1. IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BANGLADESH POLITICS
POL 101
Name ID
Section: 4
Submitted to: Dr. Mahbubur Rahman (MBU)
Susmita Bashir 111 0029 030
Madiha nehal 1110290030
Abrar faiyaz-Ul Haque 1110254030
Ishika Chy Barua 1110222030
Rounaq Jahan 1110643030
Mahajabeen Kabir Jasy 1110484030
D A T E O F S U B M I S S I O N : 1 1 T H A U G U S T 2 0 1 4

2. 2
Table of Contents:
Contents Page No
Abstract 2
Introduction 2
Literature Review 3
Small Group Influence of Media 4
Large Group Influence of Media 5
Political Influence 5-6
Economic Influence 6
Professional Influence 6
Media affecting Bangladesh Politics 7-8
Primary Analysis 9-14
Recommendations 14
Conclusion 15
References 15-16
Appendix
17

3. 3
Abstract:
This report analyzes the relationship between the politics and social mass media of
Bangladesh. It explains how the mass media affects the political system or political parties in
various ways. We tried to analyze the relationship through primary and secondary research.
So we found out various influences on political movements dispersed through Bangladeshi
mass media.
Introduction:
Politics is the practice and theory of influencing other people on a global, civic or individual
level. Politics is basically the study of distributing power and resources among a particular
community. Political party is the most important aspect of any democratic society.
Bangladesh being democratic nation is affected by the political party available in the nation.
The mass media plays a major role in building the bridge between the political party and civil
people. The media is the ultimate medium to communicate with the citizens. To make the
procedure transparent mass media is the one and only solution. Mass media has such impact
on our lives that in subconscious mind we follow everything that is shown on television and
other mediums. It shapes our thinking, life style pattern and our overall outlook towards life.
It is basically the concept of what majority is doing I should do it too and the belief of
majority is correct. So when participating politics the role of mass media is inevitable since it
works as a bridge. The picture media portrays is whether true or false it is something that
affects the normal people. Earlier it is said that the media had very less control over the
political decisions since the spread of media was limited due to lack of internet usage and
channels. But now things have changed thus people are more connected because of
globalization, technological advancement and awareness of people.

4. 4
Literature-Review:
An extensive literature has analyzed the role of mass media in politics. Not everything
capable enough to be mass media content actually gets into the media. Some critics suggest
that journalists consciously bias their news reports in line with their personal attitudes
(Gieber, 1964). There is bias of journalist, news channel and individual peoples. Another
issue is the investigation procedure itself. The journalists usually rely on very few sources
and they focus on what will be sold rather than broadcasting what needs to broadcasted or
published. Hart (1991) represented fragmentary representation as cameo politics.
Dramatization occurs whenever the people spice up the real incidence and make their own
versions. The problem arises because of the fake representation the civic people get the
wrong idea and their decisions are affected in a negative way. The main task of media is to
make connection with the government and normal public so that people know what the
government is doing and whether they are serving them right or not. Mark (1982) quoted
majority people use television as their medium of news and others use newspaper. But this
was a statement made in long back. Nowadays social networking sites, online journals etc is
very popular among youth. Recently the chaos took place in Bangladesh of non-stop strikes
that time people realized the value of online news publishing mediums. Dutta, Pal and Roy
(2011) find that a free and independent media acts as a means of enhancing socio political
stability which in turn leads to higher economic growth via increased domestic investment.
Chaffee and Berger (1997) found that there is a little alteration in news conveying. The
editors and readers view varies from reporters one. This might be a reason from any favour
towards any specific political party. It is safe to say that media can make one person hero and
it has also the ability to make that hero a villain. Politics is very sensitive and it is all about
reputation and public image. So the media plays the greatest role to make political leaders
accountable and responsible in all manners.

