MCF 231 -

Mass Media in Pakistan

Spring 2019 - Department of Mass Communication, NUST

Instructor: Tashin Fatima Khan
Advertising, Social Media

Advertising, Internet and social media

Advertising

Brief history
Advertising
Advertising in Pakistan generally followed global trends historically and has grown over the
past years to become a multi-million dollar industry

● First Era 1947-64 - Few players in advertising; Mostly print ads with reach of
advertisements limited to urban areas; radio emerging as advertising medium

● Second Era 1964-78 - Visual advertising with the advent of PTV; new ad agencies begin
work

● Third Era 1978-88 - New advertising ideologies (brief time slots, focus on consumer
behaviour); colour TV; jingles; foreign ad agencies make entry to Pakistan market
Advertising
● Fourth Era 1988-98 - Visual graphics technologies used in TV commercials

● Fifth Era 1998-2008 - Modern advertising and visual effects; Industry growth estimated
at around 500 times compared to the past decade

● Sixth Era 2008-Present - Animations; Indian celebrity endorsements; Negative effects of

global recession felt locally; Telecommunications sector advertising

(History of Advertising in Pakistan, Dr Kamran Siddiqui, IBA Karachi)

Advertising
Top advertising agencies

● Orient-McCann (Local company Orient (1953) merged with global McCann in 1993;
parent global company: Interpublic)
● J Walter Thompson /Ogilvy & Mather (parent global company: WPP)
● IAL Saatchi & Saatchi (parent global company: Publicis)
● Adcom
● Interflow

Ad spend at end of 2010: Rs 30 billion with 58% ads made for TV. Current ad spend: Rs 76b

(History of Advertising in Pakistan, Dr Kamran Siddiqui, IBA Karachi; Aurora)

Internet in Pakistan
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2019-pakistan

PTA Count: https://www.pta.gov.pk/en/telecom-indicators

Digital ads and new trends
Digital ad spend

Online classifieds

Advertorials:

http://tribune.com.pk/story/354850/advertorial-mothers-know-best/

http://arynews.tv/en/ubls-new-head-office-building-with-modern-facilities-inaugurated-in-karac
hi/
On Facebook
News media
PTV Sports (16million)
Express News (14 million)
Express Tribune (2.2 Million)
ARY NEWS (15 million)
Samaa TV (10 million)
Urdupoint.com (9 million)
Sarcasmistan (1.2 million)

Brands
Mobilink Jazz (5.1 million) and OLX (3.7
million)
Role of Social Media
NOREF Report 2012 “Social Media in Pakistan: Catalyst for Communication, Not
Change” by Michael Kugelman

What role do you think social media are playing in Pakistan?

Role of Social Media
• Breaking news for online audiences
• Social movements: Use of hashtags and Facebook pages to mobilize people for
a social movement
• Humanitarian work
• To promote social causes, such as equal rights, end to discrimination and
injustice
• Political communication
• Social Support systems – Soul Sisters, Marham, Sheops, Investment forums
• Influencers! (Do not forget Waqar Zaka)
Risks
Liberal views retreating to online spaces

Silos of information and ideas

Online extremist behaviour - polarisation and fragmentation

Government surveillance

Personal safety
Challenges
Co-opted by mainstream media and public figures

Digital divide: Low Internet penetration rate, low access to technology

New developments - Examples from news media
Dawn’s online integration http://www.dawnnews.tv/

The News International revamped its website in 2015

compare: http://www.thenews.com.pk/home with
https://web.archive.org/web/20131231022236/http://www.thenews.com.pk/

Successful news blogs: ProPakistani https://propakistani.pk/

Successful video aggregator: ZEM TV http://www.zemtv.com/ [Web TV and live streams]

Media analysis: Journalism Pakistan http://www.journalismpakistan.com/ and Media Matters for Democracy
https://www.facebook.com/mediamattersfordemocracy/

Digital innovation: http://labs.tribune.com.pk/for-peshawar/ and http://www.dawn.com/in-depth/

Smartphone apps (DAWN, Geo etc)

Cybercrimes law
Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016

http://www.nr3c.gov.pk/law.html - FIA, NRCC

Includes clauses to penalize online hate speech, cyberstalking, child pornography

and offences against the dignity and modesty of a natural person

PTA is the legal authority and FIA is the investigative agency under the law

Issues of oversight regarding banning unlawful content (clause 37), real-time

collection and recording (clause 39) and international cooperation (clause 42)
Looking towards the future
Challenges
● Safety of journalists and impunity

● Bias and credibility crisis

● Lack of professional ethics

● Financial pressures

● Stereotyping and inaccurate representations

● Homogenous content

● Lack of content

● Lack of investment
Recommendations
● Protection for journalists and whistleblowers

● Revisit regulations

● Education, trainings and professional development

● Community-funded press

● Audience response and non-profit collaborations

● Diversity

● Support for technical development in film

● Support for film investors