Primetime Newscasts of Public and Private TV Channels in Bangladesh

Abstract

Nowadays, information-driven world, there are many ways of getting information to empower oneself. Television is one such platform that has still maintained its popularity as an infotainment medium even in this modern era with the rise of digital and web based technologies. As television has the ability to cover news events live in real life with the aid of appropriate audiovisuals and graphics, it can quickly garner public attention and also reach to the masses using developed and advanced broadcasting technologies. Newscasts have since become a staple of many television channels’ regular programming lineup. Considering the widespread nature of newscasts on television channels with the power to influence the masses, this thesis paper is an attempt to analyze newscasts of some public and private television channels in Bangladesh in terms of their content to have a better look at the trends of what makes the news on Bangladeshi television channels. This thesis paper also makes an effort to draw up comparisons between Bangladeshi public and private TV channels’ newscasts to shed some light on the difference of their content styles. A total of 140 news stories of primetime newscasts from 4 different television channels have been taken into account for the content analysis study presented in this thesis paper. The study found that the nature and dynamics of television news in Bangladesh in the present age still goes with what has been said by previous scholars. The author of this thesis paper hopes that this study will help Bangladeshi television channels to better understand how to make their newscasts more diverse instead of following certain age-old news structures and will also enlighten any general reader about what makes the news in Bangladesh through the eyes of primedaytime TV newscasts that can give an idea of the overall condition of broadcast journalism in the country in terms of what topics are covered and to what extent they are covered.