Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s political framework has changed twice since 2024. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government fell on 5 August 2024 following mass protests, after which an interim administration led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus governed the country. A general election held on 12 February 2026 returned the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to power with a large parliamentary majority, and Tarique Rahman was sworn in as Prime Minister on 17 February 2026.

State-media reform was a declared priority during the interim period but was not implemented. The Media Reform Commission, chaired by Kamal Ahmed, submitted its report in March 2025 and recommended merging Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha into a unified National Broadcasting Corporation. It separately proposed an independent Bangladesh Media Commission to regulate and support the wider media sector. In June 2025, a five-member advisers’ committee chaired by C. R. Abrar was established to prepare an autonomy roadmap for BTV and Bangladesh Betar.

By December 2025, Kamal Ahmed said that none of the Commission’s more than 100 recommendations had been implemented. In late January 2026, the interim government instead published draft National Media Commission and Broadcast Commission ordinances. Transparency International Bangladesh criticised the drafts for creating two government-influenced bodies rather than the unified independent commission recommended by the reform process. No enacted version of either proposal was identified by July 2026.

The State Media Monitor maps three state-media organisations in Bangladesh, all classified State-Controlled (SC):

• Bangladesh Television, the state television broadcaster;
• Bangladesh Betar, the national radio network;
• Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the state news agency.

BTV and Bangladesh Betar operate as government directorates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. BSS is a state-owned statutory body within the same government portfolio. It has a 13-member board, but the chair is appointed by the government, six seats are held by government officials, the remaining six members are government nominees, and the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Act requires the board to follow general or specific government instructions. Senior leadership across all three organisations is appointed through government authority, and no independent appointment process or enforceable statutory editorial firewall protects their decision-making.

RSF’s 2026 assessment describes BTV and Bangladesh Betar as government propaganda outlets without editorial independence and applies the same assessment to BSS. The reform discussions and political transition since 2024 therefore did not change the structural classification of Bangladesh’s state media: all three remained State-Controlled in 2026.

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