01 Pakistani Media’s Reliance on Western Sources of Information: A Case Study of Osama bin Laden’s Killing

Abstract

This research paper looks at the reliance of Pakistani English-language daily Dawn on the Western sources of information while covering the historic killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This paper examines whether Dawn covered the event on its own by utilizing local sources or if it showed dependency on the Western sources to report the high profile event. The content of Dawn newspaper was studied for ten consecutive days –from May 3, 2011 to May 12, 2011.The findings – based on the content analysis of 191 news articles – show that Dawn showed some level of dependency on the Western sources to report the event, contributing the minimally significant material to the story. The findings raise the question that Dawn, despite being the host of the event, was unable to pull the strings in its own way by exploring the investigative lines attached to the incident.