Framing of Iranian Image in Leading English Press of Pakistan: An Analysis

Abstract

Mass media is an important source of defining local and international issues through its function of framing. Media is using frames to construct the image of neighboring countries. It depicts the kind of image the country is having in eye of foreign public constructed by media. Iran is the neighbor country to Pakistan and their relationship is of unique characteristics. The study explores the image of the neighbouring country Iran as Positive, Negative or Neutral in Pakistani print media. It analyzes the content of news stories published in two daily English newspapers of Pakistan: Daily DAWN and THE NEWS. Ten months duration is chosen through convenience sampling, from 1st May 2019 to 31st July 2019 and then from 1st October 2020 to 30th April 2021. The results depict that Pakistani English press is framing Iran with positive image in its publications. The study concludes that “peace journalism” is used, and “Nuclear Energy” is the most redundant topic of discussion in the news stories. DAWN newspaper covered Iran more as compared to THE NEWS.