Ph.D degree awarded

Islamabad

National Defence University (NDU) has awarded Ph.D degree to scholar and journalist Sajjad Malik on his thesis about the role of media in peace process between Pakistan-India.

The scholar on Thursday successfully defended his dissertation before an array of scholars, professors and policy experts during the Public Defence organised by the NDU.

The scholar studied the impact of media on relations of the two countries during 2000-2010. His used the technique of content analysis by scanning hundreds of news of selected papers, and also conducted elite interviews for qualitative analysis.

The dissertation investigates the role of media by evaluating coverage in both countries around five major events: Agra Summit, Indian Parliament Attack, Military Standoff of 2002, Composite Dialogue and Mumbai Attacks.

The findings show that majority, 62 percent, coverage was detrimental for peace between the two nations as the news articles highlighted hostility. The results also show that media through partisan coverage of relations of Pakistan and India creates hurdles in the way of peace. The survey of media contents in both states depicts that most of the materials published or aired come through official sources, which may not give the real picture of the relations.