Comprehensive Report Media Monitoring Study on the 10th ... · • Nature of the channel The...
Transcript of Comprehensive Report Media Monitoring Study on the 10th ... · • Nature of the channel The...
Comprehensive Report
Media Monitoring Study on the 10th Parliamentary Election
Submitted To:
The International Republican Institute (IRI)
Gulshan, Dhaka
Bangladesh
Submitted By:
International Institute of Media and E-Journalism (IIMEJ)
&
The Free Election Movement Association (FEMA)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dhaka, April 2014
Team Leader:
Dr. Aliur Rahman
Study Design and Report Writing
Sheikh Shafiul Islam, MA.MSS
Study Consultant
AKM Rahmat Ali
Team Coordinator:
Zahid Al Amin
Team of Researchers
Abdul Mannan
Hafizur Rahman
Mokammel Hossain
Naznin Kabir
Rafiquzzaman
Muhammed Rashedul Hasan
Sharif Uddin
Sajeeb Sarker
Tareq Mahmud
Team of Research Associates
Farjana Yesmin
Habiba Afroz
Lincon Mahmud
Shah Alam
Sadique Hasan Polash
Sharmin Akter
Naim Mahmud
ABBREVIATIONS
AL Awami League
BNP Bangladesh Nationalist Party
BB Bangladesh Betar
BNHA Bangladesh Network of Hawker’s Association
BTV Bangladesh Television
DFP Department of Film and Publication
EC Election Commission
FEMA Free Election Movement Association
IRI The International Republican Institute
IIMEJ Institute of Innovative Media and E-Journalism
IP Interpretative
IV Investigative
PM Prime Minister
SJ Straight Jacket
UN United Nations
Definitions of Terminologies:
Subjective Reports: Reports containing reporter’s own subjective statements and comments,
inadequate sources, lack of completeness and neutrality
Straight Jacket Report: Reports based on surface information only, commonly covered by
‘What, Where, When and Who’ with least emphasis on ‘Why and How’.
Interpretative Report: Based on depth information and explanation of data collected from
various sources without reporter’s comments and statements.
Investigative Report: Based on research and documentation of a long period digging the
news behind the news, mostly covered on corruption, malpractices, political issues and public
interests legitimacy.
Column Inch: Unit of measuring content space of a newspaper
News Beat: In news media parlance, a beat is the subject area that a reporter is assigned to
cover e.g. election, health, education crime etc. Beat reporters are expected to develop
sources, i.e. people who have information about their subject matter so they can better gather
news and find scoops.
List of the Contents
Contents Page No. Executive Summary 6-14
Chapter- One: Background and Methodology of the Media Monitoring Study 15-22 • IRI Mission and the Media Monitoring Assignment 15-15
1.2. Conceptual Underpinnings 15-17 1.3. Media Landscape in Bangladesh 17-18
1.4. Objectives of the monitoring study 18-18 1.5. Methodology of Media Monitoring 18-21 1.6. Study Management 22-22
Chapter-Two: Findings of the Media Monitoring Study 23-35 2.1. Frequency of Electoral Coverage in Different Media 23-25
A. Newspapers 23-24
B. Television channels 24-25
C. Radio Channels 25-25 D. Online Portals: 25-25 2.2. Most Frequently Covered Electoral Themes in Different Media 25-31
• Newspapers 25-27 • TV Channels 28-29
• Radio Channels 29-30 D. Online Portals 30-31 3. Extend of coverage on different political parties in Different Media 31-34
• Newspapers 31-32 B. Television channels 32-33 C. Radio Channels 33-34
D. Online Portals 34-34
2.4. Quality of electoral coverage in different media 34-35
Chapter-Three: Analysis of the Findings 36-44 • General Analysis 36-38 • Relationship Between Ownership and Coverage 38-44
Chapter-Four: Recommendations and Conclusion 45-46
Executive Summary
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization
dedicated to supporting democracy worldwide. The institution supports the efforts of civil
society organizations in Bangladesh to conduct election-related research, monitor campaigns,
provide citizens with information on candidates and monitor pre-election media coverage. To
help address these issues for a healthy democratic society, IRI works with journalists, civil
society, and election monitors to effectively monitor and publicize candidates’ compliance
with electoral process and democratic culture. The IRI desired a monitoring study of the
print, electronic, and online media relating to Bangladesh’s 10th Parliamentary Elections. The
study was conducted with the four broad objectives:
• To figure out frequency of electoral coverage of the selected media
• To understand most frequently covered/referenced electoral themes
• To comprehend extend of coverage on different political parties and
• To review quality of electoral coverage
The Free Election Movement Association (FEMA) and the Institute of Innovative Media
and E-Journalism (IIMEJ) carried out the media monitoring study from December 15,
2013 to February 28, 2014 being entrusted by IRI. The study covered three phases: Pre
(December 15, 2013- January 3, 2014), During (January 4-6, 2014) and Post-electoral
(January 7- February 28, 2014) period.
Political Context and Background of Media: The 10th Parliamentary Elections were
held on January 5, 2014, despite boycott by 18-party alliance led by the then main
opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The 18-party alliance demanded for
holding the election under a ‘neutral caretaker government’. But, the provision of
‘caretaker government’ was repealed from the constitution by the ruling Awami League
(AL) through 15th Amendment to the Constitution passed on June 30, 2011. In response,
the BNP-led alliance carried out a series of agitations including hartals and blockades that
triggered countrywide violence causing massive casualties. The political situations
worsened immediately after the announcement of the election schedule by the Election
Commission (EC) on November 25, 2013.
Media Landscape in Bangladesh: Media presence in Bangladesh was minimal
preceding the 1990s, encompassing a handful of newspapers and only state-owned TV
and Radio channel. After the fall of autocratic regime of Ershad, the media began
booming. The interim government in 1991 paved the way for media expansion by
amending the special power act ‘The Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and
Registration) Act, 1973. Media growth has continued steadily since the 1990s, with the
most recent Department of Film and Publication (DFP) report showing that there are
more than three hundred registered dailies published in the country. The most popular
and well-circulated dailies are published in the capital city of Dhaka, but there are a
number of popular regional dailies. The newspapers have played a significant role in
facilitating a democratic atmosphere, and socio-economic and cultural advancement in
Bangladesh. During the 2007-2008 emergency periods, newspapers aided in restoring
democracy through advocacy for a free and fair election. It is thought that the
unprecedented participation of the voters in the 9th parliamentary election was partly due
to the media coverage of the process and their commitment to reaching out to the voters
in remote areas of the country.
One of the most spectacular changes in the media scenario in Bangladesh is the rise of
electronic media, i.e. the satellite television channels. Privatization policies under the
post-1990 democratic government administrations allowed TV channels to expand. The
first privatization measure was taken in March 1999, authorizing Ekushey TV to go on
air. At present, one state-owned and 24 private TV channels are on air in the country.
Though the popularity of radio is on the decline in the face of rapid growth of television,
there are currently 11 FM, three online radio and 14 community radio stations operating.
Bangladesh Betar(BB), being the sole state-run radio channel, has country-wide
coverage, while the BBC has international ownership but is popular radio channel in the
country. Online news portals are the latest additions to the media landscape in
Bangladesh. This medium was pioneered by Bdnews24.com in 2005 as the country’s first
web-based news agency. The government does not have strict monitoring controls on
internet news sites. As such, online media has been allowed to proliferate rapidly within
the last few years. Online media outlets are largely popular with Bangladeshi youth and
more educated sectors of the population. Currently, almost all the newspapers have
committed to both paper and online versions of their content.
Methodology of the Media Monitoring
The media monitoring study was carried out applying ‘Content Analysis Method’, the
commonly used methodology for analyzing the content of the media. Content analysis is
a specific research approach used frequently in all areas of the media. The method is
popular with mass media researchers because it is an efficient way to investigate the
content of the media.
According to Kamhawi and Weaver, content analysis was the most popular data-
gathering method reported in major mass communication journals between 1995 and
1999. An informal content analysis of three journals that focus on mass communication
research (Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, and Mass Communication and Society) from 2007 to 2008
found that content analysis was still a popular method, used in about one-third of all
published articles.
Selection of Media for Monitoring: With a view to conducting the monitoring study, 24
individual units from the print, electronic and online media were selected through
sampling.
Selected Print Media: Eight national dailies (6 Bangla and two English) published from
Dhaka and six regional dailies (one from each of the six divisions/region outside Dhaka)
were selected based on their circulation. Among the national dailies; The Daily Prothom Alo,
The Daily Ittefaq, The Daily Jugantor, The Daily Samakal, The Daily Naya Diganta, The
Bangladesh Protidin, The Daily Star and The New Age were selected. The regional dailies
included: The Daily Azadi from Chittagong, The Daily Purbanchal from Khulna, The
Daily Sylheter Dak from Sylhet, The Daily Juger Alo from Rangpur, The Daily Karotoa
from Rajshahi and The Daily Dakkhinanchal from Barisal.
Selected Electronic Media:
Television Channels: Six television channels were selected for the study considering
their:
• Television Rating Points (TRP)
• Pattern of ownership and
• Nature of the channel
The selected channels included: state-owned Bangladesh Television; privately owned
ATN Bangla, Channel-i, Independent TV (news-based channel), ETV and NTV. The
primetime news bulletin (7 pm-11 pm) of all the sample TV channels was surveyed during
the study using content analysis format.
Radio: Radio channels were selected based on national coverage and popularity and thus
BBC Bangla (international channel owned by BBC, UK) and state-run Bangladesh Betar
(BB) were selected since there were no other national radio stations in the country. BBC
news at 70:30 pm and BB news at 8:00 pm were analyzed using content analysis format.
Online Media: According to the Alexa rating, Bdnews24.com and Banglanews24.com are
the most circulated online portals. These two web portals were selected for the study.
Methods and Technical Approaches against the Objectives
Objective Aspects Methods and Approaches Used
Understanding
frequency of electoral
coverage
Content survey to figure out contents; also used ‘column inch’ to
quantify newspaper’s space and ‘seconds’ to count duration of TV and
Radio reports
Most frequently
covered electoral
themes
Content survey to figure out most frequent themes; also used ‘column
inch’ to quantify newspaper’s space and ‘seconds’ to count duration of
TV and Radio reports
Extend of coverage on
different political
parties
Content survey to figure out party coverage; also used ‘column inch’ to
quantify newspaper’s space and ‘seconds’ to count duration of TV and
Radio reports on the party coverage
Assessing quality of
electoral coverage A 10-points scale was set for clarity of content, level of interaction with
sources, overall presentation of the content and journalistic styles and
principles followed in the content. Of the scale, 8-10 points were rated
as ‘good’, 5-7 were moderate and below 5 as poor
News reports, features, editorials, post editorials, articles, news analysis and commentary
as well as relevant pictures on the election issues were extracted from the aforesaid media
and analyzed for understanding their overt and covert meaning, political stand/stance and
inclination.
