Powerful News Sources Versus Advocate-Journalists as Factors Affecting the Editorial Agenda-Building on Sustainable Development Goals

While journalism scholarship has extensively investigated the actors shaping news content, there is a paucity of research on how different factors influence newspaper editorial agendas for sustainable development issues. To bridge the gap, this longitudinal study examines newspaper editorials during two distinct periods in a developing country: T1, when the SDGs were adopted in 2015, and T2, when two state officials with a pro-development agenda came into power in 2018. A quantitative content analysis was performed on (N = 11,453) editorials collected from six mainstream Pakistani newspapers published in English and Urdu languages. Results suggest that the SDGs’ launch year failed to influence editorialists to sufficiently emphasize human development issues. However, when powerful news sources, prioritizing sustainable development over internal and external disputes, discussed these issues, their influential positions and government public relations support steered editorialists to shift focus from conflict-oriented content to human development. Concurrently, editorialists, though sporadically, also functioned as advocate journalists. Under the influence of this professional role, they allocated more coverage to issues such as rising inflation and unemployment, reflecting the hardships faced by common people, despite attempts by powerful sources to downplay these public concerns. This role positioned them as key influencers in shaping the editorial agenda.