ (SG) with Chi- Square X2 (15, N = 1118) = 138.315, p =.018. ‘Health’ frame that were utilized in comedy shows include, ‘Fake Medicine’ (FM), ‘Young Doctor’s Strikes’ (YS), ‘Lack of Health
(Page 7 of 200)
Facilities’ (HF) and ‘Health Conditions’ (HC) with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 1118) = 289.166, p =.018. Issue of ‘Education’ was discoursed within the frames, ‘Primary Schools’ (PS), ‘Higher education’ (HE), ‘Quality Education’ (QE), and ‘Uniform Curriculum’ (UC) with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 1118) = 103.341, p =.018.
It means that all comedy shows on mainstream TV channels of Pakistan are employing the different four frames to discuss each issue during general elections. These results are identical to Elliot (2013) who found entertainment frame in UK and USA during presidential elections 2012.On the other hand, findings shows resemblance with the second level of agenda setting which according to McCombs (1999) is framing of those issues highlighted by the media saliently as a first level. The framing of those objects on the media agenda can also influence the pictures of those objects in our heads.
Although the issue have association with the frames, some frames of the same issues were discussed with more salient. This also draw our attention towards the second level of agenda setting i.e. framing of the issues. It is evident in the present study, frames of corruption, KB (29%) andML (32%) were given more discussion whileMV (21%) and TE (18%) were given less discussion. Comedy show, Khabarnaak (KN) significantly discussed ML and KB while ‘Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain’ (HSUSH) and Hasb-e-Hall (HH) discussed all frames of corruption. It means that while discussing corruption ‘Hajj Corruption’, ‘Surrey Palace’, ‘Mr. Ten Percent’, ‘Swiss Accounts’, ‘Foreign Accounts’, ‘Metro Tenders’, Ittefaq Foundry’, ‘Asgar Khan Case’ etc. were more highlighted. However, ‘Hiding property’, ‘income Tax Returns’, ‘Bank Loans’ were marginally discussed. It also means that incumbent political party might have been targeted more because KB and ML were seemingly PPP specific. On the other hand opposition party was less targeted as PML-N was seemingly more MV specific. On the other hand, among the frames of governance issues Performance came as significantly discussed frame with higher percentage (46%) while DC (14%) was at the decline. Comedy shows, HH and KN discussed PR mainly. Accountability was ignored by all the shows. It is evident that during the general elections, performance was taking into account largely. Elections outcomes, later confirmed that due to poor performance, PPP was out rightly rejected in the centre and three provinces of Pakistan (Sethi, 2017).
(Page 8 of 200)
Energy Crisis issue’ frame EC (49%) was discussed in considerably more while Sui Gas Shortage (16%) with less and SL marginally (15%).HSUSH and HH discussed the Electricity Crisis frame more considerably in (43%) and (55%) segments respectively. During the general elections energy crisis was observed as very crucial problem of the voters.
Frames of issue Inflation represented in comedy as BFE (49%) and Unemployment (20%) with higher percentage as compared to the other frames. Monetary Policy (18%) and Statistical Gimmicks (13%) frames were discussed with low percentage.There were significant differences between comedy shows and frames of inflation with Chi-Square X2 (15, N = 109) = 138.315, p =.018. Khabarnaak discussed the BFE frame significantly with higher percentage (57%) than other shows.
For the health issue Lack of Health Facilities frame and Fake Medicine frame were discussed with high percentages (43% and 32%) while Health Conditions and Young Doctor’s Strike frames were discussed with lower percentages (15% and 10%).Significant differences with Chi- Square X2 (15, N = 82) = 289.166, p =.018 are obvious in the results. HSUSH discussed LHF(64%) while Hasb-e-Haal discussed FM(50%) with significantly higher percentage (50%) and Darling discussed the Health Conditions (23%) with significantly higher percentage.In education issue,Primary Schools frame and Higher Education frame were discussed with higher percentages (34%, 28%) respectively while Quality Education frame (19%) and Uniform Curriculum frame were discussed with lower percentages.Khabarnaak discussedPS (46%) , Hasb-e-Haal discussed QE (36%), and DarLing discussed HE (33%) while HSUSH discussed UC (33%) significantly with higher percentages than other shows.
These results corresponds with Zukas (2012) who studied the agenda setting and framing functions between two shows ABC World News with Charles Gibson and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Researcher found similarity of agenda setting function of these shows, however, they found significant differences in framing function of these shows. Therefore, it can be concluded that channel policy may have effect on the treatment of frames. Alternatively, argument of Brewer and Kimberly (2010) present that different frames continually go on interacting with one another and that competing frame would yield different impact, which relies upon the status of source’s credibility or lacking (p.165).
(Page 9 of 200)
Therefore, it is concluded, addressing the RQ3 that four significant frames of each issue were presented but with different frequency and significant chi square differences, answering to RQ3a indicate that these shows are giving importance to different frames of the issues.
Slants After the issues importantly discussed and their framing in shows, priming of the issues is explored in the present study. Priming isthe treatment of the issue in a way that could influence the viewers’ trust on politicians or evaluation of candidates, political parties and their leadership (Boukes & Boomgaarden, 2016).The literature indicates that political entertainment have the ability to prime the traits of candidates (Holbert et al., 2003; Moy, Xenos, & Hess, 2005; Young, 2006). Thus, this evaluation refer to the slant, tilt or valence of issues that would be significant for evaluation. Findings of this study showssignificant relationship of Political parties mainly discussed in programs and slant of Corruption issue with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1118) = 450.029, p =.000, governance issue with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1118) = 86.668, p =.000, energy crisis with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1118) = 96.456, p =.000, inflation with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1117) = 60.887, p =.002, health with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1118) = 61.325, p =.002, while education have no correlation with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 1118) = 38.366, p =.239.
Slant, in this study is identified on three point scale, favourable, unfavourable and neutral. Here, significant association indicates that political parties were interpreted, in comedy shows, in terms of favourable, unfavourable or neutral. Thus, political parties always have positions on the issues which become the topic of discussion in shows. As Holbrook (2003) studied the priming effects of political entertainment. They claimed that non-news sources of political information specifically political entertainment appear to play a significant role in the construction of political attitudes.
According to results (59%) discussion on corruption was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas (28%) discussion was Neutral and (13%) discussion was in favour of political parties.
The position of PPP (80%) on the issue of corruption was interpreted negatively. Other parties were given negative as well as positive and neutral discussion too which balanced the intensity of unfavourable discussion. Due to incumbency factor and number of corruption scandals during
(Page 10 of 200) their government tenure were the factors that they got bad media on corruption and other issues. PTI was given neutral discussion with high percentage (38%) than others.
On the issue of ‘Governance’, PPP (68%) was discussed un-favourably more than PML-N (52%) and PTI (54%) while PML-N (20%) was discussed favourably more as compared to PPP (10%) and PTI (17%). Likewise corruption issue, PPP negatively discussed for governance too but PML-N and PTI got positive discussion on governance. Many political analysts believe that PML-N impression was viable as well that helped them to have a good media.
There were significant differences in slant of energy crisis issue with Chi-Square X2 (33, N = 185) = 96.456, p =.000. PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (84%) regarding the issue of energy crisis as compared to other parties. PML-N was given significantly favourable with higher percentage 55%.Comedy shows projected all parties negative on the EC because no party could come up with reasonable solutions to resolve this crisis. All parties were doing point scoring and using rhetoric. Discredit of this issue is usually given to ex- president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf whose party APML his allies parties were negatively discussed.PPP was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (92%) regarding the issue of inflation as compared to other parties. On the other hand, PTI was given significantly favourable and neutral discussion with higher percentage 42% and 29% respectively. Slant of health issue with Chi-SquareX2 (33, N = 82) = 61.325, p =.002 explains significant difference among political parties.PML-N was given significantly unfavourable discussion with higher percentage (72%). PTI was given significantly favourable with higher percentage 33%.
For slant of education 51% discussion was Un-favourable towards political parties whereas 30% discussion was favourableand 19% neutral.PPPdiscussed significantly unfavourable (78%) whereasPTI discussed significantly neutral (50%) and favourable (38%) discussion.Overall, issue of education was less discussedas compared to other issues. PML-N, PTI and PPP got negative discussion as well as positive in the same pattern.
On the basis of the findings, research question RQ4 can be answered that overall political parties were discussed with unfavourable discussion while on some issues parties were given favourable discussion as well.As RQ4a asked about significant difference in level of Slant, findings shows
(Page 11 of 200)
PPP got more negative discussion. PML-N was given positive as well as negative slant at the same time which created a balance for it. On the other hand PTI was given more positive discussion. Thus, different positions of the political parties on issues are taken into account by the comedy shows accordingly.As different political parties define their association with some issues by owning them. Political parties “own” certain issues. “When the media elevate one or the other issue to higher saliency, they are inadvertently helping the political party that ‘owns’ that issue” (Dearing & Rogers, 1996, p. 63).This is the major argument of the issue-ownership hypothesis (Petrocik, 1997).Political parties are therefore expected to enjoy an electoral gain when the media are emphasizing “their” issues.
Therefore, findings relates, by priming a certain issue the media affect the criteria people use to evaluate political actors (Iyengar& Kinder, 1987). If the issue would be primed, then people would judge the candidates’ performance by mostly evaluating their performance in the area of that particular issue (Pan &Kosicki, 1997).
Audience of Political Comedy This section, discusses and analyses the ‘Survey’ results of audience’ consumption patterns of political comedy shows, issues, frames and perception, during the general elections 2013 in Pakistan, addressing the research questions RQ5, RQ5a, RQ6, RQ6a, RQ7, RQ7a and RQ8, RQ8a of this research.
Consumption Patterns Findings of the research shows that viewership of traditional talk shows and political comedy shows are near to equal which indicates that viewers who watch traditional shows also inclined to watch comedy shows and vice versa on mainstream channels of Pakistan.Similarly, viewers’ exposure to comedy shows and ranking of comedy shows with also explains that viewers preferred to watch comedy shows.
These results demonstrate that comedy shows are popular among the audience of mainstream TV news channels. Citizens are not only watching traditional talk shows other than viewing comedy shows to make the sense of politics during general elections. These findings provide a strong support to argument of present study that political comedy is equally important as Mindich (2005) stated that youth in US get more of their news about politics and current situations from
(Page 12 of 200) late-night tv comedy shows. These shows are becoming gradually popular among audience (West and Orman 2003). In Greece, Masta(2010) also found TV comedy equally popular as well as traditional media.
Watching frequency of TV comedy and different shows aired on different mainstream channels with Chi-Square X2 (20, N = 492) = 1251.82, p =.000 is supportive for the argument that viewers of these shows have a diverse exposure of comedy and tending to watch different comedy shows. That is why, results are evident that respondent seems to identify significantly the different ‘Anchors’, ‘Characters’ and ‘Formats/Segments’ of comedy shows. That is why, there is an increasing number of respondents who apparently look into political entertainment as a possible source of information and meaning construction of political reality (Kohut, 2012).
