Abstract

This study investigates the impact of media coverage on public perception of one of Pakistan's most heinous murder cases. Zanib, the victim, was a kid who was raped and then murdered; the case was widely publicised and covered extensively during the offender's trial. Until he was executed by hanging. This study aims to examine the influence of extremely sensitive coverage on people. The goal was to assess the influence of such information on parents, raise awareness about media accountability, and identify positive and bad elements. Respondent data was gathered using a survey method. Simple random sampling was applied and the N was 50. A questionnaire with thirty items was created. The findings indicate that media raises public awareness and, most of the time, has a favourable impact on the public. It was also discovered that parents are sometimes worried when reading the related information

Key Words:

Public Perception, Influence, Respondent, Simple Random Sampling, Public Awareness

Introduction

In the past few years, Pakistan has been facing many social, economic, and political problems like terrorism, corruption etc., alongside the country is also suffering from cases of child abuse. Many children fall prey to this curse. The report was given by the ministry of human rights in 2013, in which they highlighted those 17862 cases of child abuse that have been reported in the country in which younger boys and girls are at the top. The number of the cases reached 2410 in a year. The trend in the number of reported cases of boys has witnessed an abrupt increase as it was 985 in 2013 and soared to 1,367 in 2014 and reached 1,794 in 2015. Many of the incidents of child abuse fail to get highlighted in the media. The brutal rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur is not a one-off incident. This incident happened on January 4, 2018, when her parents went to perform Umrah. The dead body of Zainab was found after 5 days, January 9, 2018, in garbage. Before this incident, even Kasur which became the centre of a massive child abuse case in 2014 and 2015. The rape and murders of 12 girls, all aged between five to eight years, have been reported in the past twelve months. According to reports in the media, girls were kidnapped from the suburbs of Kasur in 2017 and their dead bodies were later found in different parts of the city. In the beginning, the total number of children being abused in Pakistan per day reached 11. The shocking numbers bring to attention the failure of law enforcement agencies in Pakistan, particularly Punjab, in apprehending these criminals and curbing a plague that seems to have taken hold of our society. For the prevention of these cases, the media must play their role. Like media played their role in Zainab's murder case. When the media highlighted this issue, people became aware of child abuse and raised the voice'' justice for Zainab’’. The take of society in incidents, the role of the media here appears to be somewhat irresponsible, so it also requires that it also demonstrate the responsibility so that at some level even a negative impression did not come down, because this would be the success of people who commit such crimes. 

  Sometimes it has been observed that if any girl is abused, there are severe issues of camera facing which ultimately add in more trouble to the victimise life. 

Significance of Study

Child abuse is a heinous crime. Rape or child abuse is not allowed in any religion and any society. Every Religion is against this curse. As we know, these days, Pakistan is facing a major problem in the form of child abuse. While the sexual abuse of children is currently, an issue at the forefront of public life, concern has focused on the protection of children and the identification of perpetrators media is the fourth pillar of any society. Recently many cases came of child abuse. The major role of media is to highlight these issues. After all, the whole nation must get united and raise its voice against these social evils and these cruel devils which are involved in child abuse. The media highlight these issues after the Zainab murder case. After that media must spread awareness to face this problem and teach their child about the prevention against child abuse. 

Rationale of Study

This research is being conducted to study awareness about child abuse with the support of convincingly media coverage of the Zainab murder case. Because child abuse is the major problem in Pakistan. Before the Zainab murder case, many cases occur in Kasur city. After the coverage of our media, our law enforcement agencies came into action. The media has not seen the problem, so people can never get so much information about child abuse. 

But some people said that the media is s must highlight this issue for the rating. So, the researcher wanted to explore what the impact of media coverage is? 

The rationale for Choosing Parents

Parents have the responsibility to pay attention to the education and training of the nunists of the nation so that our future generations can serve as a nation. Only parents can develop awareness in their children about this issue. So, the researchers choose parents for the sample. Parents can be easily able to make their children understand through media which creates awareness about the sexual abuse of children. 

