Professionals Perspective in Portrayal of Honour Killings in Pakistani Media

Sadia Huda, Anila Kamal

Abstract
The present study explored the perspectives of stakeholders about the
role of media towards honour killings in Pakistan. Semi structured
interviews were conducted with lawyers (n= 7), social activists (n=6),
Journalists (n= 5), Religious Scholars (n= 4), Psychologist (n=3), Police
officials (n= 5). All the participants had more than 5 years of experience in
their relevant fields and have been working on honour killings in their
professional capacities. The data was coded by using Grounded theory
method and were analysed to extract themes from the data. The results of
the study indicated that media is playing both positive and negative role
towards honour killings. The major categories include sensationalism,
uneducated media, business approach of media and accountability through
media. Participants also highlighted few interventions for the media houses
that must be adopted to play a more responsible and effective role.

Keywords: Honour Killing, Media, Qualitative study, Grounded Theory