English Press Coverage on Transgender Persons in Pakistan

Abstract

There is a sufficient number of transgender persons in Pakistan. However, they comparatively enjoy lesser respect in the society and get the victim of injustice and discrimination, even though they play a significant role in our society like creating merriment in marriage and birthday parties and celebrations. Even during the general election in 2018, they have been given the right of franchise. Thus, media has a role in the dissemination of awareness about the status and issues of transgender people. So this study examines and compares the press coverage of Daily DAWN and Daily Express Tribune newspaper given to the transgender people in Pakistan. For that purpose, quantitative content analysis was employed as a research technique. Thus the general trends of reporting regarding transgender people could be identified, which include the amount of news frequency, space in columns, and pictorial presentation of the trans-gender people-related news and issues. In this way, the first six months of the year 2018 of the sampled, both newspapers were analyzed, and a total of 91 content items were collected for assessment.