Objectives

There are some basic objectives related to the research study 

1. To explore how media create awareness among the public about child abuse. 

2. Either media coverage affects the public or not. 

3. To find out how media create impact either positive/negative on public regarding issue.

Literature Review

Widom, & Kuhns (November, 1996), In the research article name, "childhood victimisation and subsequent risk for promiscuity, prostitution, and teenage pregnancy: a prospective study". This article was published in the journal name, "American journal of public health". In this research article, the researcher finds out that if we neglect the children at an early age, then our children will be involved in unethical activities like promiscuity, prostitution, etc. finding of this research maintains the association between childhood victimisation and prostitution. 

Lonne, B. and Parton, N. (2014). in the research article name "Portrayals of child abuse scandals in the media in Australia and England: Impacts on practice, policy and systems." In the research article, the researcher said that media plays a key role in highlighting the issue of child abuse and the troubles allied with child safety. According to this paper, the media bring up these problems in a certain way. The main focus of that study is to examine the Australian and English media in portraying the child abuse scandal and its impacts. According to the researcher, coverage of both media is the same. 

Gatheru, C. (November 2011). In the article, "the role of print media in facilitating community education and child abuse prevention strategies: a case of national media." In this article, the researcher examines child abuse as a common problem in Kenya and the print media influences to spread information and take the safety strategies in a positive manner. This study also exposed the print media leads to enhancing the acceptance of child abuse and creating awareness. Media programs support the child from the prevention of abuse.  

Jacques, S. C. M. Villeneuve, P. Turcotte, D, and Ivers, H. (May 2012). In this article name, 

"The role of media in reporting child abuse". This was published under the name, "journal of social service research". In this article, the researcher examines the short-term impact of media coverage of media regarding the protection of a child form abuse. This research also examines child maltreatment and also finds out the child protective services and the role of media in developing these services. 

Saunders, B. and Goddard, C. D. (2002). In the article name, "the role of mass media in facilitating community education and child abuse prevention strategies. This article was published by the Australian institute of family studies. In this article, the researcher discusses the mass media programs which play an important role in supporting the children's right and promoting awareness and preventing them. According to the investigator, for this purpose, we must educate our community and support the programs. 

Shavit, Y. Weinstein, Q.A. Davis, R.Z and Cheit, E.R. (2014). In the research article name "Television Newsmagazine Coverage of Child Sexual Abuse: 1990-2005." This was published in the journal name, "journal of mass communication and journalism". In this research article, the researcher explores the trends in television and magazines regarding the coverage of child abuse. The main purpose of this research is to study the coverage of child sexual assault in print or electronic media.  

 Shavit, Y., Weinstien, A., Davis, Z. and Rose, E. in their research article "Television 

News magazine coverage of child sexual abuse: 1990-2005, they studied the coverage of sexual abuse and violence on children in Uganda during 1990-2005 and also they had made a comparison with the previous studies.  

Finkelhor.D, Gerald.T.Hotalling in their research article "Sexual abuse in the national incidence study of child abuse and neglect: An appraisal. They studied child abuse; they researched how many child abuse cases are reported and how many cases are solved today.  

Shrestha, K.S. (December 2002). The research article name "print media coverage on children's issues". In this research article, the researcher explores how many issues regarding child sexual assault are published in the print media. Also, find out the priorities of a newspaper are they given the right of way to the child abuse issue. The researcher also studied the issues regarding child abuse are highlighted. At last, the researcher gave some proposals to print media. 

Ayre, P. (2001). In the piece of writing named "child protection and the media: a lesson from the last three decades". In this article, researchers find out the participation of media in the formation of an atmosphere of fear, guilt and distrust on the ground of child protection. According to this research child protection system as a result of the suspicious results related to the authorities at both local in national levels. 

