It was 2014 when I last submitted my first ever thesis on “Media Preferences” as a degree requirement for my M.A Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Peshawar. Afterward, I never studied any media research article or thesis except the one I myself had completed, and that too when someone picked in my presence from my mini library at home. Being a working journalist, every day, I go through some sort of research, however, writing a thesis for academic purposes is altogether different.
After a long gap of six years when I entered Riphah Institute of Media Studies (RIMS), Riphah International University, Rawalpindi for M.S, I completely felt derailed. Initially, I could not find any topic or idea which I could keep continuing easily for my thesis. Every other day, either I changed my topic or it could not get approval. As a result, I thought for some days that I no longer had any idea or topic; nonetheless, I kept trying and focused on available literature. I started visiting foreign universities’ websites regularly in order to find what they are looking for researches in the media, and that paid off finally. I did not get the exact idea or topic, but going through so many articles enabled me to be back on track because I studied an ample number of studies in a very short span of time.
Dissemination of news stories is part of our [journalists] daily life. We are supposed to unearth so many issues, but I sometimes feel that some news stories lose their worth or value, and I think that is most probably due to the repetition of the same news with some commentary and analysis. So, after the cogitation and having gone through much literature, I thought that news is disseminated to create awareness among viewers, but without getting any attention, it has an impact on desensitization as well. Thus, the idea of “Media Desensitization” clicked my mind which I discussed with Director RIMS (Supervisor), and after dozen rejections, my topic was approved.
Now I am writing my proposal on “Media Effects: If the repetitive content creates desensitization”, and after the successful defense of the proposal, I will start writing my thesis on desensitization. Desensitization is the reduced expressive reaction to an undesirable provocation after repetitive exposure. The idea of choosing this topic is, as mentioned above, that on one hand, the news is meant to inform and educate audiences, but on other hand, it is believed that it creates desensitization which can be either intentional or unintentional. My thesis will also look after this point. If it is intentional, my thesis would help audiences to develop their idea about media agenda, and if it is not intentional, it would assist media organization about what effect their news has on audiences without giving attention. Thus, my thesis will focus on the cause and effect or relation between repetitive content and desensitization.
In the end, it is worth mentioning that I have space for valuable suggestions of closed associates to media desensitization theory. If you want to share your experiences and suggestions or guide me, your opinion and views are always welcome.
