| Terrorism is not just a physical act but rather a social construct that provides meaning and interpretation to the discourses that constitute who is a terrorist and which actions are terrorism.Therefore,the protagonists are always trying to construct the terrorism to further their own ideological interpretation of reality and endorsed the "moral absolutism" in their fight against terrorism by invoking "the emotionalization of facts".President Bush declaration of "war on terror" and the coercive inclusion of Pakistan as a frontline ally in the war against Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan brought menace of terrorism deep into the Pakistani society.Media did not create a hegemonic narrative against Al-Qaeda and Taliban as a hard-core terrorist,even promoted soft corner for Taliban and Al-Qaeda despite growing violence against civilians in Pakistan.The state failed to adopt the comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy to combat the menace of terrorism and the government countless attempts to deter further violence have backfired catastrophically.Moreover,the military was often accused by the US of playing a double game in the war against terrorism.As a result,public opinion was remained widely fragmented on the issue of war on terror,and it did not become a major issue for the public till 2015.This uncertain situation leads to more destruction in Pakistan.This study was designed to provide theoretical understanding to the phenomenon of terrorism by analyzing the diagnostic,prognostic and motivational frames used by the government,military,and news media in their discourse about the war against terrorism in Pakistan.The government,military,and news media are the leading players in the construction of social reality about terrorism.Therefore it is important to gauge how discourses around terrorism changed over time among the different social actors to deal with the issue of terrorism in Pakistan,particularly the critical relationship between the government,military and news media in framing terrorism in Pakistan.The researcher used longitudinal quantitative content analysis as a method of analysis in this study to answer the proposed research questions.The study analyzed the diagnostic,prognostic and motivational frames employed by the government,military,and news media on their respective official Facebook pages from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2015(3 years)about ongoing war against terrorism in Pakistan.The relevance sampling technique(purposive sampling)was used to select a relevant sample of 900 Facebook posts from the government,military and news media Facebook official accounts.The paragraph was chosen as a unit of analysis for the dominant frames.The main frames were further divided into subcategories or subframes for better understanding of the specific diagnostic,prognostic and motivational frames employed by the government,military and news media in the war against terrorism over time in Pakistan.Therefore,the second tier of coding was developed to identify specific subframes through certain keywords,phrases and metaphors related to the diagnostic,prognostic and motivational frames.The study found security issues and deteriorating law and order situation in the country as a leading dominating diagnostic frame in the fight against terrorism.Whereas,the strict security measures were proposed as a primary solution to the terrorism in Pakistan.Commitment and resolve to combat terrorism dominated the motivational frame in the government,military and news media discourses.The government and military diagnostic frames significantly resonate with one another.Whereas,news media diagnostic frames deviate from the government and military diagnostic frames.However,the study found positive congruence in the prognostic framing of the government,military and news media.Motivational frames of the government,military and news media showed significant dissonance with one another.The study provides a better understanding of framing of terrorism in Warton Pakistan.It can be used as a reference for further studies in the countries where the military has a dominating role in establishing the security policies of the country. |
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