COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BYLINE DISPARITY AND THE THEMATIC FOCUS OF WOMEN COLUMNISTS IN OP-ED PAGES OF LEADING URDU AND ENGLISH NEWSPAPERS OF PAKISTAN

Abstract

This research presents a comparative analysis of the op-ed pages of leading Urdu (Duniya, Express, Jung, and Nawai e Waqt) and English (Dawn, Express Tribune, The Nation, and The News) dailies in Pakistan, it investigates the disparity in bylines and the types of content produced by women.  A mixed-method approach was utilized to quantify the frequency of women’s bylines and to explore the thematic patterns of opinion pieces penned by women columnists. The findings reveal a significant underrepresentation of women's voices in the selected newspapers (680 opinions out of 6001). The content produced were mainly limited to clichéd content categories, mainly categorized as pink topics, including socio-cultural issues, lifestyle, and gender issues, in contrast to the range of topics covered by their male counterparts. This study emphasized the need for implementing gender-inclusive policies at both the organizational and government levels to ensure the equal representation of women's voices in media discourse.