PAK-INDIA COMPOSITE DIALOGUE: TRENDS IN MEDIA COVERAGE

Abstract

Abstract
Pakistan and India have not had a stable relation since independence. There have been attempts thus to achieve a neighbourly relation. Amongst the efforts made, Composite Dialogue was undoubtedly an important step towards achieving peace; it was introduced in January 2004 and had eight baskets of issues to be deliberated upon. Media showed a keen interest in this peace effort and extensively covered it. The process was suspended after the Mumbai terror attack of July 2008. This study looks at the trends media coverage of the Composite Dialogue in print media in India and Pakistan. The research design is the content analysis of
eight selected newspapers, four from each country (one primary and three secondary ones), during nine selected days. This
composite dialogue, continued for over five years, but the coverage period for this research is three periods, each lasting for three days in January 2004, April 2005 and July 2006. The analysis and subsequent conclusion shows that media became overzealous in
giving coverage to the peace process yet it followed the official narrative which was jingoistic1, hence hindering the peace process
by limiting the exposure to information and public discourse.