Key Findings
Frequency of Electoral Coverage in Different Media
A. Newspapers: Considering significance of the newspapers in Bangladesh’s political
participation context, 14 newspapers (8 national and 6 regional dailies) were monitored
for the 10th Parliamentary Election. The study reveals that the electoral coverage of the
national dailies constituted 6.21 percent of their total news coverage. The daily Jugantor
gave the highest coverage, 17.81 percent (of the total electoral coverage) while the daily
Star, the highest circulated English Daily (as per the DFP report) gave 6.66 percent
coverage of the same. Of the three phases (Pre, during and Post), the national dailies put
more emphasis to cover reports ‘during’ (4-6 January’14) election period. In terms of
allocating space to publish electoral news items, the daily Samakal spent more, 13471
column inches (16% of the total spaces allocated by the dailies). The total electoral coverage
of the regional dailies was 5.76 percent of their total news coverage. Of the regional dailies,
the daily Korotoa published 581 items, the highest amount of news items which was
23.52% of the total coverage made by all the regional dailies. The Dakkhinanchal
published 295 news items, the least amount which was about 12% of the total electoral
coverage of the regional dailies.
B. Television channels
• The electoral coverage of the six TV channels was 16 percent of their total news
coverage. NTV gave the highest electoral coverage, 25 percent of the total coverage by
the channels; BVT paid the least, 12 percent.
• Compared to all the three phases, the TV channels aired the highest number of reports
during election period (4-6 January 2014), 71 reports per day in average.
C. Radio Channels: The electoral coverage of the radio channels was 11.4 percent of
their total news throughout the monitoring period. In the electoral coverage, BBC’s share
was 32.70 percent while BB gave the remaining 67.30 percent. Though BBC broadcast
less news items on election issues than BB, it allocated more time (17.2% of the
channel’s total duration) for covering election. BB spent 9.5% of its total duration.
D. Online Portals: Banglanews24.com and BDnews24.com published 1308 reports on the
election which was 5.57 percent of their total news items (23,476).
Most Frequently Covered Electoral Themes in Different Media
• Newspapers: The themes of electoral coverage varied phase to phase. The national
dailies dedicated maximum coverage on election environemnt (violence, blockade, hartal and
other derogating situtaion of law and orders triggered surrounding the election) with 948
reports throughout the monitoring. Reaction (criticism, feedback and opinion on the non-
inclussive electoral process) of different stakeholders, statement of political parties and
publicity and campaign of the prospective candidates were covered significantly with 651,
541 and 483 reports respectively. The most striking coverage of the national dailies at the
post-election phase was the minority issue. A total of 299 reports were covered on the attack,
intimidation and oppression on the religious minorities particularly the Hindus. The coverage
of the dailies on the aforesaid themes was mostly linked with their interest and agenda on the
election, for example, the Naya Diganta owned by an influential leader of Jammat, the most
vibrant ally of BNP-led alliance, througholy showed interets to cover reaction of different
stakeholders on the election process. Again, the political statements of different parties
(mostly the AL statements) were covered by the Jugantor, of which the editor became MP
with ticket from AL-led alliance. The themes of coverage of the regional dailies were
almost similar with the national dailies. The regional dailies could not forecast on the
attack and oppression on the ‘minority communities’ at the pre-election stage though the
issue was a local.
• TV Channels: The TV channels mostly concentrtaed on covering statements of different
political parties with 501 reports aired. NTV dedicated the maximum coverage on the issue,
13.77 percent of the channels total coverage on the issue. The channels aired 212 reports on
election environment (violence, blockade, hartal and other derogating situtaion of law and
orders triggered surrounding the election) throughout the monitoring. Reaction of different
stakeholders on the process of election was covered significantly by the channels with 183
reports aired. NTV covered the maximum reports on the issue too. The channels aired 142
report on the activties and staments of the government. The state-run BTV took much
interests to cover the issue. At the post election period, minority issue was a striking incident
which was covered by the TV channels with significance. However, the channels failed to air
reports forecasting the incidents. Channel-i covered the maximum reports on the issue.
• Radio Channels: Activities and statements of government got the maximum coverage in
the radio channels with 64 reports aired of which BB paid 86 percent coverage on this issue.
Apart from this, formation of new government, election environment, statements of different
political parties, minority issues, candidate’s publicity and Government’s preparation for
holding the election were some of the themes frequently covered by the channels. BBC took
interest on covering election environment and party statements while BB was inclined to
cover issues on new government formation and government’s preparation for holding
election.
D. Online Portals: The online portals thoroughly emphasized on election environment
covering 185 reports on the same. Government activities and statements were significantly
covered by both the portals with 159 reports covered. The party statements stood third in
terms of coverage with 121 reports while 117 reports were covered on reaction of different
stakeholders. The portals did not show much interest on covering minority issues since they
published 44 reports on the issue. Rather, formation of the new government got more
coverage with 79 reports. Inclination of coverage of the portals was almost similar.
Extend of coverage on different political parties in Different Media
• Newspapers: As a political party, AL was more frequently covered than others. In all
the phases, a total of 2091 reports were published on its activities, 62 percent of the total
party coverage made by the national dailies. On BNP, 803 reports were covered, 24
percent of the total party coverage. The JP received 11 percent coverage with 357 reports
while the number of reports on Jammat and leftist parties were 2% and 1% respectively.
Regarding the party coverage, the regional dailies showed similar inclination. AL was
mostly covered by the dailies with 59 percent reporting on the party coverage while BNP
received 28 percent. Like the national dailies, the regional ones also gave 11% coverage
on JP which was con-incidentally matching. Jammat and Leftist party had equal share in
the coverage of the regional dailies with 1 percent share.
B. Television channels: The TV Channels covered more reports on AL than other
political parties. Throughout the election (pre, during and post), a total of 596 reports
were aired on the activities of AL, 56 percent of the total party coverage of the channels
while BNP’s share was 33 percent (with 353 reports). JP’s share was 9 percent with 91
reports while the coverage on Jammat and Leftists was 1 percent for each with 14 and 7
reports respectively.
C. Radio Channels: The Radio Channels aired 125 reports (82% of total party coverage)
on AL altogether in all the phases, the maximum coverage with 3 hours length while
coverage on BNP was 12 percent with 18 reports (1 hour 19 minutes length) and
coverage on JP was 5 percent. There was no report aired on Jammat while 1 percent
report was aired on the Leftist.
D. Online Portals: Both the portals published more news on AL than on BNP throughout
the election (all the three phases). The portals webbed 457 reports (61% of the total party
coverage) on AL and 198 reports on BNP, 26 percent of total party coverage. JP got 10
percent coverage while Jammat and the leftist got 1percent and 2 percent respectively.
Quality of electoral coverage in Different Media: The ranking reveals that 72%
reports of the national dailies were good, 20% were moderate and the remaining 8% were
poor. The percentages for the regional dailies were 68%, 22% and 10% for good,
moderate and poor respectively. Of the TV reports, 76% reports were ranked as good,
14% were moderate and 10% were poor while BBC stood the highest in ranking with 80
percent reports as good. BB and BTV reports were finally excluded ranking since these
state-run channels were extremely biased towards government and the ruling party
without demonstrating minimum professionalism and commitment to the audience and
the society. Of the online portal’s 66 percent reports were good, 19 percent were
moderate and 15 percent poor. However, 94 percent reports of media (all the types) were
based on surface information. It means the audiences were deprived of knowing the
detailed aspects of an issue. For example, most of the reports on attack and oppression on
the minority communities lacked detailed information on the attackers and government
initiatives to control the situation. Moreover, most of the reports depended on the official
sources like police stations and statements of the local political leaders. Some of the
media reports directly contained ‘opinion and judgment’ of the reporters that went against
the journalistic principles. For example, the Prothom Alo, the highest circulated Bangla
daily and the daily Star, the highest circulated English daily used adjectives (deadliest,
farcical, stigmatized election etc) in many of their ‘news headlines’. The Daily Star
published some ‘news analyses on the election issue but they mostly reflected the
reporter’s own opinion and judgment rather than capturing interviews and explanation of
the experts accordingly.
Analysis of the Findings
• Analysis of the content reveals, the media stance in general was in favour of holding an
inclusive election. Media’s attention was mostly directed towards covering election
environment (violence, hartal, blockade etc), reaction of different stakeholders on the
electoral process, dialogue and diplomatic initiatives facilitating inclusive election,
political statements and activities and the minority issues.
• Media mostly covered event-based reports (for example, political activities and
statements, violence, reaction of different stakeholders etc) with surface information.
Investigative and interpretative reports on the election issues were not significantly
covered.
• The media put less emphasis on covering ‘follow-up’ reports on election issues since the
number of the reports was gradually declining after the election held on 05 January 2014.
Media did show less interest to cover the election issues in-depth manner. For, example,
incidents of ‘vote rigging’ in some of the pool centers reported with importance during
the election lost after a few days. Media did not take interests to cover ‘follow-up’ stories
on the same.
• Media coverage was visible on five political parties: AL, BNP, JP (both fractions),
Jammat and Leftsist. AL received the maximum coverage but the overall tone of the
reporting was often critical to the party, its activities and policies regarding the process of
election.
• Marshal McLuhan’s ‘medium is the message’ is also a reality for the Bangladesh media.
Ownership and its ‘perceived’ political affiliation is becoming one of the major
determinants of news coverage. For instance, the owner of NTV is an advisor of BNP
Chairperson. The channel presented report on BNP with much care than others. On the
other hand, ATN Bangla was found covering AL with more attention. Similar things
happened for the national dailies too. The Naya Diganta, owned by an influential leader
of Jammat, most vibrant ally of BNP-led alliance showed extreme bias in its content
while the daily Ittefaq, owned by an influential leader of JP (Monju), one of the allies of AL
who became the ‘Member of the Parliament’ in the said election with ticket from AL-led
alliance showed compassion for AL and its alliance.
• Media could not forecast of minority attack though the issues were frequently covered
after the incidents took place immediately after the Election Day. The coverage was
mostly incident-based rather than investigation and interpretation.
• Some reports directly contained ‘opinion and judgment’ of the reporters which went
against the journalistic principles. For example, the Prothom Alo, the highest circulated
Bangla daily and the daily Star, the highest circulated English daily used adjectives
(deadliest, farcical, stigmatized election etc) in many of their ‘news headlines’. The Daily
Star published some ‘news analyses on the election issue but they mostly reflected the
reporter’s own opinion and judgment rather than capturing interviews and explanation of
the experts accordingly.
• The fear of retaliation from political leadership led a sort of forced balance in coverage.
Some of the media’s stances shifted in line with the changing political situations around
the election. Corporate ownership was also a factor in party coverage. [
• In general, the TV channels frequently projected political figures, ministers, bureaucrats,
diplomats, intellectuals, civil society members and business elites in their news content.
The larger segment of the society is deprived of presenting their voices in television. The
‘expert’s opinion’ were mainly male-dominated since the female experts were seen rarely
in the news interviews.
• The state-owned media (BTV and BB) functioned as the mouthpiece of the government
and the ruling party throughout the election period avoiding the voice of the then main
opposition, BNP.
• The regional dailies were found ‘imitating’ the national newspapers as a whole. They
took little interest on presenting local electoral problems, women participations, people’s
interest on and expectation from the candidates as well as the election commission. The
regional dailies covered the minority issue with less emphasis. The regional dailies could
not forecast attacks on the minority communities though it was a local issue.
