Title: “Contribution of Digital Media in the

Development of Science and Technology in Pakistan”

BS Thesis Defense
Name of Candidate: Haris Ejaz (MED-17S-010)
Name of Supervisor: Ms. Khushboo Rafiq
Department: BS Media Studies
Date: 13-July-2021
 Problem Statement
•Media is considered as third pillar of state and it has great responsibility on it to educate,
entertain and inform audience. On the other hand, digital media is a medium which can be
taken as most reliable and authentic in terms of accuracy and truthfulness. The
responsibility of digital media is to provide news regarding all aspects of society including
science and technology. In Pakistan digital websites are filled with news coming from all
directions weather national, international, countryside’s, suburban having news related
politics, entertainment, sports, crimes, violence except science and technology.
 Background

• McQuail (1994) states that mass communication is, “only one of the processes of communication
operating at the society wide level, readily identified by its institutional characteristics.”
• Facebook has introduced an automated system for preventing fake news that immediately removes any
false news from Facebook. A report released by Facebook states that in the future, the system will be able
to work 98% correctly.
• Artificial intelligence and robots are considered as future from making food to helping in industries robots
are playing major role in helping humans.
 Objectives

• To know the coverage of digital media regarding science.

• To identify space, place, length occupied by the science news in digital media.
• To compare the coverage of science news in English and Urdu language digital
websites.
• To examine the content, types and frequency of Science articles, features
published in the digital websites.
 Research Questions

• RQ1: How digital media is providing coverage to Science News?

• RQ2: What space, place and length is occupied by Science news in digital
Media?
• RQ3: What are the differences in science news on Urdu and English digital
websites?
 Hypotheses

• H1: English digital websites are publishing science news more than Urdu
websites.
• H2: Environmental news is published more than other science news.
 Literature Review

• (Lopez, 2015) Scientist has always been referencing media coverage of science to enhance
their work in this field. The standardization and selectivity of information were
characteristics of science journalism in the printed medium that the digital editions of
journals have inherited. This essay explores this fact from the international perspective,
with a special focus on the Spanish case. To highlight the importance of role of news media
in New Zealand, research says media play role of bridge between public and scientific
and technological development. But due to public demand of material news such as
politics, sports, and business, owners get pressurized to meet the deadline, science reporting
is gradually declining. Scientist says the foremost purpose of media is to serve public and
science is humanitarian subject but majority media outlets devaluing the field of line.
• (Appiah, Gastel, Burdine, Russell, 2015) Ward and Jandciu in his study identify challenges faced by
science journalist. According to them science journalist faces two types of challenges and he named
them as individual challenges and systemic challenges. Individual challenges are merely
concerned with reporter’s personal abilities like personal skills, personal abilities and
qualifications. Whereas systemic concerned with reporters challenges he faced in newsroom on
daily basis. According to ward science journalist is unable to control systemic challenges and systemic
challenges manipulate his work far more than individual challenges. According to Jandciu reporters
are not given enough time to have had enough knowledge to report thick scientific topic hence
they mainly depend upon science journals as their main sources towards science stories.
 Theoretical Framework
• Agenda Setting Theory
• Knowledge Gap Theory
• Development Communication Theory
 Methodology