Viewers of shows also have choices for their favourite comedy show ‘Anchor’ with Chi-Square X2 (20, N = 492) = 1251.82, p =.000 that shows that they are familiar with different anchors of TV comedy i.e. SabaQamar, JunaidSaleem, Aftab Iqbal, Khalid Abbas Dar. Respondents also have choices for characters of the comedy shows i.e. ‘Azizi’ character of HH show, ‘Darling’ character of DR, ‘Dummy Museum’ of KN, ‘Funny Hosts’ of HSUSH, and ‘Dummy Political Leaders’ in all shows, with significantX2 (20, N = 492) = 1287.23a, p =.000association.Audience preferences of segments/Formats in TV comedy shows with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (12, N = 492) = 1984.00, p =.000 clarify that respondents’ choices for different segments i.e. ‘Anchor Based’, Character Based’, ‘Music Based’ are associated with their watching habits of shows. These anchors and comedians are becoming popular among the audience as West (2001) declared the hosts of comedy shows “unconventional political commentators”. They made the serious and straight news and current affairs more entertaining. This is the reason, Patterson(2000)found that viewers are shifting towards comedy shows that is more enjoyable for them (p. 15).
This study also makes an attempt to differentiate among the comedy components which may appeal to audience differently (Hoffman & Young, 2011). Choices of the audience of TV comedy for type of comedy being used in different comedy programs are associated with their watching patterns. Some of the different ways through which comedy is produced may be are ‘Humour’, ‘Satire’ and ‘Parody’. Viewership seems allied with these choices, ‘Humour’ appeal
(Page 13 of 200) the audience with Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1531.05, p =.000,‘Parody’ that attractthem with Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1997.68, p =.000. ‘Satire’ fascinate them with Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1888.92, p =.000.
It is identified that in TV comedy ‘Humour’ is produced with the help of following insertions i.e. ‘Jokes’, ‘Funny Situations’, ‘Funny Expressions’, ‘Funny Labels’ which are associated with viewers’ exposure to comedy with Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1531.05a, p =.000. Parody in comedy shows is observed through the following acts; ‘Mimicry of politician/Imitation’, ‘Dummy Museum’, ‘Parody Songs’, ‘Funny Re-enactments of political situations’ which are linked with their comedy exposure with Pearson Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1997.68a, p =.000. Satire is reflected through the items; ‘Pointing something between the lines’, ‘Sarcastic remarks on political situation’, ‘Critical evaluation of politician’s personal traits’, ‘Punch lines/ Juggat’ which is related with their TV comedy exposure with Chi-Square X2 (16, N = 492) = 1888.92a, p =.000. These patterns of the present study respondents, correspond with Hoffman & Young (2011) who found that “punchline jokes and caricatures of public figures, satire and parody tend to focus more on issues and policy—much like their traditional news counterparts”. They argue that this different component “may make policy and issue stances more salient to viewers of satire and parody”.
Overall consumptions patterns of political satire in Pakistan shows healthy sign for democratic attitude as Young (2013) observed that fans of political satire consistently exhibit exceptionally healthy democratic characteristics compared to non-viewers. “People who watch Stewart and Colbert participate in politics more; they vote more; they discuss politics with friends and family more; they watch cable news more; they get news online more”
Therefore, it is concluded, addressing the RQ5 that variety of comedy patterns are being consumed by the audience of comedy programs in Pakistan. Diverse political comedy i.e. HSUSH, HH, KN and DarLing; various forms of comedy i.e. satire, humour and parody; several basis of comedy i.e. anchor, character and music are very much liked by the audience in Pakistan. On the other hand, significant chi square differences, answering to RQ5a indicate that consumption patterns of audience vary by the watching frequency.
Issues
(Page 14 of 200)
The viewers who frequently watch comedy shows are more likely to have recognition of issues importance during general elections. Association of comedy exposure is significant with audience given importance to issues with Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492) = 1146.598, p=.000. This indicates that respondent’s exposure may lead them to have an understanding of the context in which the issues become important as Masta (2010) found that television political satire shows significantly convince the public and influence their preferences and political choices and ultimately their political activities. That is how the agenda setting approach argue that opinion about the preference of issues come from media as we have little personal or direct contact with national politics (McCombs and Shaw, 2002, p.5).These findings support the one of the aspect of agenda setting hypothesis which deals with public agenda. Weaver (1994) found the shift of, in 1992 presidential election, power from the media to the voters. Media’s power is limited, Weaver argue, but public’s perceived reality help them to make decisions is the outcome of media agenda (349).
In response to perceived reality, public seem to have an opinion about the issues in terms of importance. This reflect that viewers of comedy shows have the political interest and awareness of issues that is central to the democracy. This contribution of comedy shows parallel to traditional shows provide a new dimension need to be undertaken for the better understanding of political behaviours and attitudes of the society.
Public perception about the issue may fluctuate as media treatment varied. Leano (2014) explored the impact of the late-night program Saturday Night Live, analysing its impact using agenda-setting theory. Likewise, according to results, regularly and sometime viewers of political comedy shows ranked the issue of Corruption at the top order with score 120(24%) followed by Governance with score 106(22%), Energy Crisis 98(20%), Inflation 73(15%), Health 65(13%) and Education 30(6%) respectively. It indicates that respondents give more attention to those issues which are discussed with more satirical way, responding to the RQ6. Findings of the study explains significant difference of audience given importance to all issues by watching frequency addressing to RQ6a with Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492) = 1146.598, p=.000.
Frames
(Page 15 of 200)
People who watch comedy shows may have a good understanding of the different aspects (frames) in which different issues are discussed and interpreted with the help of comedy. Findings of this research better exhibit that exposure to TV comedy is significantly related to the perception of necessarily important frames for the understanding of the issues. Frames of the following issues; corruption, governance, energy crisis, inflation, health and education were found interrelated with exposure of TV comedy shows.
On corruption issue, viewers’ exposure was significantly related with the corruption frames,ML (186), MV (151), KB (88), and TE (67) with X2 (20, N=492) = 1693.714, p=.000. It shows that viewers of TV comedy were in the position to identify the important frames crucial for the issue of corruption. Their ranking of frames revealed that public perceived money laundering and merit violation frames are the reasons of corruption in the country. On the other hand, exposure to TV comedy was related with the governance frames X2 (24, N=492) = 1554.590, p=.000. Respondents considered the frames, LO (185), PR (152), DC (58), and AC (74) decisive for the governance in Pakistan.
Likewise, exposure of TV comedy was related with frames of energy crisis SS (153), CS (139), EC (120), SL (80) with X2 (24, N=492) = 1607.340, p=.000, inflation frames, SG (189), UE (123), BF (100), and MP (80) with Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492) = 1457.543, p=.000, health frames, HC (96), HF (156), DS (98), and FM (142) with Chi-Square X2 (24, N=492) = 1473.455, p=.000, frames of education, PS (199) UC (93), QE (134) and HE (66) with X2 (24, N=492) = 1392.376, p=.000. Findings indicates that respondents of comedy shows are attentively taking the political issues into account as “a frame is significant as it can decide whether an audience understand, notice and remember the issue as well as how an audience consider and determine to reply on the given issue (Lugalambi,2006, p.131).
Therefore, it is concluded that watching TV comedy may providing the devices to the audience to identify the key factors involved in the issues. Here, respondents seem very familiar with Issues; energy crisis, inflation, health and education when they identify the frames, ‘Sui- Gas Shortage’, ‘Statistical Gimmicks’, ‘Health Conditions’ and ‘Uniform Curriculum’ of these issues respectively, which are very crucial for understanding of these issues. These results are
(Page 16 of 200) supportive to answer the RQ7 which asked about the Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’.
These results of the study provide support to argue the framing of issues is an extended approach of agenda setting that intends to explore how the issue is presented (McCombs, 1999).Pictures of the objects in our heads about the issues might be the influence of the objects discussed in the media that way.This is what Valkenburg et al. (1999) observed “the media have the ability not only to tell people what issue to think about but also how to think about them” while studying the framing effects. On the other hand, Castronovo (2007) found that political comedy shows has significant framing effects on young adults. Addressing to RQ7a, Findings confirm that political comedy have the capacity to form political knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of the viewers (Dudo, Holbert, Lambe, & Carlton, 2007) with Viewers’ perception about the Frames of ‘General Elections Issues’ which differ by their watching frequency.
Perception Another contribution of the comedy shows is the priming. TV satire have the ability to prime the traits of political parties’ politicians or candidates (Holbert et al., 2003; Moy, Xenos& Hess, 2005; Young, 2006). In this way, political figures’ priming in political entertainment shows influence the perception of candidates (Boukes and Boomgaarden, 2016).Consequently, results shows that viewers of TV comedy likely to perceive the political parties on three point scale i.e. favourable, unfavourable or neutral, responding research question RQ8 and with significant differences according to watching frequency responding to RQ8a. comedy exposure significantly correlated (with Pearson Chi-Square X2) with perception about political parties; PML-N (1268.298, p=.000), PPP (1493.389, p=.000), PTI (1607.979, p=.000), ANP (1456.680, p=.000), PML-Q (1256.491, p=.000), MQM (1340.164, p=.000), JUI-F (1232.296, p=.000), JI (1228.501, p=.000), PMAP (1338.003, p=.000), PAL (1301.025, p=.000), PAT (1377.444, p=.000), APML (1260.840, p=.000). These results indicate that people having reasonable exposure of TV comedy are very much aware of political parties’ conduct on the different issues. Comedy is making them so critical that they have a certain opinion about parties either favourable, unfavourable or neutral. These perception results, this study argue, may be the
(Page 17 of 200) priming effects of political entertainment which have been observed important to determine viewers’ attitude(Holbrook, 2003).these findings leads to answer RQ8.
Crosstab results elaborate that PTI (345), JI (343), PML-N (185), JUI-F (149) were perceived more favourable as compared to other political parties. Apparently, these parties were the soft target of comedy shows which might have made them perceived positively. On the other hand, viewers perceived them positive, keeping in view the newly emerging party (PTI), reputation (JI) political experience and viability (PML-N) and democratic attitude (JUI-F). Another factor to take them favourable is that these parties were not the incumbent parties which give them an advantage. Thus, the findings suggest that respondents perceive these political parties positively because personality traits of Politicians are made understood in depth by the comedy shows (Goldthwaite Young, 2004; Moy &Pfau, 2000). Satire empower themto connect with politics and active understanding in a playful way (Young, 2013). On the other hand, results of the present study, shows endorse to the findings of Nisbest (2010) who found comedy shows influencing public perception.