• Some of the incidents/issues were covered recurrently for a certain period of time and the
issues were suddenly dropped with rare follow-ups. For example, media covered the
minority issues with emphasis for a certain period after the Election Day and suddenly
dropped that. Tendency of event-based coverage of the media is responsible for this.
• All the channels aired almost similar news items. In some cases, ‘run-downs (sequences)’
of the ‘lead news’ of the TV channels matched each other. There was no mentionable
variation in the TV news since information was gathered mostly from the uniform
sources in the collective manner.
Recommendations:
• Capacity of the reporters should be developed further through training, workshops and
knowledge sharing on the electoral processes (electoral laws and policies, systems, roles
and functions of election commissions, election arrangement etc).
• The media should concentrate on depth reporting, i.e. investigative, interpretative and
follow-up reports rather than event-based coverage of an issue or affair.
• Media, from the social-responsibility perspectives’ should present the people’s voice in
their content rather than representing and projecting some identical and known faces.
• Media, especially the TV channels, should have their own planning of coverage.
Tendency of covering a ‘single issue in collective manner’ should be avoided.
• The media in general should be more specific about the use of sources.
• State-run BVT and BB should reflect public interest in their content rather than
portraying the ruling party and the government. These media should be run under an
independent autonomous body.
• Media should be more attentive to objective reporting. The media reports should be
devoid of ‘adjectives’ as much as possible. Use of multiple sources in a report should be
encouraged. Each of the media can form a small working team comprising the senior
journalists and media academics to coach the novice journalists.
• Media should develop a mechanism of sharing knowledge with the journalists of
developed countries covering election issues.
• Media should demonstrate professionalism in their electoral coverage rather than
showing inclination towards covering the issues suiting their political/ideological bias.
• Media should be facilitated to form an ‘election beat’ entrusted with responsibility of
covering the election issues significantly.
• Media should play proactive and advocacy role through their content presentation to
foster participation of the underprivileged groups i.e. the participation of women,
participation of religious minority and others.
Conclusion:
The study findings depict that the media in Bangladesh mostly show interest on event-based
coverage of the electoral issues rather than in-depth investigation, analysis and follow-ups. The
study reveals that the media in general mostly concentrate on covering statements of political
parties; reaction of different stakeholders on the non-inclusive election process outlined by the
ruling AL, election environment (violence, hartal and blockades etc), minority issues and other
events and incidents emerged surrounding the election. The findings show that the editorials and
post-editorial write-ups and articles possess stronger tone rather than the reports. Considering
significance of parliamentary election in a democratic society, media in Bangladesh did not have
uniform agenda, rather the media stances were diversified to some extent depending on the
owner’s leaning towards political ideologies. However, being the ‘watch-dog’, media should play
more balanced role in univocal manner. Media should plan and set agenda ‘to inform, educate
and persuade’ people to foster their participation in the democratic process. Media should
undertake the election issue as a ‘beat reporting’ rather than ‘event-coverage’.
-0-
Chapter: One
Background and Methodology of the Media Monitoring Study
• IRI Mission and the Media Monitoring Assignment
The International Republican Institute (IRI) desires a study of the print, electronic, and
internet media relating to Bangladesh’s 10th Parliamentary Elections. The International
Republican Institute (IRI) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to
supporting democracy worldwide. The institution supports the efforts of civil society
organizations in Bangladesh to conduct election-related research, monitor campaigns,
provide citizens with information on candidates and monitor pre-election media coverage. To
help address these issues for a healthy democratic society, IRI works with journalists, civil
society, and election monitors to effectively monitor and publicize candidates’ compliance
with electoral process and democratic culture. IRI also aids locally-driven research initiatives
on the state of elections in Bangladesh, and works with local media monitoring groups to
observe and report on media coverage of elections. Through this work, the IRI mission is to
advocate for open and transparent elections.
This project was designed to implement a monitoring strategy for print, television radio and
internet media sources that tracks:
• frequency of electoral coverage of the selected media
• most frequently covered/referenced electoral themes
• extend of coverage on different political parties and
• quality of electoral coverage
Being entrusted by IRI, Free Election Movement Association (FEMA) and the Institute
of Innovative Media and E-Journalism (IIMEJ) carried out the media monitoring study
from December 15, 2013 to February 28, 2014. This timeline covered three phases: Pre
(15 December’13- January 3, 2014), During (January4-6, 2014) and Post (January 7-
February 2014) electoral period.
• Conceptual Underpinnings:
The process of democratization does not always move in a single direction. The move
towards democracy starts and stops, with alternating periods of regression and progress.
Bangladesh had similar experience in its democratic progress. There was an explosive growth
of media in the country since the democratic era began in 1991. The attitudes and policies of
four democratic governments between 1991 and 2008 helped the growth of media - both
electronic and print. Even during the 2007-2008 dictatorial regimes, the media played a
significant role in restoring democracy through dvocating for a free and fair election. The
media played an important role in advocating for, and ensuring the accountability and
transparency of the caretaker administration. The unprecedented participation of the voters in
the historic December 29, 2008 election is partly due to the media’s coverage of the process
and its ability to reach out to voters in remote areas of the country.
From the perspectives of ‘Social Responsibility Theory of the Press’, it is claimed that free
press is indispensable in reflecting the people’s voice in a state’s governance processes. The
press is expected to present the positive sides of a government and political parties, criticize
the negative aspects, and form public opinion that reflect the people’s interests and choices.
The argument that the media plays a role in democratization has been advanced by many in
political and communication science. According to Pippa Norris (2006), news media is most
effective in strengthening the process of democratization where they role as watchdog over
the abuse of power (ensuring accountability and transparency), as a civic forum for political
debate (facilitating informed electoral choices), and as an agenda-setter for policy makers
(strengthening government responsiveness to social problems).
Berman and Witzner (1997) argued that the free access and exchange of information is vital
to the notion of democracy. The very nature of democracy suggests that free and open
communication, through a variety of channels, is necessary to foster critical practices found
in democratic societies. Media outlets are also supposed to function as watchdogs,
expected to provide a monitoring checks and balances system on the government, various
industries, and society at large. Media, communication and political scholars as well as the
social scientist believe that the ‘Third Wave of Democratization’ as pointed out by famous
political scientist Samuel P. Huntington is one of the contributions of mass media since the
media advocates for democracy as the system of government where the participation of the
people and their opinion is a fundamental prerequisite.
However, another school of thought says that media freedom actually slows or even hinders
democratization, since it can serve as the voice of antidemocratic forces. According to
Herman and Chomsky, the ownership of the media controls the role of the media at large.
Media ownership is often linked to corporate houses and political ideologies which use the
media to promote their own agenda. The media can play an important role in different stages
of democratic development/practices. Or, the media may not play any meaningful role at all,
with democracy emerging quite independent of the press and other communication freedoms.
In an ideal situation, it is expected that media should work neutrally and without bias to any
political party. In our study, we will see whether the media is working neutrally and how
much coverage is being given to political parties.
• Media Landscape in Bangladesh
Media presence in Bangladesh was minimal preceding the 1990s, encompassing a
handful of newspapers and only state-owned TV channel and radio station. After the fall
of Bangladesh’s autocratic regime of Ershad, the media experienced a boom. The interim
government in 1991 paved the way for media expansion by amending the special power
act ‘The Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973.
Media growth has continued steadily since the 1990s, with the most recent Department of
Film and Publication (DFP) showing that there are more than three hundred registered
dailies published in the country. The fast proliferation of news dailies has come at the
expense of journalistic practices and standards of reporting. The most popular and well-
circulated dailies are published in the capital city of Dhaka, but there are a number of
popular regional dailies.
One of the most spectacular changes in the media scenario in Bangladesh is the rise of
electronic media, i.e. the satellite television channels. Privatization policies under the
post-1990 democratic government administrations allowed TV channels to expand and
flourish. The first privatization measure was taken in March 1999, authorizing Ekushey
TV to go on air. At present, one state-owned and 24 private TV channels are on air in the
country.
TV entertainment was initiated by the ATN Bangla, which became the first entertainment-
based channel in the country, launched in 1997. With this trend of expansion of, BTV, the
sole state-run television station in the country also launched satellite channel, BTV World, in
2005. The sole Islamic satellite channel, Islamic TV, began operations during the caretaker
government in 2007. Channel -i ran 24 hours a day and launched the first digital Bangla
channel in 1999.
All the television channels, excluding BTV and BTV World, are privately owned. One of the
significant aspects that affect the management of a television station in Bangladesh is the
political ideology or specific ties to a political party of the ownership. Among the first
generation satellite channels, ATN Bangla and ETV were unofficially affiliated with the AL
while the top management of Channel-i had more ambiguous leanings. At present, ETV is
leaned towards BNP. The management of second-generation channels such as NTV, RTV,
the now defunct Channel One, Boishakhi TV, and Banglavision are perceived to have
affiliations with the BNP because they were licensed during the last BNP regime. Similarly,
third-generation channels like Desh TV, Somoy TV, Mohona TV, Gazi TV, Independent TV,
Ekattor Television, Bijoy TV, Channel 24, Channel 9, and Asian TV are thought to have pro-
AL leanings since they were licensed during the AL regime. Diganta TV and Islamic TV
have perceived political connections to the BNP and Jammat-e-Islam. Channels such as
SATV, Massranga TV and Mytv have unclear political affiliations.
Though the popularity of radio is on the decline in the face of rapid television growth,
there are currently 11 FM, 14 community radio, and three online radio stations operating.
Bangladesh Betar, being the sole state-run radio channel, has country-wide coverage,
while the BBC has international ownership but is popular radio channel in the country.
Online news portals are the latest additions to the media landscape in Bangladesh. This
medium was pioneered by Bdnews24.com in 2005 as the country’s first web-based news
agency. The government does not have strict monitoring controls on internet news sites.
As such, online media has been allowed to proliferate rapidly within the last few years.
Online media outlets are largely popular with Bangladeshi youth and more educated
sectors of the population. Currently, almost all the newspapers have committed to both
paper and online versions of their content. Online portals are particularly in urban areas.
During the early 1990s, access to the internet was mainly limited to the privately owned
cyber cafes, with little individual access. As a new interactive media, the internet has by
now become a source of great attraction especially to the young generation (i.e. the
college and university students), job seekers and businessmen. With the promise of
delivering fast and accurate news, bdnews24.com started its journey.
• Objectives of the monitoring study:
The study was carried out with the following four board objectives:
• To understand frequency of electoral coverage of the selected media
• To comprehend most frequently covered/referenced electoral themes
• To understand extend of coverage on different political parties and
• To understand quality of electoral coverage
• Methodology of Media Monitoring
The media monitoring study was carried out applying ‘Content Analysis Method’, the
commonly used methodology for analyzing the contents of the media. Content analysis is
a specific research approach used frequently in all areas of the media. The method is
popular with mass media researchers because it is an efficient way to investigate the
content of the media.
According to Kamhawi and Weaver , content analysis was the most popular data-
gathering method reported in major mass communication journals between 1995 and
1999. An informal content analysis of three journals that focus on mass communication
research (Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journalism and Mass
Communication Quarterly, and Mass Communication and Society) from 2007 to 2008
found that content analysis was still a popular method, used in about one-third of all
published articles.
