Abstract
This paper is an attempt to study the relationship between scandal news, privacy issues and the coverage given to it by the Pakistani print and electronic media. To explore this relationship, the content of the highly viewed news channel Geo News and the highly circulated Jang newspaper is analyzed from September 1 to November 30, 2015. The aim of the study is to examine the portrayal of scandals in both media and also to compare the treatment of Jang and Geo News. Through the content analysis under the light of framing theory, it is concluded that Jang and Geo News gave the extensive coverage to the content of celebrities’ scandals. They covered scandal issues with sensationalism and converted small issues into big tragedies. It is also concluded that Geo News left the Jang newspaper behind in covering personal scandals rather than professional scandals. The findings also reject the common assumption that electronic media focus more on scandals than the print media to get the audience attention and increase the rating of the channels because the Jang newspaper gave more coverage of scandals than the prime time bulletin of 9:00 P.M. in Geo News.
Keyword(s)
Scandals, Print & Electronic media treatment, Privacy, Sensationalism, framing