Those political parties who remained the hard target of comedy during their incumbency were perceived negatively. MQM(350), PPP (342), APML (332),ANP(321) PML-Q(307) were perceived more negatively by the respondents. During their government tenure, large number of corruption scandals came on presentation layer which remained the target of comedy. On the other side, political parties who have no representation or less representation in parliament were perceived neutral. PMAP (360), PAL (205), PAT (288) were perceived more neutral. All of this may be because the comedy shows are associated with viewers’ recognition of campaign information and also effects learning of candidates’ characteristics (Davis & Owen, 1998; Kim &Vishak, 2008; Moy, Xenos, & Hess, 2005).Responding to RQ8a, it is evident through these arguments that there are significant differences as audience viewership frequency and how they perceive politically parties.
Relationship ofComedy Shows and Audience Perception This section, discusses and analyses the results for the relationship of comedy shows and audience perception about issues, frames and slants based on ‘Content Analysis’ and ‘Survey’
(Page 18 of 200) results, during general elections 2013 in Pakistan, addressing the hypothesesH1, H2 and H3 of this research.
Issues’ Relationship Political entertainment also, likewise the political news, found effective to shape the micro-level public opinion and democratic outcomes (LaMarre& Walther, 2013). Thus, the results of the present study show that viewers of political comedy shows have an opinion about the importance of issues. They seems vigilant about the issues’ importance during the elections and it is also evident that peoples’ perceptions about the issues is very close to the issues frequently discussed in comedy shows during general election campaign. There is a significant association between political comedy shows’ frequency of discussion on the six issue and viewers’ perception about the importance of these issues with Chi-Square X2 (30, N=1118) = 69.628, p=.000. On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that importance of issues in comedy shows and audience importance is predominantly associate with each other.
Similarly, LaMarre& Walther (2013) found political entertainment play an important role in thinking about issues and opinion formation about the issue. They have provided the comparison of political news and comedy shows viewers and inferred that, although political news and comedy differently elicit the effects, still comedy offers powerful ways to connect viewers, persuade attitude and public opinion. On the other hand, in line with the results of this study, Hariton(2011) have also found the agendas setting effects in his study in USA based on comedy shows The Daily Shows and The Colbert report and argued that both shows, similar to traditional media, took the viewers’ attentionto “specifics issues or events of the day, or set an agenda, and these issues become more important to the viewer than other events/issues that were not addressed”. In this study, significant association among comedy and public issues importance shows that these shows should be undertaken for the better understanding of effects.
Therefore, association between comedy shows and audience seems supportive for the argument built for the hypothesis H1 of this study i.e. “More the satirical salience for ‘General Elections Issues’ in ‘Political Comedy Shows’, more the public perceive them as an important issue” is accepted. Frequency of discussion on issues in comedy shows provide a cue for the salience that
(Page 19 of 200) was given to those issues which were the priority of their shows. Those issues which were selected for discussion must have gone through the critical comedy treatmentand that might have helped to play up them, making them the most important for the public as well.This association between media and public is encouraging to understand the importance of political comedy for political discourse and deliberations.
These results provide meaningful information about the comedy shows and its viewers. Comedy shows in Pakistan are playing very important role in highlighting and establishing the political issues with the support of humour, satire and parody. The critical discourse in these shows is also helpful for the viewers to take the cues of important issues. It also means that issues discussed with comedy are very critical in nature and appeal to the audience likewise non comedy traditional news and current affairs. Findings revealed that political comedy can be equally important as Zukas (2012) found general support for the argument that soft news programs such as The Daily Show provide the same agenda setting function as traditional hard news programs like ABC World News. Therefore, political entertainment is need to be taken more than just entertainment (Jones, 2010).
This also draws our attention towards the challenges of innovative ways for the political information disseminations. Traditional ways might have reached to a saturation point that needs to be addressed with more open, critical, and innovative like comedy shows. It seems, mainstream media of Pakistan have realized this and is adopting new ways to grab the attention of viewers. Political comedy is getting popularity all over the world and infotainment is being welcomed and followed. Findings of present study presents that political comedy shows should be taken into account for the political information, awareness and opinion about the issues.
Another aspect of the findings is that shows and viewers are taking political issues as the most important and social issues are not their priorities. It’s astonishing that shows are less inclined to discuss the social issues. Health and education have been given less importance in the media and so is the case with the audience. Normatively, these results are very useful for the media practitioners and regulatory bodies and civil society to pay attention to the issue of less coverage of social issues which needs to address in countries like Pakistan where more problem of the society are linked with social issues. On the other hand, if the viewers are paying attention to the
(Page 20 of 200) comedy shows and following the trends then producers should be more careful in treating the shows with satire, humour and parody.
Therefore, it is concluded that on majority of the issues agenda of the media and public go side by side. Difference of Governance and Corruption issue could be referred to the nature of comedy presented on both the issues that may have led the public towards Corruption issue as compared to the Governance.It means that some issues might have been less discussed in comedy shows but the intensity of satire, humour and parody could make them perceive as most important. This aspect of comedy needs to be explored in future studies. More exploration of the dynamics of comedy will be more helpful to understand the nature of comedy and its effects on political attitude and behaviour.
Frames’ relationship The concept of framing develops the research by focal point on the actual meaning of the issues. Framing theory affirms that mainstream media focus on certain issues and then organize them within a specific field of meaning which make it easier for audience to make a sense out of it (Iyengar 1991).Hence, framing approach seems to undertake the issue, beyond the agenda setting approach which focus more on issue salience and ranking,in its context which is used to cover it in the media. Thus, in this study issues have also been explored further undertaking the different aspects or objects (frames) of issue used while discussion in TV entertainment. So, these presented objects of the media agenda can also manipulate the pictures of those objects in the heads of audience. This is the second level of agenda setting (McCombs, 1999).
Aligned to this line of research, present study argues, framing effects of issues can also be observed in political entertainment shows. Zukas (2012)studied the agenda setting and framing functions between two shows ABC World News The Daily Show and found the agenda setting and framing effects. On the other hand, framing effects of late night comedy programs on perception of young adults have been found (Castronovo, 2007). Framing effects of political entertainment in shaping public opinion were explored in magazines of USA and UK (Elliott, 2013). Therefore, framing effects, similar to news framing, is need to be undertaken.
(Page 21 of 200)
Findings of present study also analyse the different aspects of discussion on a particular issue, in comedy shows and among public. Different topic of discussions about the same issue were selected as the frames of the issue, following the framing theoretical approaches that discuss the media framing and audience framing.Findings of the study are evident that there is a significant relationship between most salient election frames in the comedy shows and audience’ perception of the importance of the frames of six selected issues as assumed in second Hypotheses H2 of the study .Frames of corruption issue with Chi-Square X2 (25, N=1118) = 42.62, p=.015, frames of Governance issue with X2 (30, N=1118) = 51.28, p=.009, frames of Energy Crisis issue with Chi-Square X2 (30, N=1118) = 44.99, p=.039, frames of Inflation issue with X2 (30, N=1118) = 54.02, p=.005, frames of Health issue with X2 (30, N=1118) = 51.28, p=.009, frames of Education issue with X2 (30, N=1118) = 127.90, p=.000 are significantly associated.
Findings provide a strong support to framing effects of political entertainment (Elliott, 2013; Zukas, 2012; Castronovo, 2007).These results also provide a strong evidence to argue for the second Hypothesis (H2). So, this can be stated that there is a significant relationship between the most salient frames of election in the comedy shows and the perception of the audience of the importance of these frames. Therefore, it is proposed, on the basis of these results, that political entertainment is more than an entertainment only. Framing of issues through comedy also effects the political outcomes as Mulligan &Habel (2011) offered that “entertainment media can also influence the political attitudes, like news media, frame issues, with effects similar to those of news framing”.
Here, now it seems more feasible to argue that framing analysis could be helpful in comedy shows too, similar to traditional media where frames can apply their influence on view in the course of two psychological processes, by making changes importance and by altering content of underlying issue-relevant deliberations (Slothuus, 2008). In comedy shows, the relevance of framing is more justifiable because with the usage of satire, humour and parody different frames could be made more prominent and visible for the audience. This relationship is helpful to understand the deep analysis of comedy. Comedy helpful to reconnect the political happenings and events. Traditional media presentation of these events might be straight and it would be difficult to differentiate the different topic of discussion of the same issue.However, comedy have many choices to establish visibility of different frames.
(Page 22 of 200)
Audience attention for the comedy shows in which political issue and its frames are discussed is very important. They are listening to all the aspects of issues and have opinion about those issues’ frames. Therefore, on the basis of these findings, this may be inferred that viewers of these programs could take many benefits of that. They can gain the political information necessary to understand the political scene during elections. Political awareness and opinion about the different dimensions of issues could provide them base to their analysis for political preferences which is the hallmark of democratic culture. This could make the audience more vigilant about the political issues and context of political issues in which issues are being discussed like
During the elections 2013, it was observed that people had the political choices on the basis of political issues, especially the factor of educated youth was given the credit of having political discussion on political issues. Another phenomenon, during elections was seen, that a third political party PTI emerged as a new political power amid the bipolar political culture of Pakistan based on PPP and PML-N. Elections results were also evident that PTI made its government in one to the provenience of Pakistan and also arose as a main opposition party in the national assembly.Results of present study are helpful to speculate that emergence of third political force in Pakistan and decline in traditional political polarization is might be the impact of political awareness among the public about political issues which is being provided by the traditional and comedy talk shows. These may have created discursive patterns in mind of the audience certain issue and their implications.
Its highly encouraging sign that comedy shows are discussing the issue with diverse angles which may have provided the public pluralistic views on issues. Diverse angled discussion through comedy become possible more than that of traditional shows. In comedy shows dummy characters of politicians can easily tell the hidden story by producing humour. Anchors have a space to discuss more aspects in response to jokes, laughter and punchlines. Musical treatment can highlight the different horizons of the issue. Therefore, in comedy shows, public could find more cues to make their opinion or to reinforce previous views.
These findings virtually show the minor differences between media and public frames. These results provide another positive aspects that people of Pakistan may not merely relying on media,
(Page 23 of 200) although very much resemblance is there, but also analysing it in light of their previous experiences and exposure to actual events. They may are inclined to analyse the media provided information as well. Comedy matters in this sense. It has less intention to be highly polarized because this could hinder the comic reflections. So, comedy may providing analytical devise to the audience and they are not very much stick to traditional news media only.
