The distinction between censorship of print and electronic media is becoming increasingly irrelevant The media cannot assume that all viewers are responsible for the content they consume The mass media play a key role in broadcasting values and cultures to almost everywhere in the world The media is often insensitive and irresponsible The media reflects and projects the view of minority elite, which controls it Media networks aim programming at the largest possible audience through programs of the broad appeal

1. Role of Mass Media in the
Development of Bangladesh
asif.taxadvisers@outlook.com

2. The simplest definition of mass
communication is “public communication
transmitted electronically or mechanically.”
In this way messages are transmitted or sent
to large, perhaps millions or billions of people
spread across the world.

3. Pros of mass media
 The wide reach offered by mass media is phenomenal. It
can target a global audience.
 In terms of newspapers and magazines, it can reach a
specified target group. Besides, it is easily accessible.
 Certain types of media have a loyal fan following. This
would mean that an advertiser, publication or news
channel would have a ready audience.
 We have the latest news and information at the click of the
mouse! The Internet is such a medium that it can give
many options for the kind of information required.
 Television, movies, Internet and the radio are some of the
best forms of entertainment.
 It can be used for educational purposes in an effective
manner.

4. Cons of mass media
 At times, the information reported may not be
authentic from every angle. Hence, there may be a
misinterpretation of a situation.
 News can be manipulated to influence the minds
of the audiences. For example - a particular
political party may manipulate reports in their
favor, which would indicate the political control in
the media.
 Difficult to make specific to local community.
 Media bias can occur due to various issues. A
journalist or an editor may give personal
preference to an issue.

5. Types of mass media
Print media:
 Magazines
Newspapers
Brochures
Press releases
Newsletters
Electronic media:
Television
Radio
New Age Media:
Computers
Internet
Mobiles

6. Mass Media in Bangladesh: A Brief
Overview
After 1990, in a changed global economic and political
situation, the scenario of Bangladeshi media was also
changed as consistent with global and regional media
scenario. Globalization demands market liberalization
along with the liberalization of media as well. In that
process, though the government of Bangladesh always
heavily controlled the state owned radio and television
channels but, in the early 90s, they gave permission to
broadcast the satellite channels commercially. As a
result, Bangladeshi audience was flooded by immense
of foreign television channels, which had only the
experience of Bangladesh Television (BTV) before
1990s.

8. Outline of our presentation
• The distinction between censorship of print and electronic
media is becoming increasingly irrelevant
• The media cannot assume that all viewers are responsible
for the content they consume
• The mass media play a key role in broadcasting values and
cultures to almost everywhere in the world
• The media is often insensitive and irresponsible
• The media reflects and projects the view of minority elite,
which controls it
• Media networks aim programming at the largest possible
audience through programs of the broad appeal

10. The distinction between censorship of print and
electronic media is becoming increasingly irrelevant
“The free media serve as a mirror in which the public can see
itself sans mascara and styling gel. From us you learn the state
of your nation, and especially its management by the people
you elected to give your children a better future. Sometimes the
image you see in that mirror is not a pleasant one. But while
you may grumble in the privacy of your armchair, the
journalists who hold the mirror up to you do so publicly and at
great risk to themselves. That is our calling, and we do not
shirk it.”
- Lasantha Wickrematunge, Editor of The Sunday Leader

11. Censorship (continued)
Censorship in one form or another exists in the everyday life of a
Bangladeshi citizen. Censorship exists in families, within societies and
imposed by the state. Censorship in its most basic is withholding
information, either in its full or certain components. Whatever may be
given as a reason for censorship, whether to protect oneself or to protect
the receiver(s) from perceived harm, the result is that a certain aspect of
an issue is presented in distorted form. The Government of Bangladesh
has imposed some form of censorship on the press since its birth in 1971,
whether to uphold its image or cover its tracks. In Bangladesh’s political
climate this censorship has been fairly easy to maintain. During
dictatorships, the government strictly imposed censorship on the press
and used the media as a mouthpiece to propagate government-
manufactured propaganda. But there have been direct or indirect media
intimidation during democracies and as most of the media have clear
political leanings, it has sometimes been difficult to differentiate opinions
from facts in news disseminated by the media during this time.

12. Censorship: The National Framework
 The Printing Presses and Publication Act (PPPA) 1973 outlines
the system in which printing presses, newspapers, documents
and books should be registered and published with proper
authentication and authorization.
 The Special Powers Act of 1974 has been used by governments
to hinder freedom of the press and has been abused by
governments against suspected political opponents.
 The 15th amendment of the Constitution of Bangladesh was
passed in June 2011 amidst opposition from political parties,
non-government organizations and human rights activists.
 This seems to contradict Article 39 of the constitution, which
guarantees freedom of thought and conscience.