Theoretical Framework

A theoretical framework is a collection of concepts like a theory, but not necessarily so well worked-out. A theoretical framework guides your research, determining what things you will measure and what statistical relationship you will look for and it also means a group of related ideas that provides guidance to a research project. It is important to know the theoretical framework of any plan you put in place so that you can be on top of everything; if you want to predict your research project outcome, a good theoretical framework work will help lead you in the right direction. The theoretical framework plays a very important role in guiding the entire process of the research study. The basic purpose of the theoretical framework is that it helps the researcher to see clearly the variables of the study or research project and provide him genral framework. For data analysis in research, theoretical framework is the evidence used to support the researcher's theory regarding a particular matter. For achieving the objectives of research project or topic researcher requires or need a good theoretical framework which guid researcher to get goals of the topic without framework researcher can’t complete research project. 

Framing Theory

The concept of framing is related to the agenda setting tradition but expands the research by focusing on the essence of the issue at hand rather than on a particular topic. The basic of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning. Framing is an important topic since it can have a big influence and therefore, the concept of framing has expanded to organisations as well. In essence, framing theory suggests that how something is presented to the audience (called 'the frame") influences the choice people to make about how to process that information frames are abstractions that work to organise or structure message meaning. The most common use of frames is in terms of the frame the news or media place on the information they convey. They are thought to influence the perception of the news by the audience. In this way, it could be construed as a form of school level agenda setting, they not only tell the audience what to think about, but also how to think about that issue. 

 Framing is in many ways tied very closely to agenda setting theory. Both focus on how media draws the public eyes to specific topic-in. This way, they set the agenda. But framing takes this step further in the way in which the news is presented and creates a frame for that information. This is usually a conscious choice by a journalist–in this case, a frame refers to the way media as gatekeepers organise and present the ideas, events and topics they cover. Framing is a way of communicating source defines and constructs any piece of communicated information. Framing is an unavoidable part of human communication. We all bring our own frames to our communications. This theory was presented by Goffman (1974). Framing can be used for effective communication in all field of media and other organisations. It is mainly applied in understanding media effects. Effective communication among a mass can be done with well-organised framing of meaning and issues. Politicians can frame their vision effectively so that the public can understand its significance and accept it. 

Example

Newspaper prioritises the news items and highlights according to the policies of the agency. The 

journalist decides the frame in which the information is presented accordingly. If a journalist reports on pollution problems from a local river, it can be reported in the native's perspective, where the problems faced by the people living nearby the river is highlighting the advantages the perspective of the company causing the pollution, highlighting the advantages of how the company can help in development and employment opportunities and form an outsiders perspective, highlighting the pros and cons of the industry and also industry and also taking into account the problems faced by the people. Each report can influence the mass in a huge manner and mostly, the mass media stands diplomatically. 

Relevance of the Theory with Study

The researcher has applied this theory to analyse the impact of media coverage on public perception regarding child abuse after the Zainab murder case because the concept of the framing theory is relevant to the topic. According to framing theory, is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning. Framing is an important topic since it can have a big influence and therefore, the concept of framing has expanded to organisations as well. Framing is in many ways tied very closely to agenda setting. Both focus on how media draws the public eye to specific topics. In this way, they set the agenda. But framing takes this step further in the way in which the news is presented and creates a frame for that information. This theory proves that media focus on particular events and frame the public perception according to their own interest.

Methodology Research Design

 In this research study, the researcher has applied the survey method to get the purpose of the research. The researcher has used a simple random sampling technique for gathering data. The researcher used a questionnaire as a tool for collecting data which consisted of 30 queries. The questionnaire was designed in English and Urdu languages for the understanding of respondents. On the bases of survey results, the researcher was able to regulate the details of the study. 

Survey Method

 The researcher has applied the survey method to gather the result. The researcher has done his survey by using a survey questionnaire to assemble facts, opinions, and attitudes. 

Tool of Survey

The questionnaire has been used as a tool for the survey. 

Universe

Investigator has selected the Parents of Lahore. 

Population

The population of this research is Parents of school going children of Lahore like Minhas High School, Darul ilam High School due to the availability or access of respondents. 

Sampling Method

The researcher has collected the data by using simple random sampling. 

Sample Size

The researcher has selected 50 parents as a sample to collect data. 

Hypothesis

H1: media create awareness among the public regarding child abuse. 

H0: media does not create awareness among the public regarding child abuse. 

H2: is media coverage regarding child abuse affecting the public. 

