The Political Economy of Emergence and Transformation of Private Television Channels in Bangladesh: A Critique

Abstract

The emergence of private television channels in Bangladesh was a remarkable chapter in Bangladesh's media democratization process. Three private television channels—ATN Bangla, Channel-I, and ETV— were allowed to air during Sheikh Hasina's first regime (1996-2001). All these three private channels brought a qualitative change in the broadcast history of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's people lost their confidence in the state-controlled only TV channel of the country named Bangladesh Television (BTV) simply because of its enslavement towards the government and the ruling party. Private TV channels emerged as windows for ordinary people to get accurate and unbiased news and views of Bangladesh and the world. Later on, during Begum Khaleda Zia's second regime (2001-2006), vicious and dirty party politics enveloped Bangladesh's private TV channels. As a result, private TV channels have been transformed into the government's mouthpiece and a tool for manufacturing consent in favor of the ruling party. This paper focuses on the political economy of private TV channels' emergence and their transformation in Bangladesh. The contention of this paper is to show how the social relations, i.e., communication relations between the ruling party elites and the crony capitalists, form a vicious nexus that brushes aside all rules and regulations for getting a private television channel with a view to becoming a big tool for manufacturing consent in favor of the ruling elites. The paper concludes that any authoritarian government, like a one-party rule, military regime, or even an elected government when it transforms into an autocratic one, always tries to support and sponsor crony capitalists for their political interest, which is a threat to any democracy and media democratization process of any society. The crony capitalists developed a corporate media culture of their own that doesn't give proper treatment of any national concern or issue that goes against the ruling party's interest. There is no space for objective journalism in this media culture. This corporate journalism culture, devoid of professionalism, has replaced ethical journalism in Bangladesh. It has become stronger day by day. Keywords: Political Economy, Private TV Channels, Emergence, Transformation, Crony Capitalism, Sheikh Hasina, and Begum Khaleda Zia