Abstract
The purpose of this observational case study is to discover power relations in terms of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as manifested in Mubashir Luqman’s talk show Khara Sach. The episode under consideration was aired on August 26, 2014, in the wake of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) “Aazadi March”, (march for revolution) which is the main topic of discussion throughout the show. The guests include ex-President Pervez Musharraf, journalists Sabir Shakir and Arif Hameed Bhatti, and on-call guest, Asad Kharal, also a journalist. The observation illustrated certain aspects of power relations particular to talk shows in our context. First, the host is the sovereign power and everyone acknowledges their role as such. Secondly, political guests are addressed more politely but are challenged more directly, perhaps to create a charged environment to woo viewers. Third, all the participants seem to gradually warm up to the screen and to each other, seeing that overlaps, interruptions and power abuse increase as the program progresses. Last, the analysis reasonably suggests that those who are physically present in a conversation have more opportunities of asserting their dominance, taking turns and holding the floor as compared to those who are absent.

Yusra Husain. (2014) POWER RELATIONS IN AN EPISODE OF KHARA SACH: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS, Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Volume 53, Issue 2.
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