H0: media coverage is not affecting the public regarding child abuse. 

Research Question

1. To explore how media create awareness among the public about child abuse. 

2. Either media coverage affects the public or not. 

3. To find out how media create impact either positive/negative on public regarding issue. 

Conceptual Operational definitions of the keywords in the topic

Impact

Conceptual

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, the force or action of one object hitting another 

Operational

In this study, impact means how media effect and hits the thinking of parents. 

Media

Conceptual

 According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, media means a medium of cultivation, conveyance or expression. 

Operational

In this study, media mean sources of information like TV Channels. 

Coverage

Conceptual

 According to the Merriam English Dictionary, coverage means that, The number or percentage of people reached by a communications medium.

Operational

In this study, coverage means that the message is transferred to the appropriate people who effect by child abuse. 

Perception

Conceptual

According to the Merriam English Dictionary, perception refers the awareness of the elements of environment through physical sensation.

Operational

In this study, perception means what is the thinking of parents about child abuse before and after of Zainab murder case. 

Public

Conceptual

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the public is accessible to or shared by all members of the community. 

Operational

According to this study, the public refers to parents of school going children in Lahore. 

Abuse

Conceptual

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, abuse means a language that condemns or vilifies, usually unjustly, intemperately and angrily. 

Operational

According to this study, abuse means the sexual rape of a school going child by someone. 

Variables 

In this research, the independent variable is child abuse. The dependent variable is public perception.  

Data Analysis 

Graphical Representation of Surveys 



Figure 1 shows that 94% (94 out of 100) respondents replied that they use media to gain information and replied yes, whereas 6% (6 out of 100) of the participants of the survey denied that they couldn't use social media for the sake of getting information. So, it was concluded by the researcher that the majority of the respondents voted that they use media to get information. 



Figure 2 shows the replies to the question, "Which media do you use most? In answer to this question, 60% (60 out of 100) respondent goes with electronic media to get information, 32% (32 out of 100) respondent use social media to get information, 7% (7 out of 100) approach print media to get information in the last remaining 1% (1 out of 100) use other sources of media to get information. So it had been concluded by the researcher that the maximum number of participants use electronic media to get information. 



Figure 5.3 shows that 69% (69 out of 100 respondents) responded that news provided by media is based on truth but the other remaining 31% (31 out of 100) responded replied that most news provided by media isn't based on truth. So, after collecting results researcher came to the point that the media provide news which is based on truth. 



Figure 4 shows the response to the statement, "Do you think that media should openly talk about sensitive issues"? In reply to this question, 51% (51 out of 100) of participants think that media should openly talk about sensitive issues but the other 49% (49 out of 100) partakers voted that media should not talk openly about sensitive issues. So, the examiner concluded that a large number of participants voted that media should talk openly about sensitive issues. 



Above mention figure 5 shows that 64% (64 out of 100) members of the survey answered that they think the media do not perform its duty with honestly, whereas 36% (36 out of 100) participants of the survey think that the media is performing its duty with honesty. So, it has been concluded that the majority of the replies reflect that the media is not performing its duty with honestly. 



Figure 6

Graph 6 shows the question, "Does media communicate regarding child abuse"? In answer to this question, we can see 64% (64 out of 100) participants agreed that the media communicate about child abuse, whereas the remaining 36% (36 out of 100) respondents responded that the media doesn't communicate with the masses about child abuse. So, the results concluded that the majority of the people voted that the media communicate about child abuse. 



Figure 7 shows that 75% (75 out of 100) respondents answered that the media openly talks about the cases, regarding rape and murder but the remaining 25% (25 out of 100) partakers replied that the media is not talking about rape and murder related cases openly. So, after concluding, we came to the point that majority of people think that the media talks openly about rape and murder cases. 



Figure 8 shows the response of the statement "Does the media news about child abuse create an impact on public"? The answer to this question contains the following percentages that are 89% and 11%. From the collected responses, 89 out of 100 respondents replied that media news about child abuse creates an impact on the public and the remaining 11 out of 100 people voted for that media news about child abuse doesn't create an impact on the public. So, it has been concluded by the researcher that the majority of the people are affected by the news about child abuse.  