Walizer and Wienir (1978) defined content analysis as any systematic procedure devised
to examine the content of recorded information. Krippendorf (2004) defined it as a
research technique for making replicable and valid references from data to their context.
Kerlinger’s (2000) defined it as: “Content analysis is a method of studying and analyzing
communication in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of
measuring variables.
Based on aforesaid perspectives, it can be said the content analysis is a scholarly
approach of studying the content of communication materials or content. The essence of
the content analysis lies in the comment of Harold D. Lasswell who framed the base of
the content analysis by: ‘Who says what, to whom, why, to what extent and with what
effect?’
Selection of Media: Considering huge size of the media in the country, 24 individual
units from the print, electronic and online media were selected through sampling.
Selected Print Media: The recent report of Department of Film and Publication (DFP)
shows that there are more than three hundred daily newspapers in the country of which a
handful have gained popularity through a high standard of journalistic practice,
professionalism and influence. According to the DFP and the Bangladesh Hawkers’ Network
Association (BHNA), the most popular and widely-circulated dailies are predominantly
published from the capital city of Dhaka, though a small number are published from the
regions. Eight national dailies (6 Bangla and two English) published from Dhaka were
selected for the study while six regional dailies were selected from all the six divisions
(region) outside Dhaka. The table below shows the name of the 14 selected dailies:
Selected National Dailies Selected Regional Dailies
• The Daily Prothom Alo 1. The Daily Azadi, Chittagong
• The Daily Ittefaq 2. The Daily Purbanchal, Khulna
• The Daily Jugantor 3. The Daily Sylheter Dak, Sylhet
• The Daily Samokal 4. The Daily Juger Alo, Rangpur
• The Daily Nayadiganta 5. The Daily Karotoa, Rajshahi
• The Bangladesh Pratidin 6. The Daily Dakkhinanchal, Barisal
• The Daily Star
• The New Age
Selected Electronic Media:
Television Channels
Six television channels were selected for the study considering their:
• Television Rating Points (TRP)
• Pattern of ownership and the
• Nature of the channel
The selected channels included: state-owned Bangladesh Television; privately owned
ATN Bangla, Channel-i, Independent TV (news-based channel), ETV and NTV. The
primetime news bulletin (7 am-11am) of all the sample TV channels was surveyed during the
study period using content analysis format.
Sample TV Channel News Slot
ATN Bangla 10 pm.
BTV 8:00 pm.
Channel i 9:00 pm.
ETV 7:00 pm.
Independent TV 10:00 pm.
NTV 10 :30 pm.
Radio: Radio channels were selected based on national coverage and popularity and thus
BBC Bangla (international ownership) and state-run Bangladesh Betar (BB) were selected
since there were no other national radio stations in the country. BBC News at 70:30 pm and
BB news of 8:00 pm were analyzed using content analysis format.
Online Media: There are two popular online media outlets in Bangladesh. According to the
Alexa rating, BDnews24.com and banglanews24.com are the most popular ones. These two
web portals were selected for the study.
Methods and Technical Approaches against the Objectives
Objective Aspects Methods and Approaches Used
Understanding frequency of
electoral coverage of the
selected media
Content analysis (mainly counting) to figure out number of the
reports/contents; also used ‘column inch’ to quantify newspaper’s
space and ‘seconds’ to count duration of TV and Radio reports
Comprehending most Content and Analysis (mainly counting), measured ‘column inch’
frequently covered electoral
themes on election
to quantify space of the newspapers and measured ‘seconds’ to
count duration of TV and Radio reports
Understanding extend of
coverage on different
political parties
Content and Analysis (mainly counting), measured ‘column inch’
to quantify space of the newspapers and measured ‘seconds’ to
count duration of TV and Radio reports
Assessing quality of
electoral coverage A scale of 10 points was set for clarity of content, level of
interaction with sources, overall presentation of the content and
journalistic styles and principles followed in the content. Of the 10
point-scale, 8-10 were rated as ‘good’, 5-7 were as moderate and
below 5 as poor
News reports, features, editorials, post editorials, articles, news analysis and commentary
as well as relevant pictures on the election issues were extracted from the aforesaid media
and analyzed for understanding their overt and covert meaning, political stand/stance and
inclination.
The following aspects were reflected in the content analysis:
• Type of the content and classification of news (event based, issue based,
person/institution based)
• Nature of news (straight jacket, investigative, interpretative, follow-up, desk report
etc.)
• News treatment for the print media: (front page, back page and inner page, byline,
box, banner head, length of column, i.e. single , double, triple and more, color, only
picture, picture with news, news without picture)
• News treatment of the electronic media(video footage, rundown)
• Quality of information sources and quality of analysis, accuracy, objectivity and
fairness of the content exploration, preparation and presentation
• Quality of investigation and compilation of the gathered information
• Variation of topic(s) covered in the content on election issues
• Quality of content presentation in the aforesaid media
• Overt and covert meaning of the message communicated through the content
• Effectiveness and communicative competence of the content
Analysis of the Content
Unit of Analysis: The column inch was the unit of analysis for print media while the time
measurement unit was the ‘second’ for the electronic media, i.e. TV and radio channels.
Scope of Analysis: Following contents of the aforesaid news media were covered:
• News report
• Feature
• Editorials
• Post editorials
• Articles
• News analysis
• Commentary, etc.
Quality of Contents: With a view to assessing quality of content, a scale of 10 points
was set for clarity of content, level of interaction with sources, overall presentation of the
content and journalistic styles and principles followed in the content. Of the 10 point-
scale, 8-10 were rated as ‘good’; 5-7 were as moderate and below 5 as poor
• Study Management
Newsgathering Technique:
Set-up of Newsgathering Lab: A micro newsgathering lab with all required facilities was
set up. In order to cover six channels, six set devices were set-up including TV card, dish
connection, PC/Laptop, transferring software, UPS (uninterrupted power sources) and other
devices (plucks, cables, pen drive etc). Radio news was recorded automatically using digital
recorders. The hawker supplied copies of newspapers as per the project’s demand while the
internet connection was enough to receive the online news.
News Collection, Management and Analysis: The data was gathered using content analysis
format developed for different kinds of media. The associate researchers supervised data
gathering process of the content surveyors. For each type of media, one associate researcher
was appointed who worked under supervision of the Lead Researcher. Content surveyors
(three for print media, three for electronic media and one for online media) were appointed to
work with the associate researchers. An IT specialist was appointed to maintain the
newsgathering lab while a logistics and administrative manager facilitated the monitoring
team’s logistics. The gathered data was checked and verified on a day-to-day basis to avoid
human error. After polishing and checking the quality of data, they were analyzed using
tabulation format and software. Since the evaluation used both quantitative and qualitative
research methods, data clusterization was carried out for ease of analysis. A statistician with
data analysis experience in SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) was appointed to
tabulate data and help the lead monitoring researcher in compiling and synthesizing the data
gathered.
Quality Control: Quality control is an indispensable part of any monitoring study. In this
project, quality control was mainstreamed through each portion of the study. In order to do
so, the following steps were taken to control the quality of the work:
• The content analysis framework was prepared through brainstorming with the experts
working in the fields of media, democracy and elections, good governance, and
research.
• Forms were prepared in easy-to-understand, simple language so that the surveyors
could easily and accurately input the data.
• A rigorous pre-test was carried out on the forms to familiarize the surveyors with the
data requirements of the survey
• Surveyors were trained to monitor and capture news/content consistent to the project
objectives.
• Cross-checking was completed by the Lead Researcher, Statistician and Research
Associates to avoid error and complexity.
• After tabulating data, the Statistician monitored the Surveyor’s task and made
necessary corrections.
• Data were stored, managed, processed, and analyzed both by hand and electronically.
Data entry was done using SPSS software. The guidelines and codebook prepared by
the monitoring team was maintained during the data entry for quality assurance.
• A sample draft report was prepared first to disburse among the team members so that
all the members could provide necessary input/ information to improve quality of the
report.
Chapter-Two
Findings of the Media Monitoring Study
[The findings of the media monitoring study are discussed in terms of three phases: Pre
(15 December’13- January 3, 2014), During (January4-6, 2014) and Post (January 7-
February 2014) electoral period.]
2.1. Frequency of Electoral Coverage in Different Media
A. Newspapers
The newspapers have played a significant role in facilitating a democratic atmosphere,
and socio-economic and cultural advancement in Bangladesh. During the 2007-2008
emergency periods, newspapers aided in restoring democracy through advocacy for a free
and fair election. It is thought that the unprecedented participation of the voters in the 9th
parliamentary election was partly due to the media coverage of the process and their
commitment to reaching out to the voters in remote areas of the country. As such,
considering the importance and significance of the newspapers in Bangladesh’s political
participation context, 14 newspapers (8 national and 6 regional dailies) were monitored
for the 10th Parliamentary Election.
The study reveals that from 15 December 2013 to 28 February 2014, the monitored national
dailies published a total of 89593 news items of which the number of electoral news items
was 5568, only 6.21%. Of the national dailies, the daily Jugantor published 992 items,
highest amount of news items which was 17.81% of the total coverage made by all the
dailies. The Daily Star, the highest circulated English Daily (as per the DFP report)
published 371 news items, the least amount which was 6.66% of the total electoral
coverage of the national dailies underwent the study. Of the three phases (Pre, during
and Post), the national dailies put more emphasis to cover reports ‘during’ (4-6
January’14) election period. Only in the three days period, the dailies covered 980
reports, much more than covering the ‘Pre (15 December’13-3 January 2014)’ and the
‘Post (7 January-28 February 2014)’ election periods.
In terms of allocating space to publish electoral news items, the daily Samakal spent more,
13471 column inches (16% of the total spaces allocated by the dailies) than any other dailies
undergoing the monitoring. Though the daily Jugantor published more news items, the size
of the reports was smaller than Samakal. The Jugantor spent 12,522 column inches (14.83%),
the second largest amount of column inches. The daily Ittefaq, the oldest of all the dailies
monitored allocated the least amount, 7,635 column inches which was 9% of the total spaces
allocated by the dailies. Of the three phases, 18,063 column inches were allocated for the
electoral coverage of only 3 days (4-6 January’14) during the election period, the highest
allocation, 6,021 column inches per day.
The study reveals that from 15 December 2013 to 28 February 2014, the monitored regional
dailies published a total of 42,852 news items of which the number of electoral news items
was 2470, only 5.76%. Of the regional dailies, the daily Korotoa published 581 items,
the highest amount of news items which was 23.52% of the total coverage made by all
the regional dailies. The Dakkhinanchal published 295 news items, the least amount
which was about 12% of the total electoral coverage of the regional dailies. Of the three
phases (Pre, during and Post), the regional dailies, like the national ones put more
emphasis to cover reports ‘during’ (4-6 January’14) election period. Only in the three
days period, the dailies covered 479 reports, much more than covering the ‘Pre (15
December’13-3 January 2014)’ and the ‘Post (7 January-28 February 2014)’ election
periods.
In terms of allocating space to publish electoral news items, the daily Korotoa spent more,
6384 column inches (25.46% of the total spaces allocated by the dailies) than any other
dailies undergoing the monitoring. The daily Dakkhinanchal allocated the least amount,
2,843 column inches which was 11.33% of the total spaces allocated by the dailies. Of the
three phases, 5417 column inches were allocated for the electoral coverage of only 3 days
(4-6 January’14) during the election period, the highest allocation, 1,805 column inches
per day.
