ROLE OF MEDIA IN INCITING VIOLENCE IN THE SOCIETY: THE CASE STUDY OF AURAT MARCH

Abstract

Contemporary society is infested with several social evils such as violence, antagonism, addiction etc. Pakistani media, instead of playing its socially constructive role, i.e., to inform and educate the public while maintaining social harmony in the state, is exploiting its power to inform while reconstructing reality by applying certain strategies, to incite violent acts in society. The study approached the issue by opting case study method while qualitatively analysing the events of “Aurat March”. To analyse social-psychological dimensions of the phenomenon, the study adopted the psychological theoretical framework of “The General Aggression Model”. In context of “incite violence”, study focused on identifying “short-term” effects on the social-psychological domains of individuals, while keeping the expected long-term effects, integral to the attention of the study. The findings exposed the intervening role of Pakistani media between the social issue of “Aurat March” and violent acts. These violent acts are the response to the incitation by media due to extensive coverage and projection and propagation of controversy and negative aspects of “Aurat March” as a movement. Through the case study, it has been proven that “media controls the minds and reconstructs societies”. The study recommends carrying out further studies on the social-psychological impact of media, to spread awareness in the “Public Sphere” to be able to control their minds, instead of being controlled and influenced by media.