ABSTRACT

Sanitary workers are globally marginalized both in media and society. Such discrimination is often amplified when such essential workers belong to a religious minority in Muslim majority societies such as Pakistan. Drawing from the frameworks of social representation and social identity theories, this study uses the qualitative method of in-depth interviews with 30 Christian sanitary workers to shed light on the perception of representation of Christian sanitary workers in Pakistan's mainstream media. Upon analyzing the data, three distinct themes emerge: (a) a lack of mainstream media representation, (b) excessive negative media representation, and (c) cognizance of the effects such representation yields. This investigation revealed that sanitary workers believe that they do not have any representation in Pakistan's mainstream media to voice their issues. Moreover, they have serious reservations about their polemic social representation and voice concerns regarding the media that often amplify such depictions. Despite being less educated, the respondents in the study appear to understand the influence of media in a democratic and multicultural society. Therefore, they expect traditional media to highlight their genuine issues (i.e., joblessness, health-related problems, and fair treatment in society), all of which, in their view, can make their life a lot easier.

摘要

环卫工人在全球媒体和社会中都被边缘化。当这些基本工人属于巴基斯坦等穆斯林占多数的社会中的宗教少数群体时，这种歧视往往会被放大。借鉴社会表征和社会认同理论的框架，本研究采用定性方法对 30 名基督教卫生工作者进行深入访谈，以揭示巴基斯坦主流媒体对基督教卫生工作者代表性的看法。分析数据后，出现了三个截然不同的主题：(a) 缺乏主流媒体代表，(b) 过多的负面媒体代表，以及 (c) 认识到这种代表产生的影响。这项调查显示，环卫工人认为他们在巴基斯坦没有任何代表权。的主流媒体表达他们的问题。此外，他们对自己的争论性社会代表和对经常放大此类描述的媒体的担忧持严重保留态度。尽管受教育程度较低，但研究中的受访者似乎了解媒体在民主和多元文化社会中的影响。因此，他们希望传统媒体能够突出他们真正的问题（即失业、健康相关问题和社会公平待遇），在他们看来，所有这些都可以让他们的生活轻松很多。研究中的受访者似乎了解媒体在民主和多元文化社会中的影响。因此，他们希望传统媒体能够突出他们真正的问题（即失业、健康相关问题和社会公平待遇），在他们看来，所有这些都可以让他们的生活轻松很多。研究中的受访者似乎了解媒体在民主和多元文化社会中的影响。因此，他们希望传统媒体能够突出他们真正的问题（即失业、健康相关问题和社会公平待遇），在他们看来，所有这些都可以让他们的生活轻松很多。