B. Television channels
All the six TV channels broadcast a total of 8760 news items throughout all three phases
of the study period of which 1402 items were on the election issues, 16 percent. NTV
emphasized more on election (25 %) than any other TV channel. Though BTV covered
highest number of news items (1681), it covered 169 news items, the least of all, 12% of
total coverage. Comparing all the three phases, the TV channels aired the highest number
of reports during 4-6 January 2014, 71 reports per day.
C. Radio Channels
In all three phases BB broadcast a total of 1486 news of which 177 were on election (11.9
%) while BBC broadcast 86 news on election out of its total 816 news items (10.5 %).
These two radio channels altogether covered election issues just over 11 percent of their
total news coverage which was 13 percent of their total time allocation. Though BBC
broadcast less news on election issues than that of BB in number, it allocated more time
on the same. BBC spent 23383 seconds for its 86 news on election (17.2% of total time)
where BB spent 14750 seconds for its 177 news items on the same (9.5% of total time).
BBC emphasized on election issues at election period as it allocated 75.8 percent of its
time to election issues where BB allocated 29.7 percent time on the same issue at the
same period. In other two phases, BB covered more news on election than that of BBC.
D. Online Portals:
Banglanews24.com published 815 news on election issues out of its total 15980 news
items (5%) while Bdnews24.com published 7 percent of its total news (7496) on election
(493). Altogether Bdnews24.com and Banglanews24.com published 1308 reports on
election issues (5 % of total news).
2.2. Most Frequently Covered Electoral Themes in Different Media
• Newspapers
The National Dailies: At the pre-election phase, major themes of the electoral coverage of
the dailies were publicity and campaign of the prospective candidates, election environemnt
(violence, blockade, hartal and other derogating situtaion sof law and orders triggered
surrounding the election), statelment of political parties, reaction (criticism, feedback and
opinion on the non-inclussive electoral process) of different stakeholders and the candidates
(prospective candidates, their particulars, wealth statements etc).
The national dailies published 483 reports on the election campaign where the Daily Ittefaq
published 169 reports and the Daily Jugantor published 166 reports on the same, 35 percent
and 34.36 percent respectively. Editors of both the dailies were competing in the race of the
election with tickets from JP; major ally of the AL led 18-party alliance. The daily Naya
Diganta published 8 reports, less than 2%. The daily owned by one of the influential leaders
of Jammat-e-Islam, the largest ally of BNP led 19 party alliance was thoroughly found
critical of the election process excluding BNP led alliance.
The national dailies in this phase cvered 381 reports on election environemnt (violence,
blockade, hartal and other derogating situtaion sof law and orders triggered surrounding the
election); 307 reports on the statement of political parties, 297 reports on reaction (criticism,
feedback and opinion on the non-inclussive electoral process) of different stakeholders and
149 reports on the candidates(prospective candidates, their particulars, wealth statements etc).
The daily Jugantor covered 86 reports on election environment which was 22.57 percent of
the total coverage of the dailies on the issue. The daily covered the highest amount of reports
on the statements of the political parties.
Coverage on some specific Issues: At this phase, 28 items were published by the national
dailies on women participation in the national election. Of the total reports, the Daily
Jugantor covered 21 of which most of them were on the ‘editor of the daily’ who was a
candidate from one of the constituencies of Dhaka. Only 06 reports on minority issues were
covered during the phase.
During the election period, election environment (violence, blockade and hartal) was the
prime concern of the media focus. The national dailies published 285 news items on the issue
during g the election period. The daily Jugantor published 19.29 percent of the total coverage
of the dailies on the issue while the coverage of the daily Star was 5 percent on the same.
The dailies covered 143 item on ‘reaction of different stakeholders’ of which the Bangladesh
Protidin covered the highest number (54) of items on the issue while the Daily Prothom Alo
and the Daily Star published 3 items each on the same. Voter’s issues (voter’s participation
and problems) were mostly covered by the Daily Prothom Alo. The Daily covered 40 news
items (40.40% of the total coverage of the dailies on the issue) while the New Age and the
Ittefaq published 4 items each on the same.
The national dailies published 95 reports on ‘Election result, rigging and quit from the
election’ of which the highest number of reports (21) were published by the Daily
Prothom Alo, 22% of the total coverage of the dailies on the issue. The daily Star
published 4 items on the same, 4 percent. Of the 70 reports published on the ‘Statements
of Political Parties’, 32 (45.71%) were published by the Ittefaq and Samakal with equal
fraction.
Coverage on some specific Issues: During the post-election period the most striking
incident was attack and intimidation on the religious minorities particularly on the ‘Hindu
Communities’ in some parts of the country like the previous elections held in 2001 and
2008. The national dailies published 283 reports on the issue, 12.56 percent of their total
electoral coverage. The minority issues were covered as the first lead with considerable
space and pictures in the front pages of the dailies. Coverage on Election environment:
violence, blockade etc in the national dailies during this phase was 12.52 percent of their
total electoral coverage, almost similar with the coverage on minority issues. ‘Reaction of
different stakeholders and foreign media on the process of the election’ was also covered
with importance which was 9.36 percent of the total electoral coverage of the national
dailies. A total of 188 reports were covered on the ‘formation process of new
government and 164 on ‘statements of political parties’ which were 8.34 percent and
7.28% of their total electoral coverage respectively.
Regional Dailies: In the course of pre-election period, major themes of electoral
coverage by the regional dailies went on ‘publicity of the candidates’, ‘statements of the
political parties’, ‘election environment (violence, blockade and hartals) and ‘reaction of
different stakeholders’ on the process of elections. A total of 361 reports were published
on the ‘publicity of the candidates’ and 183 reports on ‘election environment’
(blockades/hartals and violence). ‘Election environment’ (185) and ‘party statement’,
‘Election result’ and ‘activities of the law enforcement agencies’ were some of the major
themes covered by the regional dailies. A total of 185 reports were published on
‘election environment’ while 72 were on ‘party statement’ and 28 reports were on
‘Election result’ and 24 were covered on the ‘activities of law enforcement agencies’ in
the regional dailies. The regional dailies did not focus on the ‘minority issues’ in this
stage while the daily Purbanchal published 3 reports on ‘women participation’ in the
election. Election environment (blockade, hartal, violence etc), Reaction of different
stakeholders on the process of election, Party statements, ‘formation of new government’
and ‘attack on minority community’ were the major themes of electoral coverage of the
regional dailies at the post-election period. A total of 172, 162, 107, 96 and 68 reports
were published on the aforesaid themes respectively in the regional dailies. The daily
Juger Alo gave the highest coverage (31% of total coverage of the dailies on the issue) on
‘Attack on minority community while the Sylheter Dak covered two items on the same,
the lowest coverage. All the regional dailies published 47 reports on women participation
where Sylheter Dak published no report on the issue.
• TV Channels
Pre-election period: At pre-election period, all the six TV channels focused more on the
party statements, publicity of the candidates, reactions of different stakeholders,
government activities and blockades/hartals. A total of 231 reports were broadcast on the
statements of political parties at this phase of which NTV aired the most, 20.34% of the
total coverage of the channels on this issue. The channles aired 88 reports on the election
environment (violence, blocades, hartals etc) of which ETV covered the highest amount,
35.22 percent while BTV aired one report on the issue. On election publicity by the
candidates, a total of 83 reports were aired. BTV telecast the highest quantity (32.53%) of
reports on the same while NTV aired 6 percent, the least quantity on the same. All the
channels aired 60 reports on ‘reaction of different stakeholders on the process of
election’, of which NTV covered 31.66 percent.
During election: Election environment, party statements, activities of law enforcement
agencies and election results were the major focuses during the election period. A total of
68 reports on election environment (violence, blockades, hartals etc.) have been broadcast
by the channels where BTV covered the least number (6) and Ind covered the highest
number (15). Ind channel aired one report on minority issue while other five channels
were silent regarding it. All the channels broadcast 3 reports on women participation in
election during election period, 1.7 percent of their total coverage. Three channels out of
six broadcast three reports on women participation in the vote.
Post-election period: Statements of different political parties remained the most aired
issue (208) at post-election period where formation of new government was the second
highest focus (101) by the six TV channels. Other major focuses were government
activities, reactions of different stakeholders, mediation and movement of diplomats, and
attack on minority. NTV broadcast 22 reports on mediation and move by the diplomats,
46 percent of total coverage on the issue, while BTV aired no report on the same. At
post-election period, minority attack especially intimidation on Hindu community
speeded up in some of the places of the country. The six TV channels broadcast a total of
43 reports on this issue where Channel-i and Independent covered the most, 32 and 30
percent respectively.
• Radio Channels
Pre-election period: Activities and statements of government, statements of different
political parties, preparation of election, activities of law enforcement agencies and
election publicity were the major focuses by the two radio channels at pre-election
period. BB broadcast 24 reports on government activities (88.8% of the coverage of
channels on this issue) while BBC aired 3 such reports. BBC covered election
environment (violence, blockades, hartals) with 4 reports where BB aired one report on
the same. BB emphasized more on preparation of election issue (11 reports) than BBC (2
reports).
During election: On violence and blockades/hartals, BBC aired 7 reports, BB none
during election time. BB broadcast 6 reports on government activities and statements and
BBC aired 2 such reports. Out of its 18 reports during election period, BB emphasized on
overall election environment (8 reports), 44.44 percent of its total coverage where BB’s
focus was on government activities (6 reports), 42.85 percent of its total coverage.
Post-election period: Along with activities and statements of government, the two radio
channels emphasized on formation of new government and reactions of the different
stake holders including diplomats at post-election period. Out of total 29 reports on
government activities and statements, BB broadcast 25 reports (86.2%) and BBC aired 4
such reports. BB broadcast 4 reports on minority attack and BBC aired 5 such reports.
BB emphasized more on formation of new government (17 reports) than that of BBC (5
reports). Participation of women in the vote was a least emphasized issue as BB aired one
such report and BBC none. Out of its total 88 reports during election, BB allocated 47.72
percent coverage to the government activities and formation of new govt.
D. Online Portals
Pre-election period: At pre-election period, Bdnews24.com and Banglanews24.com
emphasized the issues like election environment, election publicity, party statements, and
government activities. A total of 109 reports on election environment including violence,
blockades/hartals have been webcast by Bdnews24.com and Banglanews24.com, 52.29
and 47.70 percent respectively. Banglanews24.com focused more in covering party
statements (60 reports) than that of Bdnews24.com (43 reports). The two news portals
webbed 47 reports on government activities and statements.
During election: Election-related violence, election environment, government statements
and election results were the major focuses by the online portals during election. A total
of 51 reports on election environment (violence, blockades, hartals) have been webbed of
which Banglanews24.com published 34 reports (66.66%) and Bdnews24.com published
the remaining, 17 reports (33.33%).In publishing party statements and election results,
Banglanews24.com covered more news (13 and 19 respectively) than that of
Bdnews24.com (5 and 9). Banglanews24.com published 9 reports on rigging election and
boycotting it while Bdnews24.com webbed 2 reports on the same. Out of their 191
reports during election period, both the news portals published a total of 4 reports on
voters, 2 percent of total coverage.