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Small Group Influence of Media :
Personal characteristics, professional background, personal attitudes and professional role-conception
of media workers are small group influences that affect upon media content.
These small group influences people by their own belief, values that is the mixed up of all by
their professional work. A journalist observes and constructs reality according to his
perception. The same event or the camera shot of the events are described in different way if
more than one journalist is assigned for the same work. A journalist whose political view
matches with a political party that journalist will write all the supportive things in favour of
that political party and in contrast of it will write negative things on the opposite party.
Employment patterns, traditional stereotypes and socialization patterns affect each individual
in a different way but these factors also harmonize thinking style and approach. Professional
role, policy and co-workers who create an atmosphere of shared values in an organization
determine ethics. Media workers are obliged to follow the code of ethics that influences upon
the selection and treatment of the content. Professional roles determine the criterion of
selection and construction of reality. In Marxist societies, the ruling elite own mass media so
media emerge as a tool to show power. Events are interpreted from the perspective of
powerful interests.
Large Group Influence of Media: The large group influence of media is one of the
most important media who plays a big role and has the great impact on politics. Extra media
factors produce great influence on media content. Media as an agent of social control identify
the threat to the status quo by deviants (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). These large groups of influence
media cover all the important and powerful news which attracts the people and influence
them the most. The large group influences are basically the newspaper, TV channels and
other social networks. The model described by Shoemaker and Reese has five levels

6. represented by five concentric rings. The innermost ring represents the individual decision-maker;
the second ring is the media routines level; third is the organization level; fourth is the
extra media level; and fifth is the ideological level. At each of these levels, there are
influences that presumably have an impact on the decisions that lead to news content. So they
have to depend on various sources like individuals, public, citizens, interest group, industries,
organization to cover the news. Most of this news that are provided to the media organization
sometimes hold correct information or false. There exist overt and covert ways to influence
media content. Information embedded in a particular context and construction of reality in
specific and favourable perspective cannot be easily identified (Mc Chesney, 2000). Through
information subsidies media organizations get easier and cheaper usable information
(Herman & Mc Chesney, 1997). The reporter of TV channel shows the instant news on their
own channels. Now a day’s these reporters of the TV channels have cover most of the
important news of the politics and the political leaders whereas a competition aroused
between the TV channels. As a result this news on the TV’s fell a great impact on the politics
as public are observing them and getting influenced by the news. Sometimes most of the
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news of the private media organizations are controlled by the government.
Political Influence: This essay concerns the mass media’s contributions to the political
values of openness and democratic accountability that go by the name of ‘transparency.’ In
theory, at least, mass media can make the political system more ‘transparent’ in all three
respects: mass media can help people understand the operations of government, participate in
political decisions, and hold government officials accountable. In practice, however, its
effects are often quite different. In the age of mass media, democratic governments and
politicians may find it useful to simulate the political virtues of transparency through
rhetorical and media manipulation. Today political transparency is virtually impossible
without some form of mass media coverage. However, mass media can frustrate the values of

7. political transparency even while appearing to serve those values. When politicians and
political operatives attempt to simulate transparency and appropriate the rhetoric of openness
and accountability, the mass media does not always counteract the simulation. People often
oppose transparency to secrecy. However, governments and politicians can manipulate the
presentation and revelation of information to achieve the same basic goals as a policy of
secrecy and obfuscation. The huge and continuous coverage on certain issues have some
impact on policy. But, it is not enough to set a direction of policy change unless the news
items have enough elements of advocacy and analysis. Besides news, publishing editorials,
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interviews, surveys and analytical articles become essential to influence policymakers.
Economic Influence:
The media is a key institutional mechanism for achieving a successful policy mix that
promotes economic development. Economic development is achieved when potential games
of conflict are turned into games of coordination, and a free media is one such means for
achieving this. Transcom is a group which imports foreign products in Bangladesh and PA-DS
are two corporate media owned by Transcom. In that process, the prime roles of media
since the late 1990s included serving the interests of respective mother companies, upholding
the interests of private or business sector as a whole, flooding the pages with advertisements,
serving the news of market and corporate companies, informing readers about products in
disguise of news and thus creating a habit of purchasing. Other than creating a market and
introducing consumer culture, the leading corporate media identified the undisciplined
activities of political parties as the main obstacle to the expansion of the business sector. In
response, they tried to establish a civil society that would advocate for ‘democracy’, ‘good
governance’ and a stable political environment; and the leadership of the society would be at
the hands of businesspersons. For the same reason, some of the media outlets supported the
military-backed interim government in 2007-08. By depoliticization all organizations, they

