SMOG AS A PERSISTENT PUBLIC HEALTH AND GOVERNANCE CHALLENGE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIA SILENCE AND POLICY INADEQUACIES IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

In major cities of Pakistan, smoke has turned into an air-pollution crisis every year, producing repetitive effects on the public-health and exposing long-term failures in the management of the environment. This paper discusses the coverage of the smog issue by the Pakistani news media and how such coverage is connected to policy response. Based on a mixed-method design, we analysed 356 smog-related news items in six major English and Urdu-language newspapers in the 2017 and 2019 seasons of smog using a quantitative content analysis and accompanied by a qualitative analysis of policy texts in the draught. Findings show that the pattern of issue-attention is highly seasonal: it is highest in October-November and virtually absent when the season is not in smog. Outlets in Urdu language also provided a bigger portion of coverage (approximately 60 percent), although in both language groups that reported either disruption (e.g., closures and visibility dangers) rather than public-health advice. About 15 percent of articles reported health effects and less than 10 percent gave precautionary information, and solution-focused reporting was uncommon. The results confirm the hypothesis that episodic media coverage, and policy implementation imbalance, reinforces a cyclic governance reaction that is not proactive but rather reactive.