Between Speed and Responsibility: Evaluating Pakistan’s Television Coverage of the 2025 Floods

Abstract

Aim of the Study: This study examines how Pakistani television news channels reported the 2025 floods. It focuses on the balance between speed (immediacy) and ethical attributes. The study also explores differences in accuracy, fairness, sensitivity, and safety across channels, including Geo News, ARY News, Aaj News, Dawn News, and Hum News

Methodology: The study uses quantitative content analysis. Five major TV channels were selected, and their 9 PM bulletins were analyzed from 25 June to 15 September 2025. Each flood-related news story was coded as Yes (1) or No (0) based on five variables: accuracy, fairness, sensitivity, safety, and immediacy. Chi-square tests were used for analysis.

Findings: The results show that Geo News and ARY News performed better in most areas, while other channels showed moderate performance. A positive relationship was found between immediacy and accuracy, which means faster reporting can still be reliable. Differences in ethical attributes were observed across channels, but they were moderate. Overall, the media played an important role in informing the public, but consistency in ethical reporting needs improvement.

Conclusion: The study indicates that speed and responsible reporting can coexist during a disaster, but their implementation is not consistent across television news organizations. The study highlight the importance of verification, ethical reporting practices, sensitivity toward affected communities, and the provision of safety-related information during flood coverage.