Media Framing on Coverage of Motorway Rape Incident: A Study of Cable Channels in Pakistan

Abstract

Sensitive issues, such as rape, need to be handled with special care in the media, as the media's framing impacts how the audience perceives an event. Using framing theory, this study investigated the coverage of the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway Incident on four leading news channels: Geo News, ARY News, Dunya News, and Express News. Content analysis was performed to analyze the data collected from 26 programs of 4 primetime talk shows on the selected channels. The study's findings reveal that Geo News provided the most extensive coverage of the incident. Altogether, seven significant themes were identified, the most dominant thematic frame being blaming the police. It concludes that the media's coverage of the incident was responsible and objective in relation to the victim and avoided the use of sensational language.