Post Election: Activities and statements of government, formation of new government,
party statements, attack on minority, and reactions of different political parties were the
major focuses at post-election period by the online portals. Banglanews24.com published
56 reports on government activities (59.57%) and Bdnews24.com published 38 such
reports (40.42%) though in covering election related violence and blockades,
Banglanews24.com (11 reports) emphasized less than that of Bdnews24.com (14 reports).
A total of 37 reports on minority attack have been published by the two portals where
Bdnews24.com carried 54.05 percent of coverage and Banglanews24.com the remaining,
45.94 percent.
2.3. Extend of coverage on different political parties in different media
• Newspapers
The National Dailies:
In terms of coverage on the political parties, the national dailies covered AL more
frequently than others. In all the phases, a total of 2091 reports were published on AL
activities, 62 percent of the total coverage of the dailies on the political parties. The
national dailies undergoing the study published 803 reports on BNP, 24 percent of the
total coverage on the political parties. The JP received 11 percent coverage with 357
reports while the number of reports on Jammat and leftist parties were 2% and 1%
respectively.
During the pre-election period (15 December, 2013 to 3 January, 2014), of the national
dailies the daily Jugantor allocated 2901 column inches on AL, the highest quantity of the
party coverage made by the dailies monitored. The daily Bangladesh Pratidin published
1041 column inches on AL, the least coverage. Among the dailies, the Samakal gave
maximum coverage on BNP by spending 1199 column inches.
The daily Ittefaq spent 310 column inches on BNP, the minimum coverage. Of the AL-
led 18 party alliance, JP got more coverage. Similarly, Jammat got more coverage than
any other ally of BNP-led 19 party alliances. Coverage on other political parties (either as
a member of the alliances or as an individual party) was insignificant.
During the election period (4-6 January, 2014), the daily Prothom Alo gave AL the
highest coverage with 1389 column inches while the party was least covered by the daily
Naya Diganta with 279 column inches. BNP got the maximum coverage, 565 column
inches from the daily Samakal while got 147 column inches, the least from the daily
Naya Diganta in this phase. Other than JP, Jamat and Leftist parties got trifle coverage.
During the post-election period (7 January-28 February, 2014), the daily Prothom Alo,
Jugantor and Samakal covered AL with 1895, 1748 and 1551 column inches respectively.
Like the previous phase, the daily Samakal spent 1201 column inches on BNP, the
maximum coverage on the party while the daily Ittefaq spent 320 column inches for the
party, the minimum.
Regarding the party coverage, the regional dailies also showed similar inclination. AL
was mostly covered by the dailies with 59 percent reporting while BNP received 28
percent coverage in the regional dailies. Like the national dailies, the regional ones also
gave 11% coverage on JP which was con-incidentally same. Jammat and Leftist party had
equal share in the coverage of the regional dailies with 1 percent reporting.
B. Television channels
The TV Channels covered more reports on AL than other political parties. In all the
phases throughout the election, a total of 596 reports were aired on the activities of AL,
56 percent of the total party coverage of the channels. In terms of TV coverage BNP’s
share was 33 percent (with 353 reports) while 9 percent coverage (with 91 reports) was
made for JP and 1 percent for each of the Jammat (with 14 reports) and Leftist (7
reports).
At pre-election phase, all the six channels broadcast a total of 554 news items on political
parties of which 235 on AL, 143 on BNP and the remaining ones on other political
parties. NTV covered more news items on BNP (37) than AL (26). Total of its 91 news,
BTV broadcast 71 on AL and 3 on BNP while ETV covered 36 items on AL and 34 on
BNP showing a tendency of balance in terms of quantity.
After BTV, ATN was more inclined in covering AL with 44 news items where the
channel aired 24 items on BNP. During the coverage of election period, BTV gave no
time to BNP while it broadcast 28 items on AL. In aggregate calculation, BNP got less
than half of coverage (44 news items) than that of AL (102) by the channels during this
phase. BTV continued its poor coverage on BNP at post election phase too. The channel
aired 1 report on BNP while covered 34 news items on AL at that time. ETV emphasized
BNP activities and covered 25 items on the party comparing 11 reports on 11. JP got
more attention of the channels with 49 news items aired at post-election period
comparing to other two phases.
C. Radio Channels
The Radio Channels aired 125 reports (82% of total party coverage) on AL in all the
phases, the maximum coverage with 3 hours length while coverage on BNP was 12
percent with 18 reports (1 hour 19 minutes length) and coverage on JP was 5 percent.
There was no report aired on Jammat while 1 percent report was aired on the Leftist.
At pre-election phase BB aired 52 reports on AL (1 hour 16 minutes) and 1 on BNP (68
seconds) while BBC aired 13 reports on AL and 7 on BNP with almost equal time
allocation, 57 seconds more on AL. BB did not air any report on BNP during election and
post-election period where news items on AL were 6 and 45 respectively by the channel.
During election BBC covered more reports on BNP (5 news items) than AL (2 news
items) with almost double time allocation to BNP than AL. BB allocated 214 seconds for
JP at post-election period though both the channels did not air any report on the party
during election period.
D. Online Portals
Both the portals published more news on AL than on BNP at all the three phases of the
study.
In all the three phases, a total of 457 reports (61% of the total party coverage) were
published on AL by the portals while the BNP had 26% of share (with 198 reports) in the
total coverage.
JP got 10 percent coverage while Jammat and the leftist got 1percent and 2 percent
respectively.
At pre-election period, Banglanews24.com published 146 reports on AL and 56 on BNP
while Bdnews24.com webbed 70 reports on AL and 41 on BNP. Out of total 192 reports
during election period, 48 were on AL and 20 on BNP while 106 reports were on others.
At post-election period, Banglanews24.com emphasized AL (with 110 reports) more than
double of BNP (with 43 reports) where Bdnews24.com published 83 and 38 reports on
AL and BNP respectively. In all the three phases, Bdnews24.com published 34 percent of
its reports on AL and 17 percent on BNP while Banglanews24.com published 35 percent
news on AL and 14 percent on BNP.
2.4. Quality of electoral coverage in Different Media
The ranking reveals that 72% reports of the national dailies were good, 20% were
moderate and the remaining 8% were poor. The percentages for the regional dailies were
68%, 22% and 10% for good, moderate and poor respectively. Of the TV reports, 76%
reports were ranked as good, 14% were moderate and 10% were poor while BBC stood
the highest in ranking with 80 percent reports as good. BB and BTV reports were finally
excluded ranking since these state-run channels were extremely biased towards
government and the ruling party without demonstrating minimum professionalism and
commitment to the audience and the society. Of the online portal’s 66 percent reports
were good, 19 percent were moderate and 15 percent poor. However, 94 percent reports
of media (all the types) were based on surface information. It means the audiences were
deprived of knowing the detailed aspects of an issue. For example, most of the reports on
attack and oppression on the minority communities lacked detailed information on the
attackers and government initiatives to control the situation. Moreover, most of the
reports depended on the official sources like police stations and statements of the local
political leaders. Some of the media reports directly contained ‘opinion and judgment’ of
the reporters that went against the journalistic principles. For example, the Prothom Alo,
the highest circulated Bangla daily and the daily Star, the highest circulated English daily
used adjectives (deadliest, farcical, stigmatized election etc) in many of their ‘news
headlines’. The Daily Star published some ‘news analyses on the election issue but they
mostly reflected the reporter’s own opinion and judgment rather than capturing
interviews and explanation of the experts accordingly.
Chapter-Three:
Analysis of the Findings
• General Analysis:
Tendency of Media Coverage: Overall tone of the media content, with a little exception,
was in favour of holding an inclusive election with participation of all the major political
parties. Media’s attention was directed towards covering election environment (violence,
hartal, blockade etc), reaction of different stakeholders on the electoral process, dialogue
and diplomatic initiatives facilitating inclusive election, political statements and
activities, minority issues and formation of the new government.
Nature of Coverage: Media mostly covered event-based reports (for example, political
activities and statements, violence, reaction of different stakeholders etc) with surface
information. Investigative and interpretative reports on the election issues were not
significantly covered. For example, the national dailies (The Daily Star and Prothom Alo
played pioneering role in this regard) covered reports on the ‘wealth statement’ of the
candidates submitted to the Election Commission. The reports in most of the cases failed
to deliver detailed information on the wealth of the candidates going beyond their
submitted statements. Being investigative in nature, the reports were not complete
‘investigative reports’ since they were mostly based on the secondary information.
Media Interests on ‘Follow-up’: The dailies both the national and regional put less
emphasis on covering ‘follow-up’ reports on election issues since the number of the
reports was gradually declining after the election held on 05 January 2014. Between 07
January to 28 February 2014, the number of news items on the election issues was
declining since the events related to election was also declining. It means that the
newspapers mostly covered reports based on the events. They have no inclination of
their own to cover the issues related to election in depth manner. For, example, the
reports on rigging in some of the pools centres which were reported with importance
during the election were lost after some days since the newspapers did not take interests
on the same to cover ‘follow-up’ stories.
Party Coverage: Media coverage was visible on only five political parties: AL, BNP, JP
(both fractions), Jammat and Leftsist. AL received the maximum media coverage but the
overall tone of the reporting was critical to the party, its activities and policies regarding
the process of election. Apart from AL, coverage on BNP and JP was moderately
significant while coverage on Jammat and leftists was negligible. The media coverage
was politically biased to some extent. The media content were sympathetic to the
activities of the political ideology the owners inclined to.
Media ownership and bias: Marshal McLuhan’s ‘medium is the message’ is also a reality
for the Bangladesh media. Ownership and its ‘perceived’ political affiliation is becoming
one of the major determinants of news coverage. It is said in journalism that news is what
the editor/publisher says it is. In the election coverage, the media could not cross the
boundary of political affiliation of their owners. For instance, the owner of NTV is one of
the advisors of BNP Chairperson and the channel got license when the BNP was in
power. In its electoral coverage, the news items on BNP were presented with much care
rather than others. On the other hand, the daily Ittefaq is owned by an influential leader of
JP (Monju), one of the allies of AL who became the ‘Member of the Parliament’ in the last
election with ticket from AL-led alliance. Analysis of the daily’s overall coverage showed
that it supported the election process, as announced by the Awami League.
Covering Minority Issues: Experiences show that the religious minorities, particularly
the Hindu communities come under attack after the national elections in Bangladesh. The
8th and 9th parliamentary elections held in 2001 and 2008 respectively bear the worst
examples of such violence across the country. There was no exception in the 10th national
parliamentary election too. Media though could not provide with effective investigative
reports forecasting of the situation preceding the election, covered the issues with due
importance after the incidents took place immediately after the polling day. However,
media coverage on the issue was mostly incident-based rather than investigation and
interpretation. Media coverage on minority issues mostly depended on the official
sources, i.e. police, local leaders rather than digging out detailed aspects on the same.
This is one of the major reasons for what the audience could not know about the
masterminds, their missions and targets.
