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Abstract
This study analyses anti-Americanism in the mainstream press of Pakistan before and after the Operation Neptune Spear (ONS) also called Abbottabad Operation conducted by US forces in Abbottabad (Pakistan) in which Osama bin Laden (OBL) was killed. The researcher analysed coverage of drone attacks and Abbottabad Operation in op-ed pages of four leading national newspapers i.e., Dawn, The News, Nawa-i-Waqt, and Express. Total time of the study was four months, two months before the Operation (01 March 2011 to 30 April 2011) and two months after the Operation (01 May 2011 to 30 June 2011). The ONS was taken as an independent variable for exploring anti-Americanism in the mainstream Pakistani media (print media) while "drone attacks" was taken as a control variable. Anti-Americanism in op-ed pages of the selected newspapers was compared to determine the effect of ONS on anti-Americanism in the mainstream Urdu and English press of Pakistan. The results revealed that US image in the Pakistani press remained negative throughout the study period and the ONS had no significant effect on the image of USA in Pakistani leading press.
Keywords: Anti-Americanism; Mainstream Pakistan Press; War-on-Terror; Operation Neptune Spear (Abbottabad Operation)
Introduction and Background of the Study
Pak-America bilateral relations have been experiencing constant ups and downs since the beginning of mutual ties between the two countries. Pakistani mass media, especially the press, is closely monitoring and examining this fluctuation. The post Afghan War phase of the mutual relationship between the two countries was not a very good one; nevertheless, the War-on-Terror (WoT) waged by America in the wake of the 9/11 incident, once again brought the two countries close together as coalition partners for combating terrorism and extremism in the region. But the element of trust deficit surfaced time and again during this period as well. This trust deficit has been exhibited in the form of "do more" demand from Pakistan. Even American forces kept on taking independent actions in Pakistani areas against the so-called terrorists. For quite some time such actions have mainly been limited to remote-controlled drone attacks. Pakistani people, government and the national media all are very critical of these drone attacks. But the Operation Neptune Spear, which was named by America as Operation Geronimo and later on...