8. want a hassle-free business environment. Developing and establishing the discourse of
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depoliticization was one of the key responsibilities of the media.
Professional Influence
Journalism and social science share similar claims, routines, objectives and restrictions.
Claims of both fields are accuracy, objectivity and truthful representation of the world but
both face restrictions. In order to fulfil their claims, journalists follow accepted professional
routines and practices to attain reliability and credibility. The acknowledgement of credibility
and reliability guides journalists to take given information as highly reliable rather to see
them as filtered one and thus put a check to explore various factors involved in
“communicator category”. According to Tuchman (1978), objectivity is a ritual that serves
primarily to defend the organizational products from critics. The objectivity helps journalists
to satisfy maximum numbers of audience. Selected content is placed on a paper in a way to
absorb audience attention and interest. Television messages are designed to appeal large
audience. Presentation techniques and formats are developed that ultimately appear as media
routines. News contents inform us about changing scenarios and alert us to things that are
now going well so it is impossible to consider proportionate representation in news. All
members of a media organization are answerable to their owners and top management.
Usually organizations are profit oriented so their first priority becomes economic gains but
they do not totally ignore professional objectives. They play a very vital role in representing
the political parties by how they portray their images. They have all the power to create or
destroy images by spreading good or bad stuff about people serving the country.
Media affecting Bangladeshi Politics: After the invention of internet and World Wide
Web the globe has become a very small place. This has created a huge impact on global
politics. People are more aware of what is going on around them and level of pressure created

9. on political leaders has increased drastically. The transparency and availability of political
news has also hugely impacted the politics on Bangladeshi perspective. For example, The
2013 Shahbag protests, associated with a central neighbourhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh,
began on 5 February 2013 and later spread to other parts of Bangladesh, as people demanded
capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah, who had been sentenced to life
imprisonment, and for others convicted of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal.
This protests got huge coverage by the media which in result forced the political parties to
support the movement and even forced the court to change their decision and give death
sentence to Abdul Quader Mollah. This was hugely covered by the media which accordingly
created a huge pressure on the government. The people of the country came together by
communicating through media. It was the mass publicity which gave the issue such big hype
that it was called one of the big movements of Bangladesh in recent times. During the
protests, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a pro-Shahbag blogger, was brutally killed outside his house
by machete-wielding youth. On 2 March, five Jamaat-Shibir activists were arrested; they
'confessed' involvement in Rajib's killing, though independent verification and investigation
is not possible at this stage. It was because of social media that they planned and stalked him.
It was social media that it gave the story so much importance that got the criminals arrested.
It was a result of clash of political values which was encouraged by religious values too.
Again, on the case of the collapse of Rana Plaza on 24 April 2013an eight-story commercial
building, collapsed in Savar. The search for the dead ended on 13 May with a death toll of
1,129. Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued from the building alive. This is
considered the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest
accidental structural failure in modern human history. The media created huge pressure on
the government officials to catch the responsible criminals. This resulted the capture of Sohel
Rana, allegedly a leading member of the local Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling
9

10. Awami League political party who was trying to flee the country and brought to justice. This
shows the effect of a media pressure that can even pressure the government to bring the
political leaders to justice which is very rare and desirable for the people of Bangladesh.
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Primary Data Presentation and Analysis
Q1: What do the youth think about the authenticity of the information they get from
the social media?
It is evident from the survey responses that majority of the respondents depend on the social
media for news and information. There is a mixed opinion regarding authenticity of the
information on the social media among the Bangladeshi youth. On the other hand, half of the
sample population believes that the social media provides more complete picture than the
traditional media.
Q2: Is the social media influencing political activism in the real world?
Almost half of the respondents agreed that social media has inspired them to participate in
protests and demonstrations in the real world. Also, half of the responses indicate that they
got connected with politically likeminded people via the social media.
Q3: Is click activism or shallow activism futile?
The term click activism refers to activist organizing protest using social media. This term is
used pejoratively as the participants often express their support for a cause by clicking
buttons only but, very little real action is done. However, 56% of the respondents agree that
their political awareness has increased since they joined social media. Therefore, contrary to
the popular belief click activism is not futile at all.
Q4: What can we possibly predict about the effect of social media in future politics?
Surprisingly 69% of the respondents agreed that the social media should be used for political
activism. This indicates that Bangladeshi youth are now more capable of organizing political
movements and protests. As a significant percentage of the youth depend and rely on the