Quality of Reporting: Some reports directly contained ‘opinion and judgment’ of the
reporters which went against the journalistic principles. For example, the Prothom Alo,
the highest circulated Bangla daily and the daily Star, the highest circulated English daily
used adjectives (deadliest, farcical, stigmatized election etc) in many of their ‘news
headlines’. The Daily Star published some ‘news analyses on the election issue but they
mostly reflected the reporter’s own opinion and judgment rather than capturing
interviews and explanation of the experts accordingly.
Media Stances: Media in general is overcoming the public perception of bias by
providing wider coverage on the statements of different political parties, diplomatic
efforts and members of the civil society to create an environment conducive to holding an
inclusive general election. The fear of retaliation from political leadership led a sort of
forced balance in coverage. Some of the media’s stances shifted due to changing political
situations around the election. Corporate ownership is also a factor in covering different
political parties with importance since credible and balanced coverage fosters circulation
and revenue.
Projection of TV Media: In general, the TV channels frequently projected political
figures, ministers, bureaucrats, diplomats, intellectuals, civil society members and
business elites in their news content. The ‘expert’s opinion’ were mainly male-dominated
since the female experts were seen rarely in the news interviews. The larger segment of
the society is deprived of presenting their voices in television.
State-owned media: The state-owned media (BTV and BB) functioned as the mouthpiece
of the government and the ruling party throughout the election period avoiding the voice
of the then main opposition, BNP.
Capacity of Regional Dailies: The regional dailies were found ‘imitating’ the national
newspapers as a whole in terms of content selection and presentation. They took little
interest on presenting local electoral problems, women’s participations, people’s interest
on and expectation from the candidates as well as the election commission. In the cases
of minority attacks at the village and regional level, the regional dailies covered the issue
with less emphasis. Even though, the regional dailies could not forecast attacks on the
minority communities.
Recurrent projection and sudden closure: One of the common trends of the media
coverage was that, some of the incidents/issues were covered recurrently for a certain
period of time. The issues were suddenly dropped with rare follow-ups. For example,
media covered the minority issues with emphasis for a certain period after the Election
Day and dropped that. It was due to tendency of event-based coverage of the news rather
than investigation.
Tendency of Syndication: All the channels aired almost similar news items. In some
cases, ‘run-downs (sequences)’ of the ‘lead news’ of the TV channels matched each
other. There was no mentionable variation in the TV news since information was
gathered mostly from the uniform sources in the collective manner.
Use of sources: The media in general depended on the official sources and in many cases
did not cross check a fact with multiple sources, for example, media reports on the
minority attacks were mostly based on the sources of local political leaders and the police
stations.
• Relationship between Ownership and Coverage
According to Herman and Chomsky's ‘propaganda model’, media contents are controlled
by the pattern of the ownership. In an article ‘Mass Media: Political Economy and
Power’, the author states that there is a link between Herman and Chomsky’s
‘propaganda model’ and the ownership control of Bangladesh media. It is mentioned in
the article that political affiliations of the media owners function as one of the dominant
factors that control content of the media. Due to the nature of the media monitoring
study, findings are analyzed to explore the relationship between the political affiliation of
the media monitored and their coverage bias. It revealed that political affiliation of the
media is reflected in their coverage stance.
The National Dailies
The Daily Ittefaq: The Daily Ittefaq is owned by one of the influential leaders of JP
(Monju), one of the allies of AL who became the ‘Member of the Parliament’ in the last
election with ticket from AL-led alliance. Analysis of the daily’s overall coverage showed
that it supported the election process, as announced by the Awami League. As Election Day
neared, The Daily Ittefaq tried to provide balanced coverage, with tones both favoring and
disfavoring the election. Most of the important reports on elections published on December
30, 2013, were on the front page, above the fold. It was also observed that coverage that was
critical of the election process and the ruling party’s treatment appeared below the fold and in
less prominent section of the paper. At times, some of The Daily Ittefaq reports seemed to
display partisanship towards the decision to hold elections despite the protest of BNP. The
paper attempted to adopt a tone of normalcy to the coverage, refusing to acknowledge the
popular protest against a non-inclusive election. In another report published on December
16, 2013, the tone of the ‘lead news’ showed that Jatiya Party head Hossain Muhammad
Ershad was standing with the AL and its alliance. His cheerful photo with one of the PM’s
advisors was also published. The report was published at a time when there was controversy
as to whether or not Ershad would be supporting the AL and participating in the election.
The Daily Jugantor: The Daily Jugantor is owned by an influential leader of JP, one of the
allies of AL. The Leader became the ‘Member of the Parliament’ in the last election with
ticket from AL-led alliance. Overall, coverage in Jugantor during the election period
supported the election process as outlined by the Awami League government. However, the
Jugantor also published a number of post-editorials that were characterized as criticisms of
the election process. While the Jugantor made a concerted effort to balance its opinion
coverage on the election process, the paper demonstrated coverage bias in its reporting of
candidates, specifically in its coverage of a constituency race in which daily’s editor was
running. Some of the reports (for example, on January 6, 2013) contained a myriad of
negative adjectives (corrupt, allegedly involved with terrorism, rigging, miserable etc) against
the editor’s opponent while some of the reports contained a barrage of positive adjectives
(honorably, against the massive victory etc) to describe the editor’s qualifications as a
candidate. The daily published reports that seemed to have a specific bias against AL
candidate, Abdul Mannan Khan. Most of the dailies monitored published news on Abdul
Mannan Khan’s wealth. But, Jugantor published the highest number of reports on the issue
accusing him of accumulating a large number of ‘illegal properties’ but never sought a
contrarian opinion or even the statement from Khan in the report.
The Daily Samakal: The owner of the daily is affiliated with political ideology of AL.
However, views in the media community showed that there was some squabble between the
owner of the daily and the AL policy makers. The owner did not win to get ticket from AL in
the race of election. The Daily Samakal was consistently critical of the election process. For
example, the daily published a four-column report under the bold, red headline ‘No AL
leaders in locality’ on December 23, 2013 on the first page, making the article the lead story
of the day. The daily also published a number of reports criticizing the wealth statements of
the AL candidates. The daily published reports on the BNP and 18-party alliance’s ‘March to
Democracy’ program with huge treatment (all the headlines were bold and red in color).
The Daily Prothom Alo: The daily is owned by one of the country’s leading business
company Transcom Ltd. The political affiliation of the owner is not clear however, the editor
of the daily was leaning towards the leftist ideology previously. Analysis of reports, editorials
and post-editorials published in the daily showed that Prothom Alo was vocal against the
election process. The reports of the daily on election issues during January 4-6, 2014 strongly
opposed the election. Some of the headlines, particularly on the day after the election,
contained negative adjectives about the polls while some of the reports contained the
reporter’s subjective comments. As per the ethics and principles of standard journalism,
reporters are not entitled to insert their own comments in news reports. Moreover, adjectives
are also not acceptable in the headlines or in the body of the reports. On December 15, 2013,
Prothom Alo published the views of three ‘eminent persons,’ in order to further their stance;
Barrister Rafique-ul-Haque, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, and Ms. Rasheda K. Chowdhury all
received attention, with each person allotted a single column on the front page of alongside
their pictures. Headlines based on the comments of the three were published as follows:
• A mockery going to be staged in the name of election – Rafique-ul-Haque
• Its (election) like dividing tenders based on consensus- Hossain Zillur Rahman
• People don’t want such funny election- Rasheda K. Chowdhury
Headlines of two major reports published on the January 06, were: ‘Fake polls, stigmatized
election’ and ‘ EC fails to conduct acceptable polls’.
The Daily Naya Diganta : The daily is owned by an influential leader of Jammat-e-Islam
Bangladesh, one of the dominant allies of BNP. Naya Diganta’s tone reflects its stance
against the 10th Parliamentary election process. Through content presentation, the daily tried
to express holding the elections as unjustifiable and touted the possible adverse impact of the
elections on the nation. Terming the election ‘illegal,’ the daily exploited the stances of
different national and international bodies that had expressed concern, including international
media outlets. For example, headlines of a few reports published on December 15, 2013 in
the daily were: ‘Such Voter-less election rare in world history’ (in 3 column inch treatment);
‘Farcical election, disgraceful chapter’ (in 2 column inch treatment in the 2nd page); ‘Public
do not want this farcical election’. On December 17, 2013 Naya Diganta quoted The
Guardian: ‘Bangladesh is a prison now.’ On December 19, 2013 it quoted British Minister
Sayeeda Waresi, ‘I did not see such violence in Bangladesh before.’ Another report was
published on the same day with the headline: ‘Violence in Bangladesh can go out of control’-
Reuters’. The daily published a report on December 21, 2013 with 4 column treatment in the
front page titled ‘International community stands against the one-sided election.’ On January
4, 2014 a report of the daily quoted ‘Odhikar’ saying, ‘The election will put the country in
serious danger.’ The same issue published another report referring to a survey by The Dhaka
Tribune; national English daily, that 77% of the population is against the election.’
The daily emphasized on covering reactions of different stakeholders on the acceptability of
the election process as well as covered the incidents of violence around the elections with
importance. Besides reporting, the daily’s editorial and post-editorial coverage was also
against the process of election and extremely critical towards the government and the election
commission. A few of the editorials of the daily include: ‘No alternative to postpone the
election for avoiding violence’ (December 15, 2013); ‘Voter-less election, no chance to be
recognized by the national or international community’; ‘10th parliamentary elections-the
future of democracy at stake;’ and ‘Bangladesh is going to be a bottomless basket again, the
process of destruction must be stopped right now’ (December 25, 2013); ‘Much a
controversial election – there is no way it will be legitimate’ (January 6, 2014); ‘Result
unacceptable – cancel and initiate dialogue’ (January 7, 2014).
A few of the post-editorials of the daily said: ‘Farce of voter-less election’ (December, 15,
2013); ‘What sort of an election is that’ (December 21, 2013); ‘Dhaka and Delhi continue to
make mistakes regarding elections’ (December 27, 2013); ‘The nation shackled by evil
power’ (December, 29, 2013); ‘A strange election in Bangladesh’ (January 5, 2014).
Bangladesh Protidin: Bangladesh Protidin was critical of the electoral processes in its
content. It set a new trend of publishing report based on TV talk-shows and almost all the
reports were against either the government or election commission and gave conclusion
against holding of January 5 election. On the Election Day, the daily dedicated front page
coverage to BNP leader Khaleda Zia’s son, Tareq Zia’s video message calling the people to
boycott the election. The daily showed its anti-election stand immediately after the
announcement of the election schedule on November 25, 2013. It published a series of news
stories against participating political parties as well as contesting candidates. Prime
Minister’s speech on the announcement of Awami League’s election manifesto on December
29, 2013 was given less coverage compared to the coverage of the BNP’s ‘March to
Democracy. As Election Day approached, Bangladesh Protidin started publishing opinion
columns and news articles referring to various professionals and civil society members, along
with politicians. One of the headlines of the daily on January 1, 2014 was `Democracy
doesn’t prevail without contesting election.’. Another headline was “Nasty politics engraved
democracy’; ‘‘Prime Minister will lose bag and badges’. On the 6th January, the statement of
UN, Japan and Australia on quick dialogue was published. On January 4, 2014, the daily
published a report based on the discussions of TV talk with headline `there is no democracy
in the country’. The editorials, op-eds and articles published in the daily showed a clear stand
against the process of election and the government activities. The daily published an op-ed on
the day of election titled, ‘Today is the one sided Awami election without BNP’…further
reinforcing its anti-government perspective.