Figure 9 shows that 36% (36 out of 100) respondents replied that they became disturbed after watching or listening to the news about child abuse, and 29% (29 out of 100) of the participants voted that they became conscious after watching the news about child abuse, 21% (21 out of 100) respondents answered that they became scared after watching the news about child abuse, in the last other remaining 14% (14 out of 100) are not affected by these kinds of news.



Figure 5.10 shows the replies to the statement "Does the news about child abuse create any impact on you"? in answer to this question. We see that 93% (93 out of 100) participants replied that the news about child abuse creates an impact on them but other remaining 7% (7 out of 100) partakers voted for no. According to them, news about child abuse creates a null impact on them. After analysing the results, the researcher came to the point that majority of people are affected by the news about child abuse and news creates an impact on them. 



Figure 5.11 reflects that 44% (44 out of 100) of the respondents replied that that kind of news make them disturbed, 35% (35 out of 100) of participants answered that they became conscious of the impact of that kind of news, 18% (18 out of 100) partakers responded that, that kind of story make them scared, in the last 3% (3 out of 100) members of that survey had replied that there is no impact of that kind of news or a story on them.  



Graph 5.1 reflects the responses against the question. "Do you think that any action is taken on these kinds of media news"? The answer to this question contains the following percentages respectively, 73% (73 out of 100) participants replied that they think action is taken on these kinds of media news, whereas 27% (27 out of 100) partakers voted that there is no action is taken on that kind of news. So, it had been concluded by the findings that the majority of the participants replied that actions are taken on that kind of news. 



The above mentioned figure 5.13 shows that the percentages about the above statement respectively are 81% (81 out of 100) participants replied that they are aware of the video scandal which happened in Kasur, other remaining 19% (19 out of 100) contestants voted that they don't know about the video scandal which happened in Kasur. So it had been found in during the survey that the majority of the participants were aware about the video scandal which happened in Kasur. 



The figure 14 reflects that 52% (52 out of 100) respondents replied that media sketches the Kasur incident with complete facts and figure on the other hand 48% (48 out of 100) participants voted that media doesn’t displayed the Kasur incident with complete facts and figures.so it had been derived from the result that majority of people think media portrayed Kasur incident with gospel truth. 



According to the above figure 15 shows that the answers of the statement “Do you know about the Zainab murder case”? In the replies of this question 93% (93 out of 100) participants replied that the know about the Zainab murder case, whereas remaining 7% (7 out of 100) participants answered that they don’t know about the Zainab murder case. So, it had been decided after analysing the results that number of people know about the Zainab murder case. 



According to the above figure 16 show the replies against the above statement, in the answer se can see 59% (59 out of 100) participants replied that the get information about above mention incident from electronic media, 33% (33 out of 100) respondents voted for social media because they got information about above mention incident from online mediums of communication, 5% (5 out of 100) contestants replied that the got information from newspaper or other source of print media, other remaining 3% (3 out of 100) partakers got information from public. So it had been find out by the researcher that majority of the people got information about this incident from electronic media. 



The above mentioned graph 5.17 reflects the responses of the people who took part in the survey. It shows that 67% (67 out of 100) participants replied that media represent that incident with impartiality, whereas remaining 33% (33 out of 100) members of the survey voted for that media doesn't play its role in this incident with neutrality. So researcher analyse that the majority of the respondents thinks media play its role in this incident with objectivity and fairness. 



The figure shows that 67% (67 out of 100) participants replied that government had taken action after the coverage of media about Zainab murder case, but remaining 33% (33 out of 100) partakers voted for no they think that government doesn’t take an action on the media report. So it is decided by examiner that maximum number or respondents thinks that after media coverage government take an action on this incident. 



The figure 19 shows that 74% (74 out of 100) participants voted for media reports which played an important role in the decision of the judiciary, but other 26% (26 out of 100) respondents responded no they don't think that media reports played an important role in the judiciary's decision. So it had been decided by the researcher after preparing result which reflects that maximum number of people replied yes they think that media coverage and reports played an important role in judiciary's decision. 



