Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz has published a coauthored study on the ownership of media in Bangladesh. “Who owns the media in Bangladesh” examines the patterns of media ownership and its nexus with politics. The research project was conducted under the auspices of the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) of Bangladesh with Professor Ali Riaz and Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman as the Principal Investigators and was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA.
This report includes information about selected 48 media outlets (newspapers, radio, television, and web portals) of 32 business entities. This study observes among others that a nexus between the political parties and media exists. Most owners of media outlets are directly or indirectly affiliated with political parties, it noted. It also found that almost all the media outlets are owned by big business groups with diverse financial interests, particularly in four sectors: banks and financial institutions, insurance, energy, and real estate. Report and the profiles of the media outlets, business entities, and their owners are available here.
