CRISIS OR CHRONIC CONCERN? EPISODIC VS. THEMATIC FRAMING OF WATER SCARCITY IN PAKISTANI MEDIA

Abstract

Water scarcity poses a severe threat to Pakistan’s environmental sustainability, economic stability, and social well-being. Yet public understanding of water scarcity is shaped less by direct experience than by media representation. This study examines how Pakistani media frame water scarcity through episodic and thematic narratives and explores how these framing practices influence public perception, emotional response, and attribution of responsibility. Using qualitative content analysis of 240 media texts and 25 semi-structured interviews, the research identifies five dominant narrative patterns: episodic crisis framing, thematic structural framing, responsibility attribution, representational imbalance, and emotional tone. Findings reveal that episodic framing dominates coverage, constructing water scarcity as a crisis rather than a chronic systemic issue and promoting short-term solutions. Thematic framing, although less common, encourages deeper understanding and support for long-term policy reform. Marginalized voices are largely absent from mainstream narratives, reducing visibility of environmental injustice. The study concludes that media framing plays a critical role in shaping public interpretation of water scarcity and democratic engagement with environmental governance. Effective communication must balance emotional resonance with structural context to foster sustainable public awareness and collective action.