Does war like situation create war phobia among television viewers? A clash between Pakistan & India On Pulwama incident in Kashmir

Media is powerful enough to influence the minds of the people. The study investigates the television viewers’ stances about situation which happened between Pakistan and India in the shape of Pulwama incident. Television channels of both sides presented different aspects of the terror attack, whereas both look defensive according to their respective state rules and policies and it also created a war-like situation on both sides of the border. The researchers examined the level of fear of war on the basis of television exposure. For this aim, the researchers applied survey method and data was collected through purposive sampling from 50 viewers of two high ranked Pakistani television channels, i.e., Geo and ARY. The correlation results p=.001 & p=.000 supported the hypotheses of the study that those who consume more time with TV in war-like situation will have more fear of war, which is due to exaggeration and repetition of aggressive contents. The findings also supported the Cultivation Theory assumption that heavy viewers of TV have more insecurity feeling in such kind of situation.