• The content analysis of quantitative type of research was used in this research.
• Compared the content of two digital websites one from Urdu digital websites and another from
English digital websites.
• Purposive sample technique was used in this research. Geo.tv from English and Samaa.tv from
Urdu were selected
• The time period for content analysis was chosen three months for each from 1st March to 30th
May 2021.
• Categories were organized in a way to cover all types of science news like Technology,
Discovery, Medicine, Environment and Space science was covered.
 CONTENT ANALYSIS OF GEO.TV (1st MARCH TO 30th MARCH)
Date Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
1/3/2021 1 0 0 1 0 0
2/3/2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
3/3/2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
= 7+8+3+10+4+7 Total 39
4/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
5/3/2021 0 0 0 2 1 1
6/3/2021 0 1 0 0 0 1 Trend of each Category from 1st March to 30th March
7/3/2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
8/3/2021 0 0 1 2 0 0
9/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Technology:
10/3/2021 0 1 0 0 1 0
11/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
12/3/2021 1 1 0 0 0 0 Discovery:
13-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
14-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
15-3-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0 Medicine: =7%
16-3-2021 0 1 0 0 2 0
17-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
18-3-2021 1 0 0 0 0 0 Environment: 25 %
19-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
20-3-2021 0 0 1 0 0 1
21-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Space:
22-3-2021 0 1 0 1 0 0
23-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
24-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Others:
25-3-2021 0 0 1 1 0 0
26-3-2021 0 2 0 0 0 0
27-3-2021 2 1 0 0 0 0
28-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
29-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
30-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 7 8 3 10 4 7
 (1st April to 31st April)
Date Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
1/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
2/4/2021 0 0 0 1 1 0 =8+2+2+12+5+4 Total 33
3/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
4/4/2021 1 0 0 1 0 0
5/4/2021 1 0 0 2 0 0
Trend of each category from 1st April to 31st April
6/4/2021 1 0 1 0 0 1
7/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
8/4/2021 0 0 0 0 1 0 Technology:
9/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
10/4/2021 0 0 0 0 1 1
11/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Discovery:
12/4/2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
13-4-2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
14-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Medicine:
15-4-2021 1 0 0 0 1 0
16-4-2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
17-4-2021 0 0 0 1 0 0 Environment:
18-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
19-4-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0
20-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Space:
21-4-2021 0 0 0 2 0 0
22-4-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0
23-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Others:
24-4-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0
25-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
26-4-2021 0 0 0 0 1 1
27-4-2021 0 0 1 0 0 0
28-4-2021 0 0 0 1 0 1
29-4-2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
30-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
31-4-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0
Total 8 2 2 12 5 4
 (1st May to 30 May)
Date Sci & Tech Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
1/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
2/5/2021 0 0 0 2 0 0 = 5+4+3+8+4+6 Total 30
3/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
4/5/2021 0 2 0 1 0 0
5/5/2021 1 0 2 0 0 0 Trends of each category 1st May to 30th May
6/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
7/5/2021 0 0 0 1 1 2
8/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
9/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Technology:
10/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
11/5/2021 0 1 0 1 0 0
Discovery:
12/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
13-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
14-5-2021 0 0 1 0 0 0 Medicine:
15-5-2021 0 0 0 0 1 0
16-5-2021 2 0 0 0 0 1
17-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Environment:
18-5-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0
19-5-2021 0 0 0 0 2 0
20-5-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0 Space:
21-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
22-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
23-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
Others:
24-5-2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
25-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
26-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
27-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
28-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
29-5-2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
30-5-2021 0 0 0 1 0 0
Total 5 4 3 8 4 6
 COVERAGE OF GEO.TV
Geo.tv is an English digital websites of Pakistan as well as most reputed among all English publications of country.
The researcher conducted content analysis for three month in which news were categories in following
categories
30

