Mass Media In Bangladesh
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The mass media in Bangladesh refers to the print, broadcast and online
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...
available in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. The
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
guarantees
press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
and
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
within "reasonable restriction", though some media outlets have been harassed.Country profile: Bangladesh
BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...
The Bangladeshi media's rank is dropped to 146 in 2018 from its position of 144 in 2016 out of total 180 countries on the
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
Press Freedom Index, with 1st being most free.


Overview

The media in Bangladesh is a mix of
government-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
and private media. There are still criminal penalties for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
,
defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
and
sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
as well as reporting on national security issues. Reporters can be held for up to 120 days without
trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...
under the 1974 Special Powers Act. Media restrictions have usually increased during periods of political turmoil. Reporters Without Borders has accused the
army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
of targeting journalists and enforcing
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
.


News agencies

News agencies A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...
were present in Bangladesh prior to its independence from Pakistan in 1971. The state-owned
Associated Press of Pakistan Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) ( ur, ) is a government-operated national news agency of Pakistan. APP has News Exchange Agreements with 37 Foreign News Agencies and has more than 500 correspondents. History Lack of financial resources Fol ...
(AAP) had branches in
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
and
Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
from 1949. After independence, the AAP was replaced by the Bangladesh state-owned agency
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) is Bangladesh's national news agency and was established on January 1, 1972, by government order soon after its independence from Pakistan. Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddi ...
. The second news agency to be established, and the first to be privately owned was Eastern News Agency (ENA). It was founded in Dhaka in the years immediately prior to the
Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
by a consortium of six shareholders which included its founding editor Golam Rasul Mallick.
United News of Bangladesh United News of Bangladesh (UNB) is a Bangladesh private sector news agency established in 1988. Enayetullah Khan established UNB in the 1980s. It is the first fully digitized private wire service in South Asia. UNB has news exchange agreements w ...
, founded in 1988 was the country's first fully computerised privately owned agency. Other private news agencies include News Network of Bangladesh (NNB) and BD News 24 which also launched the country's first
photo agency Stock photography is the supply of photographs which are often licensed for specific uses. The stock photo industry, which began to gain hold in the 1920s, has established models including traditional macrostock photography, midstock photography, ...
, Focus Bangla.Banerjee, Indrajit and Logan, Stephen (eds.) (2008)
''Asian Communication Handbook 2008''
p. 110. Asian Media Information and Communication Centre. .


Newspapers

The
print media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...
is private and consists of hundreds of weekly publications, presenting a vast array of viewpoints, though some outspoken papers have faced pressure in the past. English language papers appeal to an educated urban readership.


Television and radio

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
is the biggest medium for news in Bangladesh. There were 15 television stations in 1999.Bangladesh
CIA World Factbook
In 2006, there were 15AM and 13FM
radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...
available. The
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
broadcasts in the country, and
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n and other foreign television broadcasts are picked up in the country. Currently there are more than 100 TV Channels in Bangladesh. Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), NGO Network in Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC in considers community radio a special area for intervention. BNNRC has been promoting advocacy with the government in relation to community radio with other organizations since its emergence from 2000. The objective of BNNRC's Community Radio intervention is to address crucial social issues at community level, such as poverty and social exclusion, empower marginalized rural groups and catalyze democratic processes and on going development efforts. The prime role of community radio is giving voice to the voiceless people who do not have access to the mainstream media to express their ideas and views regarding community development. Promoting the right to communicate, speed up the process of informing the community, assist the free flow of information and therefore act as a catalyst of change are few major tasks are to be done by community radio. It will also uphold creative growth and democratic spirit in the community level. As a result, the Ministry of Information of People's Republic of Bangladesh announced the Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy 2008. Under this policy the Ministry of Information in 2011 approved the installation, broadcast, and operation of the first 12 community radio stations in Bangladesh. By 2016, the number of active community radio stations rose to 14. To ensure free flow of information and people's right to information government enacted Right to Information Act 2009. Community Radio approval is a strong step to empower rural people in this regard. Initially government approved 14 Initiators like Young Power in Action(YPSA) for Sitakunda, Chittagong, Nalta Community Hospital for Satkhira, LDRO for Bogra, BRAC for- Moulivi Bazer, Barandro Community Radio for -Naogaon, Proyas for -Chapai Nababgonj, CCD for - Rajshahi, Srizoni for - Jhinaidhah, EC Bangladesh for - Munsihigonj, MMC for - Barguna and RDRS for- Kurigram, Sundarban Community Radio for Koyra(Khulna), ACLAB for - Telnaf (Cox's Bazer) and Agriculture Information Services (AIS) for - Community Rural Radio for Amtoli (Barguna) BNNRC provided technical assistance to around 200 organizations in the community radio application process through a National Help Desk on Community Radio in BNNRC Secretariat in Dhaka. Through this experience, a proactive institution should be activated to create the necessary human resource, research and development and technical cooperation for Community Radio in Bangladesh. In this backdrop, BNNRC has established Community Radio Academy (CRA). The academy will organize community radio related training, research, technical assistance and other support round the year to Community Radio Initiators. Community radio is considered an alternative, effective mass media for the rural disadvantaged population to express their thoughts in their own voice using their own style. Usually Community radio is non-profit organization.


Internet media

There are an estimated 11.4 million internet users in Bangladesh, and use is unrestricted by the government; however some journalist's emails have been monitored. People also use
online newspapers An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
and news portals. There are huge online newspaper and news portal in Bangladesh. However, not all news portals are listed by Bangladesh's government. Now Bangladesh government try to create memorandum for online news portal. Also some social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and OwnMirror become powerful media in Bangladesh.


See also


References


External links


Bangladeshi All Newspapers and Media List

Ministry of Information

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission

24 Live Newspaper

Media and Telecommunications Lansdcape Guide in Bangladesh

'infoasaid'
guide, May 2012, 135 pp.
Dhaka Don Online News Portal in Bangladesh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Media Of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...