Who Owns the Media in Bangladesh?

"The reliability of news depends on the credibility of the provider. It is crucial to understand how the media are controlled in Bangladesh, how its ownership has changed over time, and how closely the media outlet owners are affiliated with major political parties."

In an effort to help understand the erosion of media freedom in Bangladesh, this report offers a snapshot of media ownership in the country in late 2020. It presents information and statistics on the media - both in terms of numbers of media outlets and their typologies - and explores the nature and patterns of media ownership and the scope of press freedom. According to the publisher, the Center for Governance Studies (CGS), the report is not designed to be an exhaustive investigation, nor does it cover all aspects of ownership of media in Bangladesh. Rather, it is intended to provide baseline data to encourage further research and exploration of these media.

As explained in the report, "Bangladesh, which has seen a dramatic growth of various media in the past decade, is also considered by international media watch groups as a country with a very poor record of media freedom. The country has also witnessed a serious erosion of democracy. This seemingly contradictory trend - media proliferation and weak media freedom - calls for an exploration of the Bangladeshi mediascape, particularly who owns the media and what relationship the media has with politics. Since the media no longer solely informs, it also shapes politics. As such, media accountability and transparency are vital for the effective functioning of democracies and a vital indicator of a vibrant democracy. A lack of transparency in media ownership implies that vested interest groups may skew public attention by creating media hype. Understanding media ownership in a given country is, therefore, essential to map its political and social trajectory."

The report includes information about selected 48 media outlets (newspapers, radio, television, and web portals) of 32 business entities. In addition, individual profiles of the owners of each of the outlets, with information about their background, education, political or business affiliation, and family ties, are presented.

Based on the gathered data, the researchers observed that three key overlapping features dominate the media ownership landscape of Bangladesh:

1. Family connections in the ownership and management of media companies in Bangladesh are a defining feature. It is also observed that members of the same family control multiple media outlets as owners of different business groups.
2. Most owners of media outlets are directly or indirectly affiliated with political parties. Four forms of association are conspicuous in this regard:
   • Whether a media outlet will get a license largely depends on the government's relationship with the entrepreneur.
   • Politicians themselves become involved in media ownership.
   • Influential ruling party politicians lobby for different business groups to help attain licenses for media outlets.
   • Ownership of the media changes hands to those who are connected to the incumbent political parties.
3. There is an "overwhelming presence of large business groups or conglomerates as the owners of multiple media outlets. Most of the 48 media outlets analysed are run by conglomerates. There is a complicated interest-based relationship between the media outlets and the business groups that own them. An overwhelming connection between several business sectors and the business groups and/or their directors is observed."

The research also found that media owners have a significant presence in four sectors: banks and financial institutions; insurance, energy, and real estate.

In looking at the impact of these relationships, the report makes the point that it is not a unique phenomenon that large business groups are dominating the Bangladeshi mediascape. However, "a combination of these three factors points to an alarming picture and raises concern. These do not augur well when the legal and extralegal measures are used rampantly to curtail freedom of speech and when the democratic space is shrinking fast. The overall political environment has created a situation where the pattern of media ownership facilitates ongoing democratic backsliding."

In conclusion and as a way forward, the report recommends that media content in relation to the current pattern of ownership should be explored. "It is necessary to examine whether the extent of the monopoly of the few groups over the industry and the incumbent government's politics impact media content. If and how legal measures and favorable business opportunities offered to individuals by the incumbent influence the agenda of the media and its treatment of news must be considered. These explorations are needed not only for understanding the connections between the content and patterns of ownership but also for underscoring accountability, a prerequisite for a democratic polity and governance."

Click here to download the 64-page English version of this report in PDF format.
Click here to download the 61-page Bangla version of this report in PDF format.