Challenges to media freedom in election reporting in Bangladesh

To examine the challenges to media freedom in election reportage, this study investigates the difficulties faced by journalists and media organisations in Bangladesh, including the election periods of 2008 and 2018, their strategies for managing any challenges faced, and the consequences of these challenges on the daily operations of media professionals. In doing so, this study is guided by three primary objectives: firstly, to comprehend the obstacles to media freedom in election reportage; secondly, to analyse the influence of these challenges on journalists’ perception of media freedom; and thirdly, to investigate the emergence of challenges not only during the election period but also in the broader political and media system of the country. To achieve its objectives, the study employed a qualitative methodology, utilising the perspectives of 24 Bangladeshi news reporters and editors with a minimum of 15 years of experience reporting on electoral events since 2008. This study finds three crucial concerns, a) state interference through legal intervention, b) state intervention through intelligence agencies, and c) economic intervention by the state and ownership pressure, which increased a notable escalation in limitations imposed on media freedom between the 2008 and 2018 national parliamentary elections during a political transition, from electoral democracy to hybrid regimes in Bangladesh, hindering journalists’ ability to fulfil their intended and anticipated role in election reportage due to coercive but hidden and intangible threats. The findings suggest that state intelligence agencies moved from information sources to regulating bodies, involved in greater surveillance of coverage and journalist activities and embarking on unofficial interference, including journalistic content and media ownership and management, which led to a situation where many journalists in Bangladesh were forced to either resign from their positions or adopt more stringent self-censorship practices, resulting in discrepancies in media coverage of the 2008 and 2018 elections. The findings reveal the convergence of previously unexamined challenges, such as state intervention through intelligence agencies, with more commonly discussed media challenges, including legal and financial threats in election reportage. Thus, this study may have implications for media contexts outside of Bangladesh, particularly in Asia and Africa, where democracy and media operations are frequently subjected to comparable conditions of state intervention and political instability.