ABSTRACT
Over a decade on from the establishment of the media industries, it has become clear that the familiar ghosts of contesting power relations and the politics of self-perpetuation have entrenched themselves. This chapter examines questions of political self-interest, 'corporate feudalism' and class politics have dominated readings of the rise of the media in Pakistan. Without dismissing the question of power, the chapter suggests that it is possible to read media platforms in Pakistan from alternative perspectives to that of contested power relations. It examines how the media has also presented opportunities for Pakistanis to 'travel' and discover the nation, physical opportunities that continue to dwindle given crumbling infrastructure and precarious socio-political conditions. The chapter maps theoretical perspectives of power that view media platforms through the lens of co-optation and political/class self-interests. It considers how an example from the media has the potential to provide awami space, despite its problems and limitations, denied in urban centres such as Karachi.