13. Dictatorship and censorship
 During Ershad’s rule, one magazine that made a particular
dent in state controlled reporting was the Jai Jai Din newspaper
(Days go by), and its editor Shafiq Rehman. Rehman used to
write a satirical column every Wednesday to protest against the
military government. Jai Jai Din was twice banned by the
Ershad government.
 From 29 November 1990 newspaper and magazine publishers
stopped all press to revolt against his dictatorship. It was one of
the boldest statements by the media to bring about a political
change. A week prior to this, newspapers started keeping one of
their columns on the front page blank to protest media
censorship. The government fell on 6 December 1990.

14. Media censorship during democracy
In 1994 an arrest warrant was issued against writer and poet,
Taslima Nasreen by the government led by the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party. Her book, Lajja (Shame), where she wrote
about a Hindu family being persecuted by Muslims, had
inflamed Muslim fanatics.

15. Media censorship during democracy
(Continued)
 Despite lofty expectations, the policy to control the media to
serve the interest of party politics continues. On 20 May 2010
the High Court upheld a government ordered and directed the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission
(BTRC) to shut down the test transmission of Jamuna
Television saying that the channel’s No Objection Certificate
(NOC) expired in 2007 before the station went on air
(Correspondent, 2010, ‘HC Ruling: Jamuna TV shutdown order
valid’, The Daily Star, 21 May).
 The government also attempted to shut down of the Bangla
language daily newspaper Amar Desh, which is known to be
supportive of the opposition BNP.

16. The New Media and Censorship
The advent of the internet-based media, and affordable recording
devices such as mobile phones has brought about a revolution in
information dissemination in Bangladesh. The speed of news
breaking has accelerated. Old media are faced with new challenges
from citizen journalism through mobile phones and desk
technologies. Tools and institutions of censorship still exist, but are
facing a media landscape that is increasingly dispersed,
democratized, at the grassroots and therefore harder to censor.

17. Censorship: Way Forward
Despite having freedom of expression guaranteed in the constitution,
the laws of the country did create a ‘loophole’ to censor media using
‘security’ as a rationale. The political culture of the country
encourages violence against anyone who demands transparency and
accountability and stands in the way of those in positions of power.
And so despite high expectations at the fall of the autocratic regime it
is clear that a democratic form of governance in the country has not
really created a free media. Within the different media organizations,
much censorship has occurred due to editorial positions influenced by
political leaning and favoritism to corporate powers. The new media
platforms have been able to cater to people’s need for fair and
unbiased news coverage in some cases where traditional media has
failed, but that platform is still a privilege of the few. Until the media
truly believes that the media is there to serve the people over and
above all other interests, it will not be able to serve its purpose, to
fulfil the people’s right to know.

19. The media cannot assume that all viewers are
responsible for the content they consume
The mass media is in the business of affecting how and what
people think. To believe that people are able to disregard
everything they perceive in the entertainment media because
the scenarios presented aren't literally "true," or because they
are loosely staged simulations of reality (as in "reality"
shows), we would also have to believe that people disregard all
messages in advertising, since ads commonly present actors
and models in simulated situations. But that is simply not how
the human mind works. In order for an entertainment show
or commercial to be effective, the audience must identify in
some way with the characters and what they are doing, even if
some aspects of the situation are "unrealistic."

20. Fear of crime
Many viewers may not understand the justice process and are
unlikely to understand motivations and causes of criminal
behavior.

21. Police Effectiveness
Bangladeshi people are more likely to give poor ratings of
police effectiveness.

23. The mass media play a key role in
broadcasting values and cultures to
almost everywhere in the world
Mass media is a significant force in modern culture,
particularly in America. Sociologists refer to this as
a mediated culture where media reflects and creates
the culture. Communities and individuals are
bombarded constantly with messages from a
multitude of sources including TV, billboards, and
magazines, to name a few.

24. Limited-effects theory
The limited effects theory argues that because people‐
generally choose what to watch or read based on what they
already believe, media exerts a negligible influence.

25. Class-dominant theory
The class dominant theory‐
argues that the media reflects
and projects the view of a
minority elite, which controls
it. Those people who own and
control the corporations that
produce media comprise this
elite.

