Abstract
This thesis is about the interaction between the media and Musharraf during the political crisis of 2007 and what role the media played in overturning Musharraf from power. In the past decade there were huge changes in the media landscape of Pakistan. General Pervez Musharraf who came to power through a military coup d état in 1999 initiated an unprecedented liberalisation process for media in Pakistan. Media has played an important role in the Pakistani society for good and for worse in the past decade. I have narrowed down my study to the power struggle that unfolded in Pakistan in 2007 that eventually led to Musharraf stepping down. The main research questions of my thesis are how certain parts of the Pakistani media covered the power struggle between Musharraf and judiciary that ultimately led to the resignation of Musharraf as the head of the powerful Pakistani army and what impact media had on the downfall of Musharraf from power. My analysis shows that the Pakistani media was negative to Musharraf s actions. The media openly pointed out and showed Musharraf s mistakes to the public. By doing so media took the role of an accelerator, in which media s coverage led to more unpopularity for Musharraf and thereby removing his political base. Through media, Musharraf was able to see the massive sentiment in the society against him, and he understood that he had to resign as Chief of Army Staff.