11. social media for source of information, this media can be used to motivate them to bring in
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change.
Figure 1
Total 100 individuals with 80 males and 20 females participated (figure1). Following are
some of the graphical representation and analysis of the data that we have collected:
Question#5: Most of the information I get on contemporary issues are through the
social media websites.
This question was asked in order to find out the youth’s dependency on the social media as
their primary source of information. The green parts of the pie chart represent the affirmative
answers which comprises of 63% agreeing. Only 7% respondents disagreed with the
statement. From this question we can infer that most of the youth use social media as the
primary source of news and information.
Question#6: I follow person, page or blog that posts about contemporary political
issues.

12. This statement was given to find out what ratio of the youth is using social media to subscribe
direct political information. Total 43% of the respondents follow political information
directly. If observed closely, we can notice that the blue bars tend to be heavier on the left
side, which represents affirmative responses. From above we can infer that large portions of
the youth are direct followers of political information. However, female respondents tend not
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to follow political information directly.
Question#7: When I come across a post about political issue, I read it and give my
feedback (i.e.: comment, like)
This question will help us finding out whether the youth is ignoring or viewing the political
posts on the social media. The percentage of affirmative responses and negative responses are
respectively 33% and 37%. If we observe the yellow cylinders, we would find out that the
total negative answers seems to be greater because of the female responses. Bangladeshi
youth in general have mixed responses regarding reading and giving feedback to political
contents.
Question#8: I share posts, videos or news on political issues on the social media.

13. In order to know how many young people share political contents online this statement was
given for assessment. 17% chose strongly disagree and 3o% chose disagree. Altogether 47%
of the respondents chose negative response. Even though the red bars are distributed almost
equally among positive and negative responses, there is a sharp rise of the yellow bars in the
negative responses. Clearly, majority of the youth tend not to share political news. However,
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Bangladeshi young men are more likely to do so, than the ladies.
Question#9: I express my opinion about government policies or about contemporary
political issues on social media.
This self assessment statement was given to find out how many of the youth are outspoken
about their political thoughts and opinions on the social media. Total percentages of
affirmative and negative response are respectively 39% and 40%. 21% chose the neutral
option. In brief, large portions of the Bangladeshi youth express their opinion on the social
media.
Question#10: I have had arguments with friends or strangers regarding political issues
on social media.

14. This question was put in order to understand how many of the youth are engaged in political
debate and discussion over the social media. Total 46% respondents reported that they have
arguments regarding political issues on the social media. It can be inferred that, a large
portion of the youth is serious about politics and they engage in debates and discourse about
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it.
Question#11: My political knowledge and awareness have increased after I started
using social network or community blog sites.
Total 56% chose affirmative response and total 25% chose negative response. Clearly,
majority of the youth believes that their political knowledge and awareness has increased
since they started using social media sites.
Question#12: Social media should be used for organizing protests, movements and
political activities.
Total 59% or the sample population thinks that social media should be used to organize
activism. Even though majority of the Bangladeshi youth are not engaged in political

