Media Pluralism

Ten indicators of Risks to Media Pluralism aim to run a diagnostic on the health of the media sector in Pakistan by assessing three dimensions: economic, legal and political. How concentrated is the media market both horizontally (in each sector) and vertically (across sectors) in Pakistan? What are the greatest risks to Media Pluralism?

Media Audience Concentration

high

Media Market Concentration

no data

Regulatory Safeguards: Media Ownership Concentration

HIGH

Cross-media Ownership Concentration

medium

Regulatory Safeguards: Cross-media Ownership Concentration

high

Ownership Transparency

medium

Regulatory Safeguards: Ownership Transparency

low

(Political) Control Over Media Outlets and Distribution Networks

Medium to High

(Political) Control Over Media Funding

Medium to High

Regulatory Safeguards: Net neutrality

HIGH

The Legal Field: drought and dark clouds above

The regulatory framework governing Pakistan’s media sector has ended up engendering a media landscape that abounds with regulatory exceptions and prevents the professional development of the sector, discourages market fair-play and wantonly averts transparency and accountability. This restricts...

Media Market: a colourful story of growth and what's behind

Pakistan’s media market has experienced massive growth commensurate with an expansion in the media landscape, economic growth and increasing audiences in the past decade overall. However, recent political transition and stumbling economy has affected the media market and...

Towers of Power: media ownership concentration

Most of the ownership of top 40 – by audience share – news television channels, radio stations, newspapers and news websites in Pakistan are concentrated in only a few hands, aided by lax legal restrictions on cross-media ownership. This environment, increasingly, restricts sources of information...