After years of erosion, Bangladesh’s news media landscape has arrived at a critical crossroads. A rare opportunity now pops up to transform it into a free, independent, inclusive and resilient ecosystem -- an opportunity embodied in the Media Reform Commission’s comprehensive roadmap.
This sustainable reform is meant to earn and uphold people’s trust, ensuring that even in any future hostile situations, the news media’s authenticity, integrity, and commitment to the public will not be compromised.
But it looks like not all news media houses are willing to bring about positive changes, as we see in their characteristics, the purpose of their existence seems not to serve readers and audiences in ways which uphold the dignity of journalism, but to serve businesses, power, and political ideologies.
A question, then, arises: What will happen to other news media organizations that have genuinely struggled across regimes to find solid footing and serve the people in an unfriendly environment? Are they truly being supported to seize the opportunity?
The answers are, however, far from clear.
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus formed several reform commissions to dismantle the authoritarian system that fell during the July Revolution and to establish a new framework for democratic, accountable governance. The commissions were intended to address systemic issues and rebuild state institutions and sectors polluted by the previous regimes. Reforming the news media was one of them.
The Media Reform Commission submitted its recommendations to the government on time, and the roadmap provided has been broadly welcomed by sector stakeholders as it offers remedies to the country’s ailing press freedom and freedom of expression situation, promises a better life for journalists, safeguards the profession, and creates opportunities to serve the consumers to its full potential.
Five months have passed since then.
It is reasonable -- and entirely expected -- that frustration has taken hold of journalists and freedom of speech activists gradually, as they see little to no movement from the government side since receiving the recommendations, despite the chief adviser’s promise to perform some of the immediate, doable reforms. Such reforms have been identified, but the government has taken no commendable actions.
Reforms would be an uphill task if the government was less interested and did not cooperate with stakeholders. Surprisingly, it took a couple of reverse moves which have already created confusion. For example, the MRC report clearly said that the Press Council is a complete failure and should be replaced by an independent Media Commission. The government agreed but later moved to revive the Press Council and started a consultation process to finalize a separate law for the mass media employees. Media experts alleged that the government is currently bending under bureaucratic pressure.
The interim government is expected to hand over power to an elected government in less than six months. Then what? Will the elected government carry the process forward as it was the interim government’s idea? How can they continue if the interim government did not initiate it at all? Professional journalists are asking these questions.
Their frustrations deepen.
The media has been suffering -- apart from a few outlets, most of the investment in the industry comes from questionable sources. As a result, the news media industry has not developed properly and has not become financially self-sufficient. Media outlets that have been built on corrupt capital are particularly dangerous and then there is political influence -- journalists often favour parties in power and shift when those in power do as well. Some political parties also finance” media houses unofficially and use them to establish agendas.
Although countless media outlets have been established, it is uncertain how many of them are serving the public’s interest. On what basis are these being created, and are they truly practicing journalism? We are not getting any clear answers to these questions. But it is a settled debate that a free, independent, and professional news media ecosystem is not a luxury but an essential pillar for a country’s stable democratic journey and, in practice, no reform can be effective if the approach is not industry-driven but imposed from outside. Then what should we do?
A sincere government, if there is any, might facilitate the reform process and help with regulatory frameworks, but the industry must first come forward with solutions, undertake internal reforms, engage stakeholders, and advocate for the implementation of the recommendations. Above all, an industry-led self-regulation system needs to be established first.
To gain public trust, the news media should follow an editorial and ethical policy -- a national standard one -- determining what qualifies as news and what does not, what counts as propaganda and what does not. Once all professional media adhere to it, those who refuse to follow will no longer be in the news media ecosystem. As a result, the clutter that currently exists will disappear on its own.
Dialogue must continue. Pressure must be created. Stakeholders must decide which reforms it will do during the remainder of the interim government’s tenure and what it will focus on during the first year after an elected government comes to power. It is better to start work early. The foundational tasks can be done by this government, those on which there is broad consensus.
Among the stakeholders, the most important ones are the associations of journalists, owners, editors, and the political parties -- without their collective will, these reforms will not be possible. If we truly want change, journalists must take responsibility.
The Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) has recently launched a strategic action plan on advocacy for media reform, with a strong focus on self-regulation. News media stakeholders who are familiar with the initiative or contributed to shaping the plan agreed that self-regulation is the way forward.
Now, stakeholders must raise their voices to bring all parties on board, as media reform cannot be left solely to the interim government. We need to activate partners. Otherwise, the news media will slide into chaos, and it will be impossible to come back.
Ashif Islam is Communications Coordinator at Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI). Email: ashif@mrdibd.org.