Media as a Tool of State Control: Propaganda and Censorship Techniques in the History of Pakistan (1958–2008)

• SABA NOREEN

  PhD Scholar, University of the Punjab

  Author

• MOHSIN RAZA

  Independent Scholar

  Author

This paper examines the systemic and calculated use of media as an instrument of direct state control in Pakistan across the profoundly tumultuous five decades between 1958 and 2008. During this foundational period, the nation's political and military elites purposefully and deliberately institutionalized sophisticated techniques of propaganda and censorship. The primary objectives of this institutionalization were to maintain and solidify political hegemony, suppress burgeoning dissent from all sectors of civil society, and meticulously shape public perception in direct alignment with their strategic interests. The establishment of landmark legislative measures, most notably the Press and Publication Ordinance of 1963 and the National Press Trust of 1964, provided the robust structural and legal foundations for this centralized control. These actions effectively co-opted and transformed media institutions, moving them from potential public watchdogs to reliable mechanisms for serving pre-determined state narratives. Applying the theoretical framework of the Propaganda Model alongside the concept of Extractive Elites, this analysis traces the evolution of this entrenched media capture across successive and ideologically diverse regimes. From the Ayub Khan regime's focus on state-led modernization to the Zia-ul-Haq era's pivot to religiously driven legitimation, the investigation reveals a consistent, systemic practice. This practice was not arbitrary but was deeply rooted in the country's broader authoritarian governance structures. The manipulation of public discourse through a controlled media apparatus has been central to the maintenance of power by these elites. This paper argues that this strategy has exerted a profound, long-term, and detrimental influence on Pakistan's socio-political development, primarily by hindering the development of an independent, critical, and robust public sphere necessary for any genuine democratic maturation.

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