Manufacturing War or Advocating Peace? A Comparative Analysis of News Channel Coverage of the 2025 India–Pakistan Conflict

Abstract

This study examines how television news coverage of the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict shaped conflict narratives, drawing on the Propaganda Model (Herman & Chomsky, 1988) and the Peace/War Journalism framework (Galtung, 2002). Using a mixed-method comparative design, the study content-analysed 60 news items from six major Indian and Pakistani channels (Republic TV, NDTV, Aaj Tak, PTV News, Geo News, and ARY News). Quantitative data were analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, while a qualitative thematic analysis examined the ideological language, sourcing patterns, and emotional framing used to construct the conflict. War journalism dominated coverage (71.7% of items) compared with peace journalism (28.3%). Reports overwhelmingly relied on elite and official sources (90% focused on elite actors), employed nationalistic ideological language (76.7%), and used demonising language toward the adversary (96.7%). Chi-square tests found no statistically significant cross-national differences on most indicators, suggesting that Indian and Pakistani coverage converged on similar war-journalism patterns despite differing ownership structures; government affiliation was the one variable that differed significantly by country (χ² = 42.857, p < .001), with Pakistani media showing markedly closer state alignment. The findings indicate that structural media conditions in South Asia — elite sourcing, nationalist framing, and flak against dissenting voices — systematically marginalise peace-oriented reporting during moments of acute national crisis. The study calls for conflict-sensitive journalism training and editorial reform to expand the space available for peace journalism in South Asian television news.