Media frames discussed in the comedy shows majorly correlate with each other with minor differences. In frames of corruption,‘merit violation’ frame which discussed in shows with less score whereas respondents consider the ‘merit violation’ as an important frame of corruption. In shows, ‘kickbacks’ and ‘money laundering’ discussed more whereas public gave importance to ‘money laundering’ and ‘merit violation’ .For the Governance issue, there was a minor difference on the ‘Performance’ and ‘Law and Order’ frames. In shows, ‘Performance’ frame of Governance discussed more while audience considered‘Law and Order’ as compared to ‘performance’. There was an agreement on the frame of ‘Solutions’ of energy crisis issue. In shows, the frame of electricity crisis was discussed in more segments while respondents considered the Sui-Gas shortage frame more important. These minor difference of score is evident that public argue reasonably on the frames.
The differences provide an insight about deviation of public frame form media frames and endorse previous findings that framing theory effects possibly will not proceed uniformly across viewers (Slothuus, 2008).Public sometimes discuss the issue with reference to the media but also relate it to their actual environments. Public’ increased score on ‘statistical gimmicks’ as compared to the media shows that public believe that actual decrease in inflation would solve their problems than that of just statistical claims. On the other hand, for the health issue ‘lack of health facilities’ and ‘health conditions’ were important frames as compared to media frames i.e. ‘fake medicine’ and ‘young doctor’s strikes’. For education issue, difference was on ‘primary education’ and ‘higher education’ frames. Therefore, it can be concluded that health facilities, health conditions and primary educations are the everyday problems of the people so they take their frames with correlation of media but also negotiate on that according to the everyday situation.
Slants’ relationship
(Page 24 of 200)
Findings of this research also analyse the public perception about the political parties of Pakistan, in response to the discussion of political parties in comedy shows. Political issues and its frames are discussed in comedy shows in a way that may have some leaning towards some political parties. That leaning or tilt could be perceived by the viewers to be a base for host of political implications for political parties during elections. Therefore, present study argue that the slant treatment of media for a certain political parties regarding issues may have a relationship with the perception of public on those issues.
Perception about politicians and political parties are prone to the priming effects in previous studiesunder the extended theoretical approach of framing. In previous studies, priming effects of political entertainment have been explored. It has been fund that viewers were able to evaluate the candidates on the basis of their traits presented in the late night comedy shows, during presidential campaign in USA (Moy, Xenos& Hess, 2006). Participants’ trust in politicians and perception of candidates is the results of priming (Boukes&Boomgaarden, 2016). Political parody may decrease the rating of politicians among politically award audience (Matthes, Rauchfleisch& Kohler, 2011).On the other hand Holbrook (2003) also studied the priming effects of political entertainment and found that political entertainment appear to play a role in the creation of political attitudes. Findings of the study endorse these findings of previous studies conducted undertaking the priming effects approach.
Viewers of comedy pay attention to the political issues, its frames and then they also have perception about the political parties. This is very positive symbol that comedy viewers have sound political awareness for the evaluation of political parties and political leadership in Pakistan. This would provide a baseline for the stability of democracy in Pakistan.This happens so, because comedy shows provide cues to perceive the political parties favourable, unfavourable or neutral because of comedy treatment of political parties and their leadership. Comedy treatment passes through these positive, negative or neutral discussion. Results indicates that the tilt or slant which media take to discuss the party may lead public perception about that party. Spearman’s rho have a positive significant correlation among all political parties discussed in comedy shows and public perception about parties.
(Page 25 of 200)
This provides a strong endorsement to the hypothesis H3 of this study that “Political parties’ and issues’ slant during discussion in comedy shows will be associated with the public perception about parties”. This correlation is healthy sign for the democratic culture of Pakistan that political parties are being discussed with reference to issues and parties’ stance on the issues. Respondents are heedful and have a keen interest in the comedy content that take into account to the parties on issues and contexts of parties’ positions.
Cross tabulation results provide detailed picture of the public perception and comedy discussion about political parties.It is evident that 71.8 % discussion in political comedy shows was about the three political parties PPP 311(27.8%), PML-N 266 (23.7%) and PTI 228(20.3%) respectively. Other nine political parties shared remaining 28.2% discussion in comedy programs, APML 68 (6.08%), PAT 47(4.2%), PML-Q 43(3.8%), PAL 36(3.2%), JUI-F 33(2.9%), MQM 26(2.3%), ANP 21(1.8%), JI 20(1.7%) and PMAP 19(1.6%) respectively.
Public have very clear understanding and perception about those political parties, either in favourable or unfavourable, which were discussed in increased number of segments. On the other hand, parties that have been discussed in comedy shows with decreased number of segments, public don’t have a clear perception about them and go for neutral option in increased number. Four political parties, results elaborate, PPP, PMLN, PTI and APMLN were discussed more with 311(27.8%), 266 (23.7%), 228(20.3%) and 68 (6.08%). Therefore, audience seems to have favourable or unfavourable view for them, PPP (unfavourable=342, 69.5%), PML-N (favourable=185, 37.6%), PTI (favourable=345, 70.2%) and APML (unfavourable=332, 67.4%).
On the other hand, respondents perceived those parties on neutral which may have not been discussed much through comedy satire and humour, PAT, PAL, JUI-F, JI, PMAP were marginally discussed in shows with 47(4.2%), 36(3.2%), 33(2.9%), 20(1.7%), 19(1.6%) respectively. Therefore, respondent have more neutral perception about them PAT (neutral=288, 58.5%), PAL (neutral=205, 41.6%), JUI-F (neutral=209, 42.4%), JI (neutral=343, 69.7%), PMAP (neutral=360, 69.5%).Some parties which were less discussed but audience perceive them unfavourable with regard to the issues of elections would be due to their incumbency factor and performance.
(Page 26 of 200)
It has also come into observation that every political party discussed mainly in shows have correlation with public perception about all political parties.It is evident that all parties discussed in shows have positive and significant correlation with each other political parties on one hand while on the other hand, each party also have significant and positive correlation for every other political parties.It may also conclude that comedy about one political party in the comedy shows may highlight the salient features of other political parties. That why respondent who have the perception about particular party will have the opinion for other parties too.
There is also a relationship of Issue slant in comedy shows and audience perception about political parties which remain the target of parody, satire and humour in comedy programs on certain issues. Content of comedy shows was categorized into favourable, unfavourable and neutral about the political parties on six selected issues. On the other hand, audience was asked about their perception about different twelve political parties on six elections issues. Spearman’s correlation of these two variable shows that there is an agreement between comedy shows’ issue slant and audience perception about political parties on four issues, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health, and Education, as the spearman’s correlation is positively significant. While, on the other hand on issue of Governance there is no agreement among the audience and shows presentation as the spearman’s correlation is insignificant for the Governance issue. Nonetheless, the issue of Corruption is significant but negatively correlated which means that media and audience are in the different directions on the issue of corruption. From this negative relationship this can be concluded that on majority of the issue media and public remains on the same page but for some issue public negotiates with media and actual environment where parties exercise their activities. Corruption issue always remain there in Pakistan about the political parties but people of Pakistan have been elected those political parties again and again even they had allegation of corruption.
(Page 27 of 200)
CHAPTER-6 CONCLUSIONS
In 2013, Pakistan has witnessed historical democratic moment of smooth transformation of elected Government from one party to another. The incumbent government of Pakistan people’s Party transferred the power to PML-N, after winning the general election 2013. Among many others factors, contribution of electronic media for this smooth transition have been recognized in Pakistan. During this important period of time, political entertainment in Pakistan has also been witnessed, flourishing through popular political comedy shows on mainstreams TV Channels of Pakistan parallel to traditional talk shows.
This study argues that political entertainment and TV comedy is getting popularity among TV audience. These shows are deliberating and presenting the political culture Pakistan in a witty and sarcastic way. Usage of Humor, Satire and Parody in these shows may provide audience with the various interpretations of political issues, political parties and their leadership. Thus, political entertainment is also equally important likewise the traditional media in relation to political information, opinion and perception. Similar to traditional talk shows, political issues were discussed in comedy shows, focusing on the political parties and political leaders during general elections 2013, may affect hosts of political outcomes which need to be explored in line with the previous research that focus on framing, priming and agenda setting to assess real relationship of mass media and audience.