Figure 20 shows the answers against the statement that "Media coverage has played an important role in the arrest of criminal"? the responses shows that 72% (72 out of 100) respondents replied that coverage media on that issue help institutions in the arrest of criminal, but other 28% (28 out of 100) partakers answered that there is no significance role of media reports or coverage in the arrest of the criminal. So, it had been finding out after analysing the results that maximum number of participants replied yes, they that media played an significant role in the arrest of the criminal. 



The above figure 5.21 shows that 63% (63 out of 100) participants replied that there is no any decrease in such incidents after the coverage about child abuse, but other remaining 37% (37 out of 100) respondents answered that somehow these incidents gradually came down after the coverage of media about child abuse. So it had been found by the examiner during conducting survey that majority of people replied there is no significant ratio came down about the child abuse. 

Data Analysis and Interpretation

This graph shows that 94% (94 out of 100) respondents replied that they use media to gain information and replied yes, whereas 6% (6 out of 100) of the participants of the survey denied that they can’t use social media for the sake of getting information. So, it concluded by the researcher that majority of the respondents voted that they use media to get information. 

According to this graph the replies against the question "Which media do you use most? In the answer of this question 60% (60 out of 100) respondent goes with electronic media to get information, 32% (32 out of 100) respondent use social media to get information, 7% (7 out of 100) approach print media to get information in the last remaining 1% (1 out of 100) use other source of media to get information. So, it had been concluded by the researcher that maximum number of participants use electronic media to get information. 

The figure shows that 69% (69 out of 100 respondent) responded that news provided by media is based on truth but other remaining 31% (31 out of 100) responded replied that most news provided by media aren't based on truth. So, after collecting result researcher came to the point that the media provide news which are based on truth. 

The figure shows the response against the statement "Do you think that media should openly talk about sensitive issues"? in the reply of this question 51% (51 out of 100) participant thinks that media should openly talk about sensitive issues but other 49% (49 out of 100) partakers voted that media should not talk openly about the sensitive issues. So, examiner concluded that large number of participants voted for that media should talk openly about the sensitive issues. 

The table shows that 64% (64 out of 100) members of survey answered that they think media is not perform its duty with honestly, whereas 36% (36 out of 100) participants of the survey thinks that media is perform its duty with honestly. So, it had been concluded majority of the replies reflect that media is not perform its duty with honestly. 

According to the graph show the question “Does media communicate regarding child abuse”? In the answer of this question, we can see 64% (64 out of 100) participants agreed that media communicate about the child abuse whereas remaining 36% (36 out of 100) respondents responded that media doesn’t communicate with masses about child abuse. So the results concluded that majority of the people voted for that the media communicate about child abuse. 

According to table shows that 75% (75 out of 100) respondents answered that media is openly talk about the cases regarding rape and murder but remaining 25% (25 out of 100) partakers replied that media is not talk about rape and murder related cases openly. So, after concluded the result we came to the point that majority of people thinks that media talk openly about rape and murder cases. 

According to the table show the response of the statement “Does the media news about child abuse create an impact on public”? the answer of this question contains the following percentages these are 89% and 11%. Form the collected responses 89 out of 100 respondents replied that media news about child abuse create impact on public, and the remaining 11 out of 100 people voted for that media news about child abuse doesn’t create impact on public. So, it had been concluded by the researcher that majority of the people are affected by the news about child abuse.  

The table  shows that 36% (36 out of 100) respondents replied that they became disturbed after watching or listening the news about child abuse, 29% (29 out of 100) participant voted for they became conscious after watching the news about child abuse, 21% (21 out of 100) respondents answered that they became scared after watching the news about child abuse, in the last other remaining 14% (14 out of 100) are not affected by these kind of news. 

 

The table show the replies against the statement “Does the news about child abuse create any impact on you"? in the answer of this question we see that 93% (93 out of 100) participants replied that the news about child abuse create an impact on them but other remaining 7% (7 out of 100) partakers voted for no according to them news about child abuse create null impact on them. After analysing the results researcher came to the point that majority of people are affected by the news about child abuse and news create an impact on them. 