The Daily Star: The daily is owned by one of the country’s leading business company
Transcom Ltd. The political affiliation of the owner is not clear however, the editor of the
daily is regarded as one of the known faces of the civil society. The Daily Star’s coverage
during the study period did not support the election process. At one point, on December 27,
2013, the editor of the daily wrote a commentary entitled ‘An Appeal to the EC and the PM,
Please do not hold January 5 elections.’ The article was published in the prominent upper
fold of the front page with three columns allotted. Additionally, The Daily Star first
published a report on December 19, 2013 on the wealth statements of eight heavyweight AL
candidates. The paper allocated eight columns (one column for each of the candidates) on the
first page. One of the subsequent reports with the headline ‘Love for Land knows no bounds,
Eight AL lawmakers, leaders own land equivalent to one-tenth of Dhaka’ was published on
January 2, 2014. The follow-up reports were some of the only news items seen as
investigative in nature, depicting a comparative picture of the leaders’ income during the 9th
and the 10th parliamentary elections. However, the reports were primarily based on secondary
information submitted to the EC and available on its website. Some of the major
reports/analysis was done in the newspapers under the headlines: “Fight or Farce? 147 JS
seats await formality in one-sided Jan 5 elections”, published on Jan 03, 2014 as one of the
lead news in the first page; ‘Turnout test for one-sided polls, AL top brass desperate to get
figure better, grassroots see no hope’, published on Jan 04, 2014 as the lead news. On
January 6, 2014, the daily published a number of reports on the elections of which the report
titled ‘Turn out low in deadliest polls, AL Clinches two-third majority in virtually one party
election’ reinforces the daily’s stance.
New Age: The editor of the daily is known as a former supporter of the Leftists ideology.
News Age’s coverage focused predominantly on the violence surrounding the elections. The
paper published news on the ramifications of the blockades and hartals called by the BNP-
led 18-party alliance, showcasing importance with the placement on the upper fold of the
front page. Some of the paper’s headlines were: ‘Indefinite blockade begins today’ on
January 1, 2014 as lead news; ‘Blockade amid stray violence’ published on December 23,
2013; ‘Stray incidents mark opposition blockade’ on December 24, 2013; and ‘Cop killed in
arson attack’ the day after. Reports on violent activities were prominently published on the
front page of newspaper on the eve of the elections, Election Day, and the following day. The
lead news stories on January 4-6, 2014 all pointed to the violence that was taking place: ‘Two
killed as blockade turns violent’ published on January 4; ‘JS election today amid boycott,
violence’ on January 5; and ‘Violence, low turnout mark polls’ published on January 6, 2014.
The newspaper published a few interpretative and analytical reports on the Awami League
government’s activities over the past five years. The articles highlighted the AL’s missteps
and painted a negative picture of the AL government. Some of the headlines in the paper on
the AL’s activities referenced the repercussions of the consequences of the AL’s policies:
‘Looking back: 5 years of AL govt., Living cost soar by 80 pc,’ published on January 2014;
‘Judiciary: not fully independent yet’ published on January 2, 2014; ‘Good governance:
Some work on paper, abject failure in spirit’ published on January 3, 2014; ‘Bureaucracy
politicized, poll pledges breached’ published on December 31, 3013; ‘Govt. undermines
EC’s role’ published on January 4, 2014 .
One of the paper’s most noteworthy reports was on the abnormal rise MP income of over the
last five years. The headline on December 21, 2013 read ‘Swelling rise in MP’s income,
politics viewed as tools to make wealth’; another article published on the front page of the
newspaper on December 28, 2013 was ‘Income of ruling party men up by maximum 32985
pc’.
TV Channels:
ATN Bangla: It is perceived that the Chairman of the channel is leaned towards AL
ideology. He produced a special documentary on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
ATN Bangla covered election issues and affairs well but it was not like a ‘beat coverage.’
Some of the contents of ATN Bangla were slightly biased towards the ruling party, AL.
The channel mostly covered daily events involving violence and other political activities
surrounding the elections rather than capturing women’s voices, special items on election or
candidates, election debates, election campaigns, and the like. The channel aired a four
minute special item on January 1, 2014 interviewing a number of AL candidates. Though the
channel covered the incidents of minority attack with high importance, the reports lacked
detailed information like the names and identification of the attackers. Instead of seeking the
perpetrators of the violence, the reports refocused the angle on the plight of the victims and
the suffering they had been enduring. Additionally, reports focusing on women face/voice
was absent from the narrative. During the election period (January 04-06), the channel
seemed carrying out almost balance coverage with equal importance on both the major
political alliances (AL and BNP alliances).
Bangladesh Television (BTV): BTV, the sole state-run TV has terrestrial (“terrestrial”-
earthbound, as opposed to satellite) facilities and nation-wide coverage. The study revealed
that BTV thoroughly covered speeches made by AL leaders. Being controlled by the
government, BTV always functioned as the mouthpiece of the ruling party. The 10th
Parliamentary Elections were no exception. Almost all the reports related to the
parliamentary elections covered and reflected government activities, speeches, and
perspectives, as well as the activities of the AL-alliance leaders. Opposing civil society views
were almost absent in the BTV reports. The majority of the BNP’s activities, including its
demands for a caretaker government and the ‘March for Democracy, were not covered at all.
ETV: It is viewed in the media community that ETV was leaned towards ideology of AL
in the beginning but the channel moved towards BNP’s ideology for not availing
terrestrial facilities from the AL government. The coverage stance of ETV seemed
favoring BNP and critical towards AL and the government. ETV aired reports on violence
and other political and election activities. There were very little capturing women’s voices,
minorities, election debates, or campaigns. A noteworthy incident was ETV’s decision to
cover a BNP leader’s speech instead of an event documenting Bangladesh’s efforts to create
the world’s largest human flag for Victory Day. The BNP senior leader called for blockade
demanding a caretaker government and the cancellation of election. As such, the channel’s
overall tone opposed the ruling party, the government, and the Election Commission, as well
as the election itself. For example, on December 20 and 21, 2013 there were a number of
ETV where BNP leaders were the lead items, the AL leaders were second to the BNP in
terms of coverage. Even the Prime Minister received less coverage than the BNP leaders. On
December 29, 2013, the BNP Chairperson was the lead story while the Prime Minister was
fifth in the run-down.
Independent TV: This is one of the newly set-up TV channels in Bangladesh availing
license during the regime of AL. The Channel is owned by one of the influential business
personality of the country having affiliation with AL ideology. The channel is a news-based
and was found to air balanced election coverage of both major political parties. The channel
also placed importance on covering events related to election and activities of the political
parties.
Channel –i: The owner’s political affiliation of the channel is not clear though it got license
during the regime of AL (in 1999). Channel-i mostly exhibited balanced election coverage of
the two major political parties. Like other TV channels, Channel-i prioritized the political
speeches and event-based reporting.
NTV: The Chairman of NTV is one of the advisors of the BNP Chairperson. Although
the channel covered the news items on AL and BNP in almost similar manner, it showed
bias towards BNP. The reports on the activities of BNP leaders were prominently covered
with much concentration and care than others. Even ward and local (upazila) level BNP
activities received NTV coverage. However, the channel was also careful about covering the
ruling party, the existing situation, and activities of the government and the EC.
Radio Channels: Most of the BBC reports on the election were based on daily events or
affairs on the political situation of the country. However, the BBC reports were free from
subjectivity. The channel had a tendency towards balanced coverage on both the alliances.
The reports included interviews electoral stakeholders and the authorities. However, it is of
note that there were no mentionable specialized and investigative reports on the election.
Bangladesh Betar’s reports were mostly based on events and specific issues related to the
ruling party and the government’s activities. There were no investigative or interpretative
reports in BB too. The radio emphasized the Prime Minister’s and government officials’
speeches. There were no reports on the public opinion or the leaders of the opposition party.
The BB played as the mouthpiece of the ruling party.
Online Portal: Both the online portals, Banglanews24.com and Bdnews24.com, covered
more news on AL than other political parties. The editorial policy of Banglanews24.com
seemed favoring the ruling party AL, as its owner is one of the leading business
conglomerates. Moreover, the owner of bdnews24.com is affiliated with AL ideology.
Chapter-Four
Recommendations and Conclusion
• Capacity Building: Capacity of the reporters should be developed further
through training, workshops and knowledge sharing on the electoral processes
(electoral laws and policies, systems, roles and functions of election commissions,
election arrangement etc).
• Depth Reporting: The media should concentrate on depth reporting, i.e.
investigative, interpretative and follow-up reports rather than event-based
coverage of an issue or affair.
• People’s Voice: Media, from the social-responsibility perspectives’ should
present the people’s voice in their content rather than representing and projecting
some identical and known faces.
• Media Syndication: Media, especially the TV channels, should try to bring
diversity in their coverage. All the TV channels should have their distinct
planning of coverage. Tendency of covering a ‘single issue in collective manner’
should be avoided.
• Use of sources: The media in general should be more specific about the use of
sources. The TV channels, due to visualization capacity, can more efficiently
present the sources. The newspapers should be more careful about presenting
sources.
• State-owned media: BVT and BB, run by the public fund, should reflect public
interest in their content rather than portraying the ruling party and the
government. These media should be run under an independent autonomous body.
• Objective reporting: Media should be more attentive to objective reporting. The
media reports should be devoid of ‘adjectives’ as much as possible. Use of
multiple sources in a report should be encouraged. Each of the media can form a
small working team comprising the senior journalists and media academics to
coach the novice journalists.
• Knowledge Sharing: Media should develop a mechanism of sharing knowledge
with the journalists of developed countries covering election issues. Such sharing
would facilitate quality of electoral coverage.
• Media Professionalism: Media should demonstrate their professionalism in their
electoral coverage rather than showing inclination towards covering the issues
suiting their political/ideological bias.
• Election Beat: Media should be facilitated to form an ‘election beat’ entrusted
with responsibility of covering the election issues significantly.
• Participation of underprivileged groups: media should play proactive and
advocacy role through their content presentation to foster participation of the
underprivileged groups i.e. the participation of women, participation of religious
minority and others.
Conclusion:
The study findings depict that the media in Bangladesh mostly show interest on event-
based coverage of the electoral issues rather than in-depth investigation, analysis and
follow-ups. The study reveals that the media in general mostly concentrate on covering
statements of political parties; reaction of different stakeholders on the non-inclusive
election process outlined by the ruling AL, election environment (violence, hartal and
blockades etc), minority issues and other events and incidents emerged surrounding the
election. The findings show that the editorials and post-editorial write-ups and articles
possess stronger tone rather than the reports. Considering significance of parliamentary
election in a democratic society, media in Bangladesh did not have uniform agenda,
rather the media stances were diversified to some extent depending on the owner’s
leaning towards political ideologies. However, being the ‘watch-dog’, media should play
more balanced role in univocal manner. Media should plan and set agenda ‘to inform,
educate and persuade’ people to foster their participation in the democratic process.
Media should undertake the election issue as a ‘beat reporting’ rather than ‘event-
coverage’.
-0-