MEDIA-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS DURING PTI AND PDM GOVERNMENTS AN ANALYSIS IN STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the relations of the media and the government in Pakistan in two distinct phases: the period of the PTI government (2018 to 2022) when Imran Khan served as Prime Minister, and the period of the coalition PDM government (2022 onwards). In this analysis, a Meta Structural-Functional analysis is applied and combined with the study of political legitimacy to examine how factors such as the development in technology and social media use by the youth impact media freedom in Pakistan.

The research fills important gaps in the literature regarding the impact of government policy and varying degrees of political legitimacy on press freedom in the context of rapid technological change within developing democracies.

The study takes on a comprehensive mixed-methods approach by combining quantitative survey data (N=1000) and qualitative interviews (N=50) to gain a holistic understanding of public opinion as well as detailed stakeholder viewpoints. The survey utilizes stratified random sampling of Pakistani citizens to gauge their attitudes towards media freedom, governmental legitimacy, digital media use, and the independence of the press. The qualitative part involves semi-structured interviewing of senior journalists, media house executives, governmental officials, civil society actors, and digital media opinion leaders. The approach incorporates statistical correlation and regression analysis alongside thematic content analysis of interview data.

The outcomes of the study indicate a notable improvement concerning media freedom indicators during the PDM period in relation to the PTI era, with better journalist freedom, less economically motivated violence, and lower legal harassment of critical voices. There is a strong positive relationship between the perception of democratic legitimacy of governing bodies and the degree of media freedom (r=0.73, p<0.001), implying that coalition governments with wider political inclusivity are more permissive towards press scrutiny. The study also shows the importance of technology in bypassing the traditional government control over media, as social media, digital journalism, and citizen journalism serve as counter-information paradigms. These findings affirm the three hypotheses: that advanced democratic legitimacy is linked to more media freedom, that greater technology leads to less governable information controls, and that heightened youth activity on social media increases measures of independence in the press. These insights are particularly relevant in Pakistan’s intricate political landscape for policymakers, media stakeholders, civil advocacy groups, and foreign observers aiming to promote democracy and press freedom.