6.1 Patterns, Issues, Frames and Slants in Comedy Shows
Geo News, Dunya News and Express news were the main TV channels that broadcast political comedy programs regularly during general elections 2013 but as a channel of comedy, Geo News came as leading channel that broadcast two major political comedy shows. Unlike the traditional talk shows, comedy shows utilize variety of segments and formatsmainly; ‘Anchor Based’, ‘Character Based’ and ‘Music Based’.‘Hasb-e-Hall’ of ‘Dunya News’ is more character based and popular due its ‘character Azizi’ who is well known and famous artist of theatre. Khabarnaak of Geo News is more anchor centric show whose anchor Aftab Iqbal known by his
(Page 28 of 200) creative, passion and hard work. DarLing of Express News include large amount of political content based on musical lyrics and visuals.Humour, parody and satire were used in these shows. Satire usedpredominantly as compared to Humour and parody. Under the umbrella of Political issues, pure political issues were discussed more frequently as compared to economic and social issues. Three political parties remained the top priority of discussion i-e PPP, PML-N and PTI. On the other hand, political parties, PML-Q, ANP, MQM, PMAP, JUI-F which have more representation in parliament discussed in comedy shows marginally whereas parties PAT, APML, PAL which have minor or no representation in parliament discussed with priority. This is an interesting finding of this study that media like to make comedy about those parties that are not even participated in electoral politics due to reasons and are not primarily in power corridors. Mainstream political leadership of Pakistan is discussed preferably in political comedy programs as compared to Provincial and parliamentary leadership. Subsequently, issues discussed in comedy shows with varied frequencies. Governance and Corruption were at the top agenda in political comedy shows. Energy Crisis and Inflation issues were moderately discussed whereas Health and Education were marginally less discussed. While discussing the issues, comedy shows, certain frames were employed. Discussion about the issue of ‘Corruption’ was associated with ML, KB, TE, MV frames, ‘Governance’ with PR, LO, DA, AC, ‘Energy Crisis’ with EC, CS, SS and SL, ‘inflation with MP, BF, UE , SG, ‘Health’ with FM, YS, HF and HC, and ‘Education’ with PS, HE, QE ,UC frames significantly.All comedy shows utilized the similar frames mainly. Refer to the findings of the study, there are significant differences were found among frames of the issues with regard to programs. Political parties mainly discussed in programs were found associated with favourable, unfavourable or neutral determining the TV comedy slant.The position of PPP on the issue of Corruption,Governance and Energy Crisis was discussed with unfavourable comedy. Whereas PML-N was discussed in comedy shows unfavourable as well as favourable on the issues. Specifically PML-N was discussed favourable on the issue of Governance and the most unfavourable on the issue of Inflation.On the ‘Energy Crisis’ issue, PML-N, PPP and PTI negatively discussed. APML, MQM, PML-Q and PAL were also discussed negatively. On the issue of health and education, all parties got negative discussion. PPP, PTI and PML-N were discussed negatively on the issue of Health. PML-N, PTI and PPP were given negative
(Page 29 of 200) discussion, for education issue. On the other hand PML-N, PPP and PTI were given positive discussion too. 6.2 Patterns, Issues, Frames and Slants among Audience Comedy shows are popular among the audience of mainstream TV news channels. Viewers who watch traditional shows also inclined to watch comedy shows and vice versa on mainstream channels of Pakistan.They preferred to watch comedy shows. They have a diverse exposure of comedy and tend to watch different comedy shows. Respondent seems to identify very clearly the different ‘Anchors’, ‘Characters’ and ‘Formats/Segments’ of comedy shows.These anchors and comedians are becoming popular among the audience. Respondents’ choices for different segments i.e. ‘Anchor Based’, Character Based’, ‘Music Based’ are associated with their watching habits of shows. Choices of the audience of TV comedy for type of comedy being used in different comedy programs are associated with their watching patterns. ‘Humour’ appeal ‘Parody’ attractand‘Satire’ fascinate them significantly.Respondents identify ‘Humour’ as a ‘Jokes’, ‘Funny Situations’, ‘Funny Expressions’, and ‘Funny Labels’ while ‘Parody’as ‘Mimicry of politician/Imitation’, ‘Dummy Museum’, ‘Parody Songs’, ‘Funny Re-enactments of political situations’ whereas‘Satire’as‘Sarcastic remarks on political situation’, ‘Critical evaluation of politician’s personal traits’, ‘Punch lines/ Juggat’. The viewers who frequently watch comedy shows are able to recognize importance of issues during general elections significantly. Regular and sometimes viewers of political comedy shows give more importance to the issue of Corruption at the top order followed by Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health and Education. People who watch comedy shows have a good understanding of the different aspects (frames) in which different issues are discussed and interpreted. Exposure to comedy is significantly related with their perception of necessarily important frames for the understanding of the issues. Viewers’ TV comedy exposure is associated with their perception about major political either favourable, unfavourable or neutral. Viewers perceived the PTI, JI, PML-N and JUI-F more favourable as compared to other political parties. They might perceived them positive, keeping in view the newly emerging party (PTI), reputation (JI) political experience and viability (PML-N) and democratic attitude (JUI-F).Non incumbent factor might also worked. On the other hand, the incumbent parties MQM, PPP, APML, ANP,PML-Q were perceived more negatively by the respondents. During their government tenure, large number of corruption scandals came on
(Page 30 of 200) presentation layer which remained the target of comedy. There are varying degree of choices of audience showed in the results in consumption patterns, issues, frames and slants about political parties by differences in watching frequencies of the respondents. 6.3 Relationship of Comedy Shows and Audience Perception 6.3.1 Issues Issues correlation during general election campaign 2013 in Pakistan manifest agenda setting effects of political entertainment. Discussion on the various issues understudy in the TV comedy is correlated with the viewers’ perception about the importance of the issues. The ranking of issues in comedy shows and audience ranking is predominantly correlate with each other. At both ends, comedy shows and public taking political issues as the most important while social and economic issues were neither discussed and nor perceive on priority. Health and education have been given less importance in the media and so is the case with the audience. In shows, Governance issue was on the top than that of audience. On the other hand, Corruption issue was on the top of audience agenda. Majority of the issues agenda of the media and public go side by side. Difference of Governance and Corruption issue could be referred to the nature of comedy presented on both the issues that might have led the public towards Corruption issue as compared to the Governance. 6.3.2 Frames Findings of the study reflect strong association between the frames utilized by comedy shows while discussing various issues i.e. Corruption, Governance, Energy Crisis, Inflation, Health, Education and the frames in the mind of audience regarding these issues.Frames of various issues are significantly correlated. These finding provide an evidence of framing effects of political comedy in Pakistan.On the other side, on the importance of frames, difference was observed in comedy frames and audience frames. These slight differences indicates that audience arguably compete with comedy frames.Audiencewas not merely relying on media, although very much resemblance is there, but also analysing it in light of their previous experiences and exposure to actual events. 6.3.3 Slants Discussion about the political parties in comedy shows related with the Perception about those political parties in the minds of audience. These findings are in line with the priming effects
(Page 31 of 200) which deals with the evaluation of politicians’ traits. Viewers perception was might the result of slant or tilt in comedy shows. Similarly, each political party discussed in shows correlate with the perception of audience about other political parties too.These finding indicate that comedy about one political party in the comedy shows may highlight the salient features of other political parties. On the basis of this, respondent who have the perception about particular party will have the opinion for other parties as well. slant or valence given to the issues in political entertainment was also related with the audience perception about political parties. On issue of Governance there was no agreement among the audience and comedy shows. Nonetheless, the issue of Corruption was negatively correlated. Public have very clear understanding and perception about those political parties, either in favourable or unfavourable, which were discussed in increased number of segments. On the other hand, parties that have been discussed in comedy shows with decreased number of segments, public don’t have a clear perception about them and go for neutral option in increased number but some parties which were less discussed but audience perceive them unfavourable with regard to the issues of elections would be due to their incumbency factor and performance. 6.4 Limitations and Future Recommendations
The present study intends more to establish the theoretical foundations. Therefore, host of variables in the content of comedy shows and in survey were explored on generic level. Thus, comedy production patterns i.e. TV Channel, TV Program, Format, Comedy and audiences’ consumption patterns i.e. frequency of comedy watching and formats of comedy were limited to few basic elements. Future studies, may take them on broader level while exploring the comedy production and consumption patterns. On the other hand, types of comedy explored in this study, are limited to parody, humour and satire which need to be explored extensively and clear boundaries to differentiate among these concept could also be starting point in Pakistan for future studies. In the study in hand, both content analysis and survey were employed for the data collection which was the requirement of establishing the argument that theoretically political entertainment is also an area of research to be explored parallel to traditional media. However, In future, scholars can explore the nature of political entertainment in depth either at the production end or consumption aspect, employing either method. This would allow more descriptive and
(Page 32 of 200) elaborative picture of TV political entertainment in Pakistan. Consequently qualitative approach to study the TV comedy would be more helpful to understand the dynamics of political entertainment and its political implications here in this culture. Semiotic and discourse analysis could be a beneficial for the understanding of contextual meanings of comedy which was beyond to study in present study. In this study, the demographic variables of audience could not be examined due to burdened variables of issues, framing and priming. Therefore, in future researches in line with political entertainment and TV could add more demographic to enhance the reliability of audience analysis. Age, gender, education, political interest could provide very meaningful results and studying political interest of the people who tend to watch the shows already maybe more politically engaged and this may be another reason for why people who watch comedy shows more often show greater awareness of issues. Conversely, Comparison of political entertainment and serious talk shows is very significant to establish the validity of political entertainment effects. Thus, comparing traditional talk shows and comedy talk shows on mainstream channels of Pakistan would be a useful endeavour. This research did not explore the Humour, parody and satire at the level of issue importance, framing and priming. How these different types of comedy affect them was beyond the limit of present study. Thus in this study, these were described at the patterns level and excluded at the effect or correlation level. How parody, satire, and humour could effects agenda, framing and priming would be very unique and innovative contribution to take in future.
(Page 33 of 200)
REFERENCES Ahmed, M. (2008). Voting behaviour in rural and urban areas of Punjab. Journal of Political Studies, 45-55. Retrieved from http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/pols/ Currentissue- pdf/voting%20behaviour.pdf.
Ali, Z., Jan, M. & Iqbal, A. (2013). Coverage of Pak-U.S. Relations on Issue of Counter Terrorism by U.S. Leading News Magazines, Middle East Journal of Scientific Research,1(10), 1464-1471.
Ali, S.W. (September 22, 2016). The poor state of Pakistan’s healthcare system. Published on the opinion page of daily Dawn, Karachi.
Aly, J. H. (2007). Education in Pakistan. A White Paper Revised. Document to Debate and Finalize the National Education Policy. Government of Pakistan.
Anagondahalli, D., &Khamis, S. (2014). Mubarak framed! Humor and political activism before and during the Egyptian Revolution.Arab Media and Society, 19, 1-16.
Anwar, M., & Jan, M. (2010). Role of Media in Political Socialization: The Case of Pakistan. Dialogue, 5(3), 212-227.
Asghar, M. U. (n.d). Governance Issues in Pakistan: Suggested Action Strategy. ISSRA PAPERS, 113.
Attardo, S. (2001). Humorous Texts: A Semantic and Pragmatic Analysis. Berlin/ New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Baum, M. A. (2002). Rocking the vote: What happens when presidential candidates hit the talk show circuit. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA.
Baum, M. A. (2003). Soft news and political knowledge: Evidence of absence or absence of evidence? Political Communication, 20(2), 173-190.
Baumgartner, J., & Morris, J. S. (2006). The Daily Show effect: Candidate evaluations, efficacy, and American youth. American Politics Research, 34, 341–367.
Baym, G. (2005). The Daily Show: Discursive integration and the reinvention of political journalism. Political Communication, 22(3), 259-276.
BBC Report. (2013, December 23). Pakistan politics: Key players. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16526936
BBC Survey (2008).Regional and Linguistic Diversity in Pakistan and Its Impact on Media and ICT Use. Retrieved from: http://www.audiencescapes.org/country-profiles-pakistan- communication-habits-demographic-groups-regional-diversity-language-linguistic-urban- rural
(Page 34 of 200)
Bhatti, M.N. (September 7, 2014). The Inflammatory Reasons for Inflation in Pakistan. Column published in daily The Nation.
Besley, J. C. (2006). The role of entertainment television and its interactions with individual values in explaining political participation. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 11, 41-63.
Boskin J (1990) American political humor: Touchables and taboos. International Political Science Review, 11(4), 473-482.
Boukes, M., &Boomgaarden, H. G. (2016). Politician Seeking Voter: How Interviews on Entertainment Talk Shows Affect Trust in Politicians. International Journal of Communication, 10, 1145-1166.
Buckingham, D. (2000). The making of citizens: Young people, news, and politics. London: Routledge.
Cao, X., & Brewer, P. R. (2008). Political comedy shows and public participation in politics. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 20, 90–99.
Carpini, M. X. D., &Keeter, S. (1997). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Castronovo, E. (2007). The Effects of Framing of late Night Comedy on Young Adults’ Perceptions of Political Leaders. Thesis University of Anselm Saint-1.
Chartrand, T. L., Maddux, W. W., &Lakin, J. L. (2005). Beyond the perception-behavior link: The ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of nonconscious mimicry. In J. S. U. RanaRanaHassin, &Junaid Ahmed Bargh (Ed.), The new unconscious: Oxford series in social cognition and social neuroscience (pp. 334-361). New York: Oxford University Press.
