68pc people want independent media

Some 68 per cent people of the country want a free press in the country. Besides, 60 per cent people want the media to be neutral and unbiased. Meanwhile, 17.21 per cent believe the news media of the country enjoy complete freedom, 24 per cent think the press have independence to some extent only, while 15.31 per cent people think the news media is not independent at all.

The figures came up in a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The media reform commission took the initiative to conduct the survey to understand the public perception in the context of public outrage over the role played by the news media during the July uprising. The commission revealed the survey results in a press conference Thursday.

BBS says the survey analyses information collected from 45,045 households across the 64 districts of the country from 1 January to 7 January. There were 23,145 female and 21,900 male among the respondents.

The survey reflects various aspects of media including its expansion in the country, changes in people's news consumption habits, people’s confidence in news media and press freedom, BBS said.

The study also sheds light on the limitations in publishing objective news. Some 47.22 per cent of the respondents said there are several limitations in publishing accurate and objective news. More than 76 per cent of the participants pointed out political interventions as the reason for this, while 67 per cent blamed government interference.

Besides, some 26.39 per cent people mention vested interests of journalists, 23 per cent the owners’ interest and more than 12 per cent people identified the pressure from the advertisers as the main hindrance in publishing objective news.

The survey data shows only 27 per cent respondents read newspapers while 73 per cent do not. The readers are leaning more towards reading news online on mobile phones. Some 59.28 per cent of those who read news daily use mobile phones while 37.61 per cent read print version newspapers. Apart from that, some 2.54 per cent people follow the online versions using desktops, laptops and tabs.

‘Not feeling the need’ came up as the main reason behind people giving up reading newspapers. Some 46.52 per cent participants said they do not feel the need to read newspapers while 26.23 per cent said they cannot read and 15.88 per cent cited lack of time as the reason. And 0.36 per cent people feel newspapers have lost credibility.

Although the print media has lost the appeal to the people, television media still is quite popular. The survey figures show some 65.42 per cent watch television daily while 34.58 per cent do not watch television at all.

The respondents pointed out various reasons for not watching television, including lack of time, financial inability and most significantly not feeling the need to watch TV. Some 53.58 participants said they do not feel the need to watch television, 12.50 per cent said they do not have time, 22.25 per cent cited financial inability and 0.93 per cent said television is not a credible source of information anymore.

Radio is at the bottom of the list of news media in terms of popularity. Only 6.07 per cent respondents said they listen to radio daily. Some 54.7 per cent people do not feel the need any more while 34.87 per cent radios are not available now, 7 per cent people do not have the time to listen to radio and 0.28 per cent feel radio lacks credibility.

The most 35.71 per cent people follow television channels for information during national disasters, 28.4 per cent depends on social media, 24.48 per cent seek information from a reliable individual, and 1.54 per cent relies on newspaper, 5.99 per cent on online news media, 0.57 per cent on radio and 0.49 per cent on text message.

The respondents of the survey were asked about the most reliable social media in their opinion. Some 31.36 per cent mentioned Facebook and 16.50 per cent YouTube as the most trustworthy social media.