Date

12-16-2025

Department

School of Communication and the Arts

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Communication (PhD)

Chair

S. Allison Brake

Keywords

Infotainment, Political Awareness, Youth, Pakistan, Thematic Analysis, Qualitative Research, Media Consumption

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Communication

Abstract

The research presents the problem of infotainment as a media genre and its contribution to the political perceptions, civic behavior, and cultural attitudes of youth in Pakistan. The uses and gratifications theory, situated within the sociopsychological tradition and the transmission model of communication formed the basis of the research where the integration of information and entertainment was viewed as a process that changes the political awareness among the youth. A qualitative exploratory research design was utilized. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with students at the university who participated in the study because of purposive selection. NVivo software was used to conduct thematic analysis which identified six major themes and subthemes that were repeated as they relied on political exposure, engagement, and distrust in mainstream news. The results indicated that infotainment offers an easy point of entry to political debate through its presentation of complex matters in an amusing, familiar, and emotionally relatable manner. The respondents indicated that through these programs they were more aware of politics, debate was encouraged, and their perception of media content became more critical. Nevertheless, the research also revealed that infotainment can simplify or sensationalize politics thus leading to a biased knowledge of political phenomenon and creating distrust of traditional journalism. On the whole, the study shows that infotainment performs two roles simultaneously: it facilitates the increase in the democratic involvement, and at the same time, encourages shallow understanding of the political reality.

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