Compton, J. A. (2004). Late night political comedy, candidate image, and inoculation: A unique test of inoculation theory. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oklahoma).
Corbeill, A. (1996).Controlling Laughter: Political Humor in the Late Roman Republic. NJ: Princeton University Press.
Corley, K. G., & Gioia, D. A. (2011). Building theory about theory building: what constitutes a theoretical contribution?. Academy of management review, 36(1), 12-32.
Davis, R. (1997). Understanding broadcast political talk. Political Communication, 14(3), 323- 332.
Davis, R., & Owen, D. M. (1998). New media and American politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dawn Report (March, 2013). Timeline: Major political events from 2008-2013. Retrieved from
(Page 35 of 200)
https://www.dawn.com/news/795825
Dawn Report. (2013, March 16). Timeline: Major political events from 2008-2013. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from https://www.dawn.com/news/795825
Dearing, J. W., & Rogers, E. M. (1996). Agenda-setting. Communication concepts 6. Thousand Oaks/London, Sage. Lebensverhältnisse und sozialeKonflikteimneuen Europa: Verhandlungen des, 26, 558-567.
Election Commission of Pakistan. (2013) Post Election Review Report 2013. Government Report, Islamabad: Election Commission of Pakistan.
Eijaz, A. (2012). Articulation of political discourse through the prism of mass media in Pakistan. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 1(3), 1-21.
Elliott, R. K. (2013). Political Entertainment: A Mixed Methods Study of Media Framing in the US and UK. (Master Thesis), Georgetown University.
Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward clarification of a fractured paradigm. Journal of communication, 43(4), 51-58.
Firdous, M. (2012). Impact of Mimicry of Politicians in Pakistani Television Comedy Shows on Political Perception of Audience. Unpublished BS thesis of University of Gujrat, Pakistan.
Fiske, J., & Hartley, J. (1989). Reading Television. New York: Routledge.
Fox, J., Koloen, G., &Sahin, V. (2007). No joke: A comparison of substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and broadcast network television coverage of the 2004 presidential election campaign. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51, 213–227.
Gallup Pakistan. (2016, March 11). 73% Pakistanis say that they discussed politics on three days or less during the last one week. Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http://gallup.com.pk/73- pakistanis-say-that-they-discussed-politics-on-three-days-or-less-during-the-last-one-week/
Gallup (April 25, 2014).Talk Show Analysis: October- November 2013. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/PressReleaseOctNov20131.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (April 18, 2013). Talk Show Analysis Monthly Report: Dec 2012- Jan 201. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/Monthly ReportDec2012Jan20141.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (2013). The New Tide of Voter Turn-out: Report on Voter Turn-out in Pakistan’s National Elections: 2013. Retrieved form http://gallup.com.pk/wp- content/uploads/2015/09/Report11.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (February 24, 2012). Opinion poll, Most Important Problem Ladder. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/24-February-121.pdf
(Page 36 of 200)
Gallup Pakistan (February 27, 2012). Opinion poll, Most Important Problem Ladder. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/27-February-121.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (June 27, 2013). Opinion Poll, Politics, National Issues. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/27-June-201311.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (October 14, 2013).Opinion Poll, Pakistan Opinion. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Oct-14-2013-PR1.pdf
Gallup Pakistan (October 5, 2012).Opinion Poll, Society and Lifestyle. Retrieved from: http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/05-Oct1.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2012a, February 27). Opinion poll, Most Important Problem Ladder. Retrieved August 12, 2016, from http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/ uploads/2016/02/27-February- 121.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2012b, October 5). Opinion Poll, Society and Lifestyle. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/05-Oct1.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2013a, October 14). Opinion Poll, Pakistan Opinion. Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Oct-14-2013-PR1.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2013b, June 27). Opinion Poll, Politics, National Issues. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://gallup.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/27-June-201311.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2013c, April 18). Talk Show Analysis Monthly Report: Dec 2012- Jan 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2016, from http://gallup.com.pk/wpcontent/uploads/ 2016/06/MonthlyReportDec2012Jan20141.pdf
Gallup Pakistan. (2014, April 25). Talk Show Analysis: October- November 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2016, from http://gallup.com.pk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/ PressReleaseOctNov20131.pdf
Gastil, J., &Xenos, M. (2010). Of attitudes and engagement: Clarifying the reciprocal relationship between civic attitudes and political participation. Journal of Communication, 60, 318–343.
Gilani, I.S. (2013). Election Data: Its Deconstruction and Interpretation. In The First 10 General Elections of Pakistan a Story of Pakistan’s Transition from Democracy Above Rule of Law to Democracy Under Rule of Law: 1970-2013 (Part-2). Retrieved from http://www.pildat.org/publications/publication /elections/First10GeneralElectionsofPakistan.pdf
Goffman, E. (1974), Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. New York: Harper and Row
Goldthwaite Young, D. (2004). Late-night comedy in election 2000: Its influence on candidate trait ratings and the moderating effects of political knowledge and partisanship. Journal of
(Page 37 of 200)
Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 48(1), 1-22.
Hariton, A. (2011). Satirical political media and youth political participation: A look at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report. Indiana University Bloomington.
Hariton, A. (2011).Satirical political media and youth political participation: A look at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University Bloomington).
Hashmi, R. S., &Majeed, G. (2015). Politics of Ethnicity: A theoretical perspective. South Asian Studies, 30(1), 319.
Hashmi, S.M. (May, 17, 20013). Election 2013 and the Failure of Political Analysts. Daily Times, Pakistan.
Hart, R. P., &Hartelius, E. J. (2007). The political sins of Jon Stewart. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 24, 263–272.
Hoffman, L. H., & Young, D. G. (2011). Satire, punch lines, and the nightly news: Untangling media effects on political participation. Communication Research Reports, 28(2), 159-168.
Hoffman, L. H., & Thomson, T. L. (2009). The effect of television viewing on adolescents’ civic participation: Political efficacy as a mediating mechanism. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53, 3–21.
Holbert RL, Lambe JL, Dudo AD and Carlton KA (2007) Primacy effects of The Daily Show and national news viewing: Young viewers, political gratification, and internal political self-efficacy. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 51(1), 20-38.
Holbert, R. L., Kwak, N., & Shah, D. V. (2003). Environmental concern, patterns of television viewing, and pro-environmental behaviors: Integrating models of media consumption and effects. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 47(2), 177-196.
Holbert, R. L., Pillion, O., Tschida, D. A., Armfield, G. G., Kinder, K., Cherry, K., & Daulton, A. (2003). The West Wing as endorsement of the American presidency: Expanding the domain of priming in political communication. Journal of Communication, 53, 427–443.
Holbrook, A. (2003). Agenda-setting and priming in the prime-time hour. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.
Hollander, B. A. (2005). Late-night learning: Do entertainment programs increase political campaign knowledge for young viewers?. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 49(4), 402-415.with viewing.
Hollander, B. A. (2005). Late-night learning: Do entertainment programs increase political campaign knowledge for young viewers? Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 49(4), 402-415.
(Page 38 of 200)
INTERMEDIA (2010). Election Reform and Local Elections: Pakistani Media Identification of Media Challenges and Potential Solutions. Summary report.
IPRI (2015). Education System of Pakistan: Issues, Problems and Solutions. Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Islamabad.
IPRI (2013). Solutions for Energy Crisis in Pakistan. Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Islamabad.
Iyengar, S. (1994). Is anyone responsible?: How television frames political issues. University of Chicago Press.
Iyengar, S. (1987). Television news and citizens' explanations of national affairs. American Political Science Review, 81(3), 815-831.
Shanto, I. (1991). Is anyone responsible? How television frames political issues.
Iyengar, S., & Kinder, D. R. (1987). News that matters: Agenda-setting and priming in a television age. News that Matters: Agenda-Setting and Priming in a Television Age.
Jan, M., Raza, M. R., Siddiq, M., &Saleem, N. (2013). Print Media on Coverage of Political Parties in Pakistan: Treatment of Opinion Pages of The ‘Dawn’ and ‘News’. Gomal University Journal of Research, 29(1), 118-128.
Jan, F. (2010). Pakistan: A Struggling Nation-State, Democracy and Security, 6(3), 237-255, DOI: 10.1080/17419166.2010.521058
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J, & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 112-133.
Jones, J.P. (2010). Entertaining Politics: Satiric Television and Political Engagement (2nded.). New York: Rowman& Littlefield Publishers
Junejo, J.H. (2010). Why Democratic System is Weak in Pakistan: Causes and Solutions. Indus Asia online Journal. Retrieved on 15 June 2016 from https://iaoj.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/%E2%80%9Cwhy-democratic-system-is-weak-in- pakistan-causes-and-solutions%E2%80%9D/, 1(1), 13-21.
Kerbel, M. R. (1999). Remote & controlled: media politics in a cynical age: Westview Press.
Khan, F.K., Musarrat, R. (2014). Electoral Politics in Pakistan (Elections 2013): A Case Study of District MuzaffarGarh. Journal of Public Administration and Governance ISSN 2161-7104 2014, Vol. 4, No. 4
Kim, Y. M., &Vishak, J. (2008). Just laugh! You don’t need to remember: The effects of entertainment media on political information acquisition and information processing in
(Page 39 of 200)
political judgment. Journal of Communication, 58(2), 338-360.
Koestler, A. (1964). The act of creation. London, England: Hutchinson.
Kohut, A., Doherty, C., Keeter, S., Gross, E., Samaranayake, N., Owens, J., & DeLuca, K. (2004). ‘Cable and Internet Loom Large in Fragmented Political News Universe: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Kosicki, G. M. (1993). Problems and opportunities in agenda-setting research. Journal of Communication, 43, 100-127.
Kugelman, M. (2013). Pakistan’s energy crisis. National Bureau of Asian Research, Washington, DC. Retrieved from: http://www.nbr.org/downloads/pdfs/eta/ Kugelman_commentary_03132013.pdf
LaMarre, H. L., Landreville, K. D., & Beam, M. A. (2009). The irony of satire: Political ideology and the motivation to see what you want to see in The Colbert Report. International Journal of PressPolitics, 14, 212–231.
Leano, J. (2014). The Agenda-Setting Power of Saturday Night Live. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 5(1), 81-89.
Lilleker, D. G. (2006). Key concepts in political communication. London: Sage Publications.
Lindsay, H. H.&Dannagal, G. Y. (2011) Satire, Punch Lines, and the Nightly News: Untangling Media Effects on Political Participation.Communication Research Reports, 28(2), 159-168, DOI: 10.1080/08824096. 2011.565278
McCombs, M. F. (1997, August). New frontiers in agenda-setting: Agendas of attributes and frames (Paper presented at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago).
McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1993). The evolution of agenda‐setting research: twenty‐five years in the marketplace of ideas. Journal of communication, 43(2), 58-67.
McCombs, M. F., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176-187.