15. discussions on the social media, most of the youth take activism oriented usage of the social
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media positively.
Secondary Data Analysis:
For the research paper we have looked into some blogs, conference papers, scholarly article
and reports. Most of the blogs and papers that we found were on the media aspect of the
social media. Bangladeshi youth is taking social media as their primary or major source of
information. Mahmud and Nasreen (2009) explained that due to restriction imposed by the
Government more Bangladeshis are turning to online sources for news and information
(“Bangladesh and its mediascape”. According to Haq (2012), Like BDR mutiny, the online
community of Bangladesh has responded to every significant event in the country. These
include border killings by BSF, the war crimes tribunal, Roopganj housing project by
Bangladesh Army, destruction of Baul sculpture in front of the airport, the killing of a
journalist couple, the Persona case and so on. (“Bangladesh experience”)
Recommendations:
Through the expansion of technology people are more reliable on media to collect news,
especially through internet. As we have seen in our analysis that more and more people are
getting influenced by the media. So it is the responsibility of the journalists, bloggers and
other influential people who writes provides or followed by others to be more ethical and
provide true and unbiased news, because they hold huge power over the people. They should
use their powers more positively and not in any negative activities. Plus the responsible
authority should be aware to make and give strict punishments to the person or organization
that provides false or misleading news to others which could harm the sovereignty of a
county. Most importantly they should be unbiased of any political party or other
organizations and provide true and correct news over the media. So that people don’t get
misleaded by false messages.

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Conclusion:
Through the analysis of primary and secondary data we found out that there is a huge
relationship between mass media and politics. We saw that people are easily manipulated and
affected by the media. They tend to make decisions influenced directly or indirectly by the
media. Political party is the most important aspect of any democratic society. If the
government is affected then the whole country is affected. So the media should be careful in
providing news about the government or political parties. Media should be ethical, truthful
and unbiased of any political party or organization when providing news. Only through fair
and truthful media can a country think of prospering and achieving greatness.
References:
1."It crumbles like a pack of cards". The Daily Star. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
2. Guardian "Bangladeshi factory deaths spark action among high-street clothing chains;
death toll 1,129". Retrieved 20 July 2013.
3. "Shahbagh grand rally demands ban on Jamaat", The Daily Star, 9 February 2013
4. "Cry for Jamaat ban". Bdnews24.com. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013
5. Shoemaker, Pamela J. & Stephen D. Reese. (1991). Mediating the Message: Theories of
influences on mass media content, New York: Longman.
6. Hart, A. (1991). Understanding the media: A practical guide. New York: Routledge
Herman, E. S. & McChesney, R. W. (1997). The global media, the new missionaries of
capitalism, London: Cassell.
7. REESE, S. ‘Understanding the global journalist: a hierarchy of influences approach’. In
Journalism Studies, 2(2),2001: 173-187.

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8. SHOEMAKER, P. & COHEN, A. News around the world. New York: Routledge, 2006
9. REESE, S. ‘Globalized journalism in the public sphere,’ paper presented to the
International Communication Association, New York, 2005.
10. Robinson, M. J. & Sheehan, M. A. (1980). Over the wire and on TV: CBS and UPI in
Campaign 80. New York: Sage Publications.
11. Shoemaker, Pamela J. & Stephen D. Reese. (1991). Mediating the Message: Theories of
influences on mass media content, New York: Longman.
12. Tumber, H. & Prentoulis, M. (2003) Journalists under fire: subcultures, objectivity and
emotional literacy. In D. K. Thussu and K. Thussu (Eds.). War and the media: reporting
conflict 24/7. London: Sage Publications
13. Wolfsfeld, G. (2004). Media and the path to peace. New York: Cambridge University
Press.

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Questionnaire of Impact of Social Media in Politics
Gender:
 Male
 Female
Q1: What do the youth think about the authenticity of the information they get from the
social media?
Q2: Is the social media influencing political activism in the real world?
Q3: Is click activism or shallow activism futile?
Q4: What can we possibly predict about the effect of social media in future politics?
Question#5: Most of the information I get on contemporary issues are through the
social media websites.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#6: I follow person, page or blog that posts about contemporary political
issues.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#7: When I come across a post about political issue, I read it and give my
feedback (i.e.: comment, like)
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree

20. 20
Question#8: I share posts, videos or news on political issues on the social media.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#9: I express my opinion about government policies or about contemporary
political issues on social media.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#10: I have had arguments with friends or strangers regarding political issues
on social media.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#11: My political knowledge and awareness have increased after I started
using social network or community blog sites.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree
Question#12: Social media should be used for organizing protests, movements and
political activities.
 Strongly agree B. Agree C. Neither agree or disagree
D. Disagree E. strongly disagree