RECONSIDERING MEDIA POLICY IN PAKISTAN: EVIDENCE FROM MEDIA ACADEMICS’ PREFERENCES FOR ONLINE, ELECTRONIC, AND PRINT MEDIA

Abstract

The present research explores how perceptions of news media functions relate to the gratifications sought by media academics in Pakistan across online, electronic, and print media. Based on uses and gratifications theory, this study answers how media functions determine the consumption patterns of academics who have expert knowledge about media processes and theories. A cross-sectional survey design was used; 160 media academics from 38 universities of Pakistan were surveyed with the help of an online questionnaire. The instrument was first pretested and then pilot-tested, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability and discriminant validity assessments were checked. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD post hoc tests indicated significant differences in gratifications across media types, with online media consistently yielding the highest levels of surveillance, socialization, and sensation. However, the results of the structural model were dramatically opposite to these findings: weak or non-significant associations emerged between perceived media functions and the gratifications sought. This difference suggests that although academics explicitly distinguish between media platforms in terms of the gratifications they receive, these gratifications are no more heavily determined by traditional perceptions of media functions. Overall, the findings suggest a shifted media ecology in which gratifications remain strong at the platform level but their linkages with conventional news media roles have weakened substantially.