ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that within the context of Pakistan there is a need to remodel the very structure of television, which involves, meaning production and discourse evolution. As state-run television in Pakistan was initially established as a government mouthpiece, the news gathered and disseminated never gained credibility. The liberalisation of TV in Pakistan under President Musharraf’s rule was more of an effort to achieve a balance in the cultural war of propaganda with India than any service to freedom of expression within Pakistan. The argument indicates that the journalists involved in private TV were handicapped in many ways, most importantly in the domains of content production and keeping up with 24/7 routines. TV channel owners sought a solution in talk shows where anchors acquired celebrity status and monopolised the discourse on media which affected the very nature of free media, silencing plurality of voices in favour of regimentation. Hence, the objective of this chapter is to explore how the strengthening of negative morality has hindered instead of fostering liberal dialogue to support empowered citizenry as an obvious result of such pressure on media. There appears to be a need to remodel the very structure of TV in terms of production and discourse evolution.