According to diagram reflects that 44% (44 out of 100) respondents replied that, that kind of news make them disturbed, 35% (35 out of 100) participants answered that, they became conscious in the impact of that kind of news, 18% (18 out of 100) partakers responded that, that kind of story make them scared, in the last 3% (3 out of 100) members of that survey had replied that there is no impact of that kind of news or a story on them.  

According to the table which reflects the responses against the question “Do you think that any action is taken on these kinds of media news”? the answer of this question contains following percentages respectively, 73% (73 out of 100) participants replied that think action is taken on these kinds of media news, whereas 27% (27 out of 100) partakers voted for that there is no action is taken on that kind of news. So, it had been concluded by the findings that majority of the participants replied that actions are taken on that kind of news. 

From the above mention table shows that the percentages about the above statement respectively are 81% (81 out of 100) participants replied that they are aware about the video scandal which happened in Kasur, other remaining 19% (19 out of 100) contestants voted that they don’t know about the video scandal which happened in Kasur. So, it had been finding in during survey that majority of the participants are aware about the video scandal which happened in Kasur. 

The table reflects that 52% (52 out of 100) respondents replied that media sketches the Kasur incident with complete facts and figures. On the other hand, 48% (48 out of 100) participants voted that the media doesn't display the Kasur incident with complete facts and figures. So it had been derived from the result that majority of people think media portrayed Kasur incident with gospel truth. 

The diagram shows the answers to the statement "Do you know about the Zainab murder case”? In the replies of this question 93% (93 out of 100) participants replied that the know about the Zainab murder case, whereas the remaining 7% (7 out of 100) participants answered that they don't know about the Zainab murder case. So, it had been decided after analysing the results that number of people know about the Zainab murder case. 

According to the table  the replies against the above statement, in the answer se can see 59% (59 out of 100) participants replied that the get information about above mention incident from electronic media, 33% (33 out of 100) respondents voted for social media because they got information about above mention incident from online mediums of communication, 5% (5 out of 100) contestants replied that the got information from newspaper or other source of print media, other remaining 3% (3 out of 100) partakers got information from public. So it had been find out by the researcher that majority of the people got information about this incident from electronic media. 

From the above mention table  reflects the responses of the people who took part in the survey. Its shows that 67% (67 out of 100) participants replied that media represent that incident with impartiality, whereas remaining 33% (33 out of 100) members of the survey voted for that media doesn't play its role in this incident with neutrality. So, researcher analyse that the majority of the respondents thinks media play its role in this incident with objectivity and fairness. 

The diagram shows that 67% (67 out of 100) participants replied that government had taken action after the coverage of media about Zeniab murder case, but remaining 33% (33 out of 100) partakers voted for no they think that government doesn’t take an action on the media report. So, it is decided by examiner that maximum number or respondents thinks that after media coverage government take an action on this incident. 

According to the table shows that 74% (74 out of 100) participants voted for media reports which played an important role in the decision of judiciary, but other 26% (26 out of 100) respondents responded no they don’t think that media reports played an important role in the judiciary’s decision. So it had been decided by the researcher after preparing result which reflects that maximum number of people replied yes they think that media coverage and reports played an important role in judiciary’s decision. 

The figure shows the answers against the statement that "Media coverage has played an important role in the arrest of criminal"? the responses shows that 72% (72 out of 100) respondents replied that coverage media on that issue help institutions in the arrest of criminal, but other 28% (28 out of 100) partakers answered that there is no significance role of media reports or coverage in the arrest of the criminal. So, it had been find out after analysing the results that maximum number of participants replied yes they that media played an significant role in the arrest of the criminal. 

The table  show that 63% (63 out of 100) participants replied that there is no any decrease in such incidents after the coverage about child abuse, but other remaining 37% (37 out of 100) respondents answered that somehow these incidents gradually came down after the coverage of media about child abuse. So it had been found by the examiner during conducting survey that majority of people replied there is no significant ratio came down about the child abuse. 

Hypothesis testing- Results

Chi-square was applied to assess the results of survey after inserting them in SPSS. The following conclusions have been drawn. 