25

20

15

10

0
Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
 Content Analysis of Samaa.tv (1st March to 30 March)
Date Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space other
1/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
2/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 7+10+1+3+7+6 Total 34
3/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
4/3/2021 0 2 0 0 2 0
5/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1 Trend of each category from 1st March to 30th March
6/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
7/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
8/3/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Technology:
9/3/2021 0 1 0 2 0 0
10/3/2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
11/3/2021 2 0 0 1 2 0 Discovery:
12/3/2021 1 1 0 0 0 0
13-3-2021 1 0 0 0 0 1
Medicine:
14-3-2021 0 1 0 0 0 1
15-3-2021 1 0 1 0 0 0
16-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Environment:
17-3-2021 0 0 0 0 2 0
18-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
19-3-2021 1 0 0 0 0 1 Space:
20-3-2021 0 2 0 0 0 0
21-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
22-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Others:
23-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
24-3-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0
25-3-2021 0 2 0 0 1 1
26-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
27-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
28-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
29-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
30-3-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 7 10 1 3 7 6
 (1st April to 31st April)
Date Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
1/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
2/4/2021 0 0 0 0 1 0 = 6+8+4+5+6+8 Total 37
3/4/2021 0 0 1 0 0 0
4/4/2021 1 2 0 1 0 0
5/4/2021 1 0 0 0 0 0 Trends of each category from 1st April to 31st April
6/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
7/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
8/4/2021 0 0 1 0 2 0 Technology:
9/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
10/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
11/4/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Discovery:
12/4/2021 0 2 0 1 0 0
13-4-2021 1 0 0 0 0 1
14-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Medicine:
15-4-2021 0 0 0 0 1 0
16-4-2021 0 1 0 0 0 1
17-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Environment:
18-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
19-4-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0 Space:
20-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
21-4-2021 0 0 0 2 2 0
22-4-2021 0 1 1 0 0 1 Others:
23-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
24-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
25-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
26-4-2021 1 1 0 0 0 1
27-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
28-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
29-4-2021 1 0 1 0 0 1
30-4-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
31-4-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0
Total 6 8 4 5 6 8
 (1st May to 30 May)
Date Sci & Tech Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
1/5/2021 0 2 0 0 0 0
2/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 1 = 10+6+0+4+7+6 Total 33
3/5/2021 1 0 0 0 0 0
4/5/2021 0 0 0 1 1 0 Trends of each category from 1st May to 30st May
5/5/2021 1 1 0 0 0 0
6/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
7/5/2021 0 0 0 0 1 0 Technology:
8/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
9/5/2021 1 0 0 0 0 1
10/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Discovery:
11/5/2021 0 1 0 1 0 0
12/5/2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
13-5-2021 0 0 0 0 2 1 Medicine:
14-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
15-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
16-5-2021 2 0 0 0 0 1 Environment:
17-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
18-5-2021 1 0 0 1 0 0 Space:
19-5-2021 0 0 0 0 2 0
20-5-2021 0 1 0 0 0 0
21-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0 Others:
22-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
23-5-2021 2 0 0 0 0 1
24-5-2021 0 0 0 1 1 0
25-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
26-5-2021 1 1 0 0 0 0
27-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
28-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 1
29-5-2021 2 0 0 0 0 0
30-5-2021 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 10 6 0 4 7 6
 COVERAGE OF SAMAA.TV
Samaa.tv is an Urdu digital websites of Pakistan as well as most reputed among all Urdu Publications of country.
The researcher conducted content analysis for three month in which news were categories in following categories
25

20

15

10

0
Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others
 35
COMPARISON IN GRAPHIC FORM
30

25

20
Green bars = Geo.tv
15 Blue bars = Samaa.tv

10

0
Technology Discovery Medicine Environment Space Others

Figure shows the coverage of science news in both digital websites where green bars showing the
coverage of geo.tv and blue bars are showing the coverage of samaa.tv. The lowest covered category in
both digital websites is medicine and the category of environment is highest covered in geo.tv and in
Samaa.tv Discovery is highest covered category.
 Results and Conclusion
In Pakistan, the role of digital media towards science and technology is quite minimal to accommodate the

country’s need. There are factors such as media’s priority towards science and technology, knowledge gap

between general audience and science. The majority of Pakistan’s population is not well educated to

understand scientific information. The general audience can’t be deal with single message. In short, the lack

of shortage of science market in Pakistan is one major cause to it. Another factor is scarcity of skilled and

trained reporters as well as media houses neglecting science reporting. The field of environment is more

covered in English as compared to Urdu digital websites. It was estimated that English digital websites cover

more science related news as compared to Urdu digital websites. But this research proved somehow the

frequency of science news in Urdu digital websites is either more or same as compared to English digital

websites. But it is generally considered that English digital websites covers more science news as compared to

Urdu.
 References
• Abdur, (2016), the Nation, pg. 7, Digital websites
• Ashwell,(2014), the Challenges of Science Journalism, Research gate.
• Ahmed,( 2005), Barriers to Science Journalism in Pakistan, ScieDveNet.
• Allan (2011) Introduction: Science journalism in a digital age, SAGE Journals
• Bernard,(1926),An introduction to Social Psychology,
• Bowhmik,( 2012), Uses and gratification theory, Mass Communication Talk,
•  Baloch,(2018), decline of science reporting in Pakistan, Technology Times.
• Brumfiel,(2009), Science Reporters, the nature.
Thank You