Navigating Media Capture: A Case Study on Activist Circumventing Strategies in Baluchistan (2018–2023)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/WR25.166Keywords:
Media cApture, Baluchistan, Political Economy of Media, Circumventing StrategiesAbstract
This study examine that how freelance journalists and activists navigate the media capture environment in Baluchistan categorised by the surveillance, institutional control and systemic censorship. In the context of political economy of media theory this research examined which kind of circumventing strategies in the situation of information repression in Baluchistan between 2018-2023 has been employed. This period is important as at the time unusually the media capture and intensified security pressure was on peak in this region. By using semi structure interviews of the twelve activists and freelance journalists selected through snowball sampling and data was analysed through the thematic analysis approach. The findings of the research revealed that the activists and freelance journalists are using circumventing strategies to overcome the media capture such as using alternative media, encrypted messaging, engagement with diaspora networks, flexible communication behaviour and sophisticated surveillance avoidance techniques. Taken together, these findings illustrate how individuals in Baluchistan construct parallel information pathways that enable resistance within a tightly controlled media landscape. The study contributes to broader debates on media repression, digital activism, and communication resilience in conflict-prone environments, offering insights relevant to scholars, journalists, and human rights practitioners.
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