H1: media create awareness among public regarding child abuse. 

H0: media does not create awareness among public regarding child abuse. 

Chi-Square Tests

	Value	df		Asymp. Sig. (2sided)	Exact Sig. (2sided)	Exact Sig. (1sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	15.123a		1	.000
Continuity Correctionb	13.483		1	.000
Likelihood Ratio Fisher's Exact Test	16.845		1	.000	.000	.000
Linear-by-Linear Association	14.972		1	.000
N of Valid Cases	100		N of Valid Cases	100

a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 12.96. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Hypothesis 1 was tested and the value of Pearson Chi-square as shown in the above table is.000 which is lower than significant value 0.05, hence this hypothesis is accepted.

H2: is media coverage regarding child abuse effecting public.

H0: media coverage is not affecting public regarding child abuse.

Chi-Square Tests

	Value	df		Asymp. Sig. (2sided)	Exact Sig. (2sided)	Exact Sig. (1sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	4.130a		1	.042
Continuity Correctionb Likelihood Ratio Fisher's Exact Test	2.894 4.976		1 1	.089 .026
					.050	.038
Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases	4.089 100		1	.043

a. 1 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 4.07. b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Hypothesis 2 was tested and the value of Pearson Chi-square as shown in the above table is.042 which is lower than significant value 0.05, hence this hypothesis is accepted

Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion

Based on the review of the literature presented above and the findings, hypothesis has been test by applying Chi-square through SPSS and discussed. 

Research Question

1. To explore how media create awareness among public about child abuse. 

2. Either media coverage affects the public or not. 

3. To find out how media create impact either positive/negative on public regarding issue. 

These are the research questions on which the questionnaire is set, among them, the first one was to explore how media create awareness among public about child abuse, is supported by Q 6,8,10,11 of questionnaire. Besides that, the results of Q11 which was “what kind of impact media create on you?” majority of respondents say that they became disturbed.  

In the light of second question is that Either media coverage affects the public or not. The answer of that question can be seen in Q 4,5,10,11 of the questionnaire. Besides the results of Q10   “Does the news about child abuse create any impact on you”. Majority of respondents give answers in positive. 

The third question asked about to find out how media create impact either positive/negative on public regarding issue. The answer of this question can be seen in Q9, 11,21 of the questionnaires. Besides the results of Q21 “Is there any decrease in such incidents after coverage about child abuse?” Majority of respondents give answers Negative. 

The result of all the questions has been tested on SPSS through Chi-Square and discussed whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected. 

In open ended question mostly, people reply that they get information from the media and media should play their role with honesty. 

Hypothesis of the Study 

H1: media create awareness among public regarding child abuse. 

H0: media does not create awareness among public regarding child abuse. 

H2: is media coverage regarding child abuse effecting public. 

H0: media coverage is not affecting public regarding child abuse. 

In the light of above findings and analysis the data which has been collected, it is concluded that H1 “media create awareness among public regarding child abuse” is accepted and the null hypotheses rejected, because the value of Hypothesis one was tested and the value of Pearson Chisquare is 0.000 which is lower than significant value 0.05, hence this hypothesis is accepted. So, the null hypothesis that media does not create awareness among public regarding child abuse is rejected. 

Hypothesis 2 was tested and the value of Pearson Chi-square is 0.042 which is lower than significant value 0.05, hence this hypothesis is accepted So the null hypothesis that is media coverage is not affecting public regarding child abuse is rejected. It can be said that H2 is media coverage regarding child abuse effecting public is accepted.

Recommendations

The researcher after completing this research study feels there are few recommendations needed. 

• The researcher has studied the impact of media coverage on public perception regarding child abuse after Zainab murder case.  

• The survey method of getting a questionnaire was used. The research was limited due to sample size, which yields only 100 responses of both male and female Parents. 

• The data was collected from parents of the school going children; due to the restriction of time, money and facilities. 

• In the future, the same topic can be selected again for research purposes. It should be expanded to more institutions and respondents.  

• This will enable the researcher to have enough data and information related to the perception of the public regarding parents. 

References

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