McCombs, M. (2002, June). The agenda-setting role of the mass media in the shaping of public opinion. In Mass Media Economics 2002 Conference, London School of Economics: http://sticerd. lse. ac. uk/dps/extra/McCombs. pdf.
Madni, A. R., Nawaz, T., Hassan, A., & Abdullah, M. (2014). Election 2013: editorial treatment of major political parties by daily Nawa-i-Waqt during the time period between March 1, 2013 to May 9, 2013. Asian Journal of Empirical Research, 4(2), 150-158.
Mahsud, M. N., Hassan, S., Yaser, N., &Ishtiaq, T. (2011). Private Channels’ Coverage to NRO and Viewers’ Perceptions. Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences, 1(10).
(Page 40 of 200)
Malkani, S. (June 27, 2016). Pakistan’s healthcare crisis. Published on the opinion page of daily, Dawn, Karachi.
Matthes, J., Rauchfleisch, A., & Kohler, F. (2011). Getting the joke: The negative effects of late- night political parody on the evaluation of politicians. Paper presented at the WAPOR 64th Annual Conference: Public Opinion and the Internet, University of Zurich.
Memon, G. R. (2007). Education in Pakistan: The key issues, problems and the new challenges. Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 3(1), 47-55.
Mindich, D. T. (2005). Tuned out: Why Americans under 40 don't follow the news. New York: Oxford University Press.
Moy, P., &Pfau, M. (2000). With malice toward all?: The media and public confidence in democratic institutions. London: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Moy, P., Xenos, M. A., & Hess, V. K. (2005). Communication and citizenship: Mapping the political effects of infotainment. Mass Communication & Society, 8, 111–131.
Moy, P., Xenos, M. A., & Hess, V. K. (2006). Priming effects of late-night comedy. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 18(2), 198-210.
Mulligan, K., &Habel, P. (2011). An experimental test of the effects of fictional framing on attitudes. Social Science Quarterly, 92(1), 79-99.
Mutz, D. C. (2001). The future of political communication research: Reflections on the occasion of Steve Chaffee's retirement from Stanford University. Political Communication, 18(2), 231-236.
Nazir, F. (2013).Impact of Television Comedy Shows in Political Socialization: An Analysis of Private TV Channels in Pakistan. Unpublished MPhil thesis of International Islamic University, Islamabad., Pakistan.
Newman, D. (2003). On borders and power: A theoretical framework. Journal of borderlands studies, 18(1), 13-25.
Nilsen DLF (1990). The social functions of political humor. Journal of Popular Culture, 24(3), 35-47.
Nisbet, M. (2010). Is America a joke? Researcher examines the Daily Show’s impact on political culture. Big Think. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://bigthink.com/age-of- engagement/is-america-a-joke-researcher-examines-the-daily-shows-impact-on-political- culture
Pfau, M., Cho, J., & Chong, K. (2001). Communication Forms in US Presidential Campaigns Influences on Candidate Perceptions and the Democratic Process. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 6(4), 88-105.
(Page 41 of 200)
Prior, M. (2003). Any good news in soft news? The impact of soft news preference on political knowledge. Political Communication, 20(2), 149-171.
Prior, M. (2005). News vs. entertainment: How increasing media choice widens gaps in political knowledge and turnout. American Journal of Political Science, 49(3), 577-592.
Rasul, A. &Proffitt, J. M. (2013). Diversity or homogeny: concentration of ownership and media diversity in Pakistan, Asian Journal of Communication, 23:6, 590-604, DOI: 10.1080/01292986.2013.805797
Rizvi, H.A. (2013). A Narrative of Pakistan’s 10 General Elections: 1970-2013. In The First 10 General Elections of Pakistan a Story of Pakistan’s Transition from Democracy Above Rule of Law to Democracy Under Rule of Law: 1970-2013(Part-1). Retrieved from http://www.pildat.org/publications/publication/ elections/First10GeneralElectionsofPakistan.pdf
Rizvi, H.A. (2002). Democracy in Pakistan. Paper prepared for the Project on State of Democracy in South Asia as part of the Qualitative Assessment of Democracy Lokniti (Programme of Comparative Democracy) Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi
Riaz, S. (2008). The Relationship between the Public and Print Media Agendas on National Issues in Pakistan (A Study of the Agenda Setting Role of Print Media in Pakistan). (Doctoral Dissertation), University of the Punjab,, Lahore.
Reese, S. D., Gandy Jr, O. H., & Grant, A. E. (Eds.). (2001). Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world. Routledge.
Saeed, K. (2013). Pakistan’s Power Crisis: Challenges and the Way Forward.Criterion Quarterly, 4(8), 13-21.
Schutz CE (1977) Political Humor: From Aristophanes to Sam Ervin. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses.
Shehata, A. (2010). Unemployment on the Agenda: A Panel Study of Agenda‐Setting Effects During the 2006 Swedish National Election Campaign. Journal of Communication, 60(1), 182-203.
Sides, J. (2006). The Study of Political Campaigns. In Brady H. & Johnston R. (Eds.), Capturing Campaign Effects (pp. 1-26). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.132252.4
Saleem, F. (February, 17th, 2013). Election 2013. Daily the news international retrieved from http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-160537-Election-2013
Sajid, S.M. (14 December, 2011). Failure of Democracy in Pakistan: Causes and Solution. Daily Pakistan Tribune.
(Page 42 of 200)
Slothuus, R. (2008). More Than Weighting Cognitive Importance: A Dual‐Process Model of Issue Framing Effects. Political Psychology, 29(1), 1-28.
Slothuus, R., & De Vreese, C. H. (2010). Political parties, motivated reasoning, and issue framing effects. The Journal of Politics, 72(3), 630-645.
Sarantakos, S. (2012). Social research. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Subhani, M. I., Hasan, S. A., Nayaz, M., & Osman, A. (2012). Satire in Talk Shows: Pakistan’s Media Pungent Approach. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, (51).
Thussu, D. K. (2008). News as entertainment: The rise of global infotainment. London: Sage Publications.
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1986). Rational choice and the framing of decisions. Journal of business, S251-S278.
Tversky, A., &Kahneman, D. (1973). Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive psychology, 5(2), 207-232.
USAID. (2014). Compilation of Election Promises by Political Parties. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://www.cpdi-pakistan.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2014/06/Compilation-of- Election-Promises-by-Political-Parties_final.pdf
Van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Kawakami, K., & Van Knippenberg, A. (2004). Mimicry and prosocial behavior. Psychological Science, 15(1), 71-74.
Van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Steenaert, B., & van Knippenberg, A. (2003). Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39(4), 393-398.
Vrana, S. R., & Gross, D. (2004). Reactions to facial expressions: effects of social context and speech anxiety on responses to neutral, anger, and joy expressions. Biological Psychology, 66(1), 63-78.
West, D. M., &Orman, J. M. (2003). Celebrity politics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Young, D. G. (2007). The Daily Show as new journalism. In J. S. Morris & J. C. Baumgartner (Eds.), Laughing matters: Humor and American politics in the media age (pp. 241–259). New York, NY: Routledge.
Young, D. G. (2008). The privileged role of the late-night joke: Exploring humor’s role in disrupting argument scrutiny. Media Psychology, 11, 119–142.
Young, D. G. (2013). Lighten up: How satire will make American politics relevant again. Columbia Journalism Review. http://www.cjr.org/cover_story/lighten_ up.php?page=all
(Page 43 of 200)
Young, D. G., &Tisinger, R. M. (2006). Dispelling late-night myths: News consumption among late-night comedy viewers and the predictors of exposure to various late-night shows. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 11(3), 113-134.
Yusuf, H., &Schoemaker, E. (2013). The media of Pakistan: Fostering inclusion in a fragile democracy. Policy Briefing, (9).
Zahid (2016).Effects of Political News Consumption and Discussion on Political Behavior during Election Campaign 2013 Pakistan (Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of the Punjab). Lahore
Zaidi, S., &Sahibzada, S. (1986). Issues in Pakistan's Health Sector. The Pakistan Development Review, 25(4), 671-682. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41258785
Zukas, K. J. (2012). News genre strategy: Comparing agendas and frames in the daily show and ABC world news. Journalism and Mass Communication, 2(2), 399-411.
(Page 44 of 200)
APPENDIX-1 Code Book
1. TV Channel: 1. Geo TV, 2. Dunya TV, 3. Express TV 2. TV Program: 1. Hum Sub Ummed Say Hain, 2. Hasb-e-Hall, 3. KhabarNaak,, 4. Dar Or Darling 3. Format: 1. Anchor, 2. Character, 3. Music 4. Comedy: 1. Humour, 2. Parody, 3. Satire 5. Issue Category: 1. Political, 2. Social, 3. Economic 6. Political Party: 1. PML-N, 2. PPP, 3. PTI, 4. ANP, 5. JUI, 6.MQM, 7. PML-Q, 8. JI, 9. PAL, 10. PAT, 11. PMAP, 12. Others 7. Leadership: 1. Mainstream Leadership, 2. Provincial Leadership, 3. Parliamentary leadership 8. Issue Type: 1. Corruption, 2. Governance, 3. Energy Crisis, 4. Inflation, 5. Health, 6. Education 9. Frames of Corruption Issue: 1. Money Laundering, 2. Kickbacks/Commission, 3. Tax Evasion, 4. Merit Violation 10. Slant of Corruption frame towards party: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable 11. Frames of Governance Issue: 1. Performance, 2. Law & Order/Terrorism, 3. Democratic Culture, 4. Accountability 12. Slant of Governance frame towards party: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable 13. Energy Crisis: 1. Electricity Crisis, 2. CNG shortage, 3. Sui Gas shortage, 4. Solutions 14. Slant of Energy Crisis frame: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable 15. Frames of Inflation/unemployment Issue: 1. Monetary Policy, 2. Basic food essentials, 3. Control, 4. Statistical Gimmicks 16. Slant of inflation frame: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable 17. Frames of Health Issue: 1. Lack of Health facilities, 2. Fake Medicine, 3.Dengue Campaign, Health Conditions 18. Slant of Health frames: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable 19. Frame of Education Issue: Primary Schools, 2. Higher Education, 3. Quality education, 4. Uniform curriculum 20. Slant of Education frame: 3. Favourable, 2. Neutral, 3. Unfavourable
(Page 45 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames Corruption 1. Money Money Laundering: topic of discussion about Laundering unlawfully money transfer to abroad and 2. Commission/K invested for the purpose of; Swiss Accounts, ickbacks Sarray Palace, Foreign 3. Tax Evasion Investments/Business/Accounts, London Flats 4. Merit etc. were coded as money laundering. Violation Commission/Kickbacks: if segment discuss that money was unlawfully earned using the Public office/Govt. offices in dealing with; new rental power projects, Foreign gifts, Hujj Corruption, NLC Scandle, NATO Container Scandal, Metro tenders, Ittefaq refinery/factory Iron in every projects, Foreign funding for Madaris, funding from agencies(Asgar Khan Case), Bhatta(illegal fund raising from markets), Ten Percent, Deiseal etc. were coded as Commission/Kickbacks
Tax Evasion: Topic of discussion aboutHiding annual income, Hiding Property, not filling tax returns, anonymous property, Bank loan of huge amounts, privilege of exemption for Bank Loan returning, were coded as Tax Evasion.