26. Culturist theory
The culturist theory, developed in the 1980s and 1990s,
combines the other two theories and claims that people
interact with media to create their own meanings out of the
images and messages they receive.

28. The media is often insensitive and
irresponsible
During the normal course of an assignment a
reporter might go about - gathering facts and
details, conducting interviews, doing research,
background checks, taking photos, video taping,
recording sound - harm limitation deals with the
questions of whether everything learned should be
reported and, if so, how. This principle of limitation
means that some weight needs to be given to the
negative consequences of full disclosure, creating a
practical and ethical dilemma.

29. The media is often insensitive and irresponsible: Impacts
 Violence in television programs and movies are harmful for
many fundamental psychological reasons. The lack of
responsibility on the part the broadcaster has a critical effect on
society.
 As the years pass, the responsibility and sensibility of the media
has rapidly declined. Television and radio twenty years ago was
not nearly as bad as it is today. Over the past 10 years, there has
been a significant increase in the amount of bad scenes on
television.
 Television, radio, the internet, and other forms of media were
invented for a purpose. Their intention was to facilitate the
transfer of information from one place to another. They were
definitely NOT designed to change our moral values and replace
them by promoting explicit scenes, violence, obscene language,
nudity, homosexuality, materialism, and others still yet to come.

30. The media is often insensitive and
irresponsible: Way Forward
In conclusion, the mass-media of television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, and the internet are causing major
damage and negative impacts on our fragile and toppling
society. This can only lead us to understand that the media is
indeed very insensitive and irresponsible.

32. The media reflects and projects the view of
minority elite, which controls it
Mass media has played a large role in the way white Americans
perceive African-Americans. The media focus on African-
American in the contexts of crime, drug use, gang violence, and
other forms of anti-social behavior has resulted in a distorted
and harmful public perception of African-Americans. African-
Americans have been subjected to oppression and
discrimination for the past few hundred years. According to
Stephen Balkan in his article Mass Media and Racism, "The
media has played a key role in perpetuating the effects of this
historical oppression and in contributing to African-Americans'
continuing status as second-class citizens". Mass media as well
as propaganda tend to reinforce or introduce stereotypes to the
general public.

34. Media networks aim programming at the largest
possible audience through programs of the broad
appeal
There are around 600,000 internet users using Facebook,
Google & own mirror in Bangladesh. The digital media
comprises both Internet and mobile mass communication.
Internet media provide many mass media services, such as
email, websites, blogs, and Internet-based radio and television.
Many other mass media outlets have a presence on the web, by
such things as having TV ads that link to a website, or
distributing a QR Code in print or outdoor media to direct a
mobile user to a website. In this way, they can utilize the easy
accessibility that the Internet has, and the outreach that
Internet affords, as information can easily be broadcast to many
different regions of the world simultaneously and cost-
efficiently.

35. Films as mass media
Film' encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well
as the field in general. The name comes from the photographic film
(also called film stock), historically the primary medium for
recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist -
motion pictures (or just pictures and "picture"), the silver screen,
photoplays, the cinema, picture shows, flicks - and commonly
movies.

36. Facebook
Facebook is becoming more and more like traditional media.
It may be time for advertisers to move on from worrying
about how many fans they have to instead explore how many
category buyers Facebook can reach, for what cost, and to
what effect.

37. Twitter
Taking a look at the newest trends, social networks are
increasing dramatically. Especially the micro blogging tool
Twitter (http://twitter.com) grows 1382% within one year
what is even 6 times faster than Facebook
(http://facebook.com) - the worldwide largest social
networking platform (Schroeder, 2009).

38. Blogs
Blogging, too, has become a pervasive form of
media. A blog is a website, usually maintained by
an individual, with regular entries of commentary,
descriptions of events, or interactive media such as
images or video.

39. Ads
Ads in print, on the air and on the Internet tell us what
products and services are good. After seeing thousands of
persuasive advertising messages, we make buying decisions
based on what we saw in newspaper and magazine ads, saw
and heard in television and radio ads, and saw and heard in
ads on websites.

40. Mass media in Bangladesh: preventing
gender discrimination

41. Mass media in Bangladesh: developing
agricultural activities

42. Mass media in Bangladesh: empowering
women

43. Conclusion
The influence of media on society has been growing fast
renewals in the community. Renewal of the intangible
changes nothing and there are negative toward the positive
direction. Media influence is related to other aspects such as
the nature of a communicator, the content / information from
the media itself, as well as responses from the community.