Abstract:
Democratic theorists believe that news media could and should communicate
information that is essential in a democracy. News media function as a primary source
of information about politics. People rely heavily on political news to understand the
political world, acquiring political information and inspecting the performance of
governments. Prior results of the studies show that political news consumption effects
Political discussion, political perceptions, political participation and evaluation of
political process. This study examines the effects of political news consumption and
political deliberation on the political behaviour of a key group of voters during an
election campaign in Pakistan. It explores the process by which political news
consumption affects political behaviour. The research found evidence that the effects
of mass media on the political behaviour are less as compared to the interpersonal
communication. A Cross sectional survey was used to collect data of a key group of
voters in Lahore. Sample of the voters was taken employing multistage purposive
sampling technique. Data analysis was done using multiple regression analysis to
gauge the variance shared by the political news and political deliberation in sharing
political behaviour. Results of the study provide an exploratory understanding of
relationship between News Media use, political deliberation, and Political Behaviour.
It demonstrates an innovative strategy to assess the implications of Political News for
Political Behaviour in society.