Merit Violation: Topic of discussion about illegal recruitments, Illegals appointments of high officials, Nepotism in selection of ministers, nepotism in fund releasing, unfair fund releasing, courtesies for personal loyal
(Page 46 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames individuals or groups, quotas for only party loyal people, Unfair selection for the party candidate, unfair distribution of employments, Laptop distribution, recruitment of school educators, avoiding due process for the allotment of contracts for mega projects etc. were coded as merit violation Governance 1. Performance Performance: Promised made in previous 2. Law & Order/ elections, claims of reforms, development terrorism projects/ fake development, Economic growth, 3. Democratic Just showing off projects, sincere efforts are not Culture made, incompetent, inexperienced, 4. Accountability efficient/smart, Laptop distribution, Danish schools, Benazir income support program, Reforms, news universities, Devolution of power to provinces, Tax reforms, Social welfare projects, NFC award,
Democratic Culture: Successors of Military establishment, Anti-establishment, experience of parliamentary affairs, Justice for all, fair play, integrity, values, principles, Traditional, rhetorical, Vote bank, province party, party of all province, ethnic party, fascist party
Law & Order/Terrorism: Thana Culture(police station culture), Target Killing, Bhatta(forced fundraising) , banned organisations, Counter terrorism department, Drone attacks, suicide attacks,Swat
(Page 47 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames operation,Madrassa reforms( religious school reforms), peace dialogue, police reforms, intelligence agencies, terrorists attacks, security measures, criticism on VIP security culture, civil military coordination,Rivalry between state institutions, writ of the Govt.( Raymond Davis Case,Governor Salman Taseer murder), Judicial activism,
Foreign Policy: Memo Gate, Drone attacks, Kashmir issue, Pak-India relations, Pak-US relations, Pak-China relations, Pak-Saudi relations,Pak-Iran,Gwadar port, Foreign delegation’s visit to Pakistan, Pakistan’s delegations visit to abroad, Raymond Davis case, commission on Memo Gate Scandal, Commission on Usama Bin Laden’s death in Abottabad operation by US troops, Salala Check post attack, Natto supply proscribed
Economic Policy: International trade, export volume, Foreign reserves, GDP, Contribution from Oversees Pakistanis,Tax collection, circular debt of energy distribution firms , IMF, OGRA, World Bank, Budget allocation for Health , Budget allocation for Education, Budget allocation for development, unemployment,
Accountability: Role of NAB( National
(Page 48 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames Accountability Bureau) , Role of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, politics of reconciliation to escape from accountability, Energy Crisis Electricity Crisis: Priority of the Issue of 1. Electricity electricity shortage, Load shedding due to Crisis shortage, effects of load shedding on different 2. CNG Shortage segments of society, protest against crises 3. Sui Gas Shortage CNG shortage: Stoppage of CNG for week 4. Solutions days in different areas, long ques at CNG stations, CNG price hike, alternative fuel option( large no CNG stations), Difficulties faced by general public due to CNG shortage,
Sui Gas Shortage: load management of Gas for industry, Gas load shedding for domestic use, problems faced by household females due to stoppage of Gas during cooking time, Weather conditions, LPG, Protest against crises
Solutions: Crisis is due to the policies of Gen. Musharraf dictatorship and its political allies, criticism of provincial Govt. on federal Govt. ,Payment of Circular debt, load management, new energy resources like Dams and Pak-Iran Gas pipeline,new rental power projects, unfulfilled date announcements to overcome the crises, Thar Coal power projects, Gas power projects Inflation 1. Monetary Monetary Policy: IMF, World, Asian
(Page 49 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames Policy Development Bank, Foreign Aid, Loan, 2. Basic Food international trade, system of taxation, Essentials Devaluation of Pakistani rupee, Increase in US 3. Control dollar value, increase in prices of imports, 4. Statistical OGRA and oil prices and surplus budget, slow Gimmicks agriculture development, slow industrial development, subsidies for domestic actors, unnecessary expenditure
Basic Food Essentials: Soaring prices of basic food items include Flour, Sugar, lentils, vegetables are beyond the purchasing poor of poor, labour class, Government/ politicians are insensitive and have no interest to ensure basic necessities of life to the lower class, elite class have no problem with the increasing inflation, farmers are not being provided with subsidies etc. were coded as Basic Food Essentials regarding the issue of inflation.
Control: Monitoring of overcharging, Market control, price control
Statistical Gimmicks: Printing excessive banknotes, Fake claims of prosperity, just playing with statistics to show good indicators, Health 1. Lack of Health Lack of Health Facilities: Bad condition of Facilities Govt. Hospitals, availability and accessibility to 2. Fake Medicine hospitals, non-availability of Hospital in rural 3. Young areas/ insufficient basic health units, presence of
(Page 50 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames Doctor’s staff in hospitals, lack of infrastructure in the Strikes hospitals, price hike of medicines, price control 4. Health of medicine, free medicine availability at Conditions Hospitals, effective monitoring of facilities, accountably of hospital management
Fake Medicine: Illegal distribution networks, fake companies, ineffective licensing system for companies, non-certified medical stores, slandered of medical store, writ of the Govt. Raid to eliminate fake medicines, causalities due to fake medicines( Punjab Institute of Cardiology Lahore Case), network of fake medicines, Ephedrine Case,
Young Doctor’s Strikes:Demands of young doctors,salary structure of YDA, Hectic workload of doctors in Emergencies of hospitals, Dialogue with YDA, Health reforms,
Health Conditions: Failure of Polio Vaccination Campaign, Availability of Pure Drinking Water, Adulteration of food items, ineffective Basic Health units Education Primary Schools:Bad condition of Govt. 1. Primary Primary schools, drop out of children, Ghost Schools schools, Ghost teachers, unqualified teachers, 2. Higher merit violation in teacher appointments, Education Private schools high fee structure, non- 3. Quality availability of trained staff
(Page 51 of 200)
Issue Frames Slant/ Specific Frames Education 4. Uniform Higher Education :Issues ofDevolution of Curriculum Higher Education Commission, new public sector universities, skilled based education, Mushroom growth of private universities, lack of qualified teacher and staff, lack of research infrastructure, industrial linkage failure,
Quality Education:Priority of education in budget, monitoring system, Curriculum development, qualified teachers, issues regarding syllabus, Laptop distribution to meet the digital divide, indigenous and oversees scholarships for PhD,
Uniform Curriculum:Equal opportunities for elite, middle and lower classes,Madrasah reforms,equal levels of schools system,Uniform curriculum for all schools
(Page 52 of 200)
APPENDIX-2 Questionnaire/Survey 1. Do you take interest in watching political comedy programs on mainstream channels of Pakistan Yes No If No, then please do not fill the reaming questionnaire.
2. Which kind of news and current affair content do you like to watch? (Rank all options according to your interest i-e 1. 2. 3.
News Bulletin Political Talk shows Political Comedy Shows 3. I watch political comedy shows: Regularly Sometimes Hardly Never 4. Which Political comedy program do you like to watch, on regular basis: (please tick all that apply) Hum sab umeed say hain Hasb-e-haal Khabarnaak DarLing
5. Which program anchor do you like most? (please tick all that apply) Saba Qamar JunaidSaleem Aftab Iqbal Khalid Abbas Dar
6. Which character do you like most? (please tick all that apply) Azizi (Hasb-e-Haal) Darling(DarLing) Dummy Museum ( Khabarnaak) Funny Host ( Hum sab umeed say hain) Dummy political leaders(like Musharraf in Hum sab umeed say hain)
(Page 53 of 200)
7. Which format of segment in comedy program do you like most? (Rank all options according to your interest i-e 1. 2. 3. )
Anchor Based Character Based Music Based
8. In your Opinion which issues were discussed in TV comedy more before general elections? (Rank all options according to your interest i-e 1. 2. 3. )
Political Issues Social Issues Economic Issues
9. In your opinion, which of the following type of Humour make you remember real character of politician?(please tick one)
Jokes Funny situations Funny Expressions Funny Labels
10. Which of the following acts of Parody in comedy shows appeal your more? (please tick one)
Mimicry of politician/Imitation Dummy Museum Parody songs Funny Re-enactments of political situations
11. In your opinion, which of the following type of Satire make you remember real character of politician? (please tick one)
Pointing something between the lines Sarcastic remarks on political situation Critical evaluation of politician’s personal traits
(Page 54 of 200)
Punch lines/Juggat
12. Which type of comedy mostly you like in TV programs? (please tick one)
Humour Parody Satire
13. In your opinion, which issue was the most important issue of during elections campaign (tick one from below)
Corruption Energy Crisis Governance Inflation Health Education
14. In your opinion, which aspects of corruption were given importance during Elections campaign? (Tick any one of the following)
Money Laundering Kickbacks and Commission Merit Violation Tax Evasion
15. In your opinion, which aspects of Governance were was given importance during Elections campaign. (Tick any one of the following)
Performance Law & Order/ Terrorism
(Page 55 of 200)
Democratic Culture Accountability
16. In your opinion, which aspects of Energy Crisis were was given importance during Elections campaign. (Tick any one of the following)
Electricity Crisis CNG Shortage Sui Gas Shortage Solutions
17. In your opinion, which aspects of Inflation were was given importance during Elections campaign. (Tick any one of the following)
Monetary Policy Basic Food Essentials Unemployment Statistical Gimmicks
18. In your opinion, which aspects of Health were was given importance during Elections campaign. (Tick any one of the following)
Lack of Health facilities Fake Medicine Young Doctor’s Strike Health Conditions
19. In your opinion, which aspects of Education were was given importance during Elections campaign. (Tick any one of the following)
(Page 56 of 200)
Primary Schools Higher Education Quality Education Uniform Curriculum 20. How do you think the following political leaders were discussed in political comedy shows on the issues of corruption, governance, energy crisis, inflation, health and education with the intent of favourable, unfavourable or neutral?
Nawaz Sharif Asif Ali Zardari Imran Khan AsfandYaarWali Ch. Shujaat Hussain Altaf Hussain MolanaFazl-ur-Rehman Syed Munnawar Hassan Mehmood Khan Achakzi Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed Allama Tahir-ul-Qadri Pervaiz Musharraf
(Page 57 of 200)
(Page 58 of 200)