Asia

Bangladesh

{This graph represents scores that have been modified by CIMA so that higher scores indicate a better media situation. It is intended to show trends over time; each index measures significantly different factors of press freedom. To see an explanation for how this graph was created, click here.}

Freedom House Score: 54 (Partly Free)	[Freedom House Methodology]
{Lower is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to 100}

RSF Score: 42.50	[RSF Methodology]
{Lower is Better, Score Ranges from 0 to ~120}

Reporters Without Borders Description:

The Awami League’s return to power in January 2009 gave the media a breathing space in which to work more effectively than during the phase of the army-backed interim government. Under the impetus of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, journalists were released from prison and the pressure exerted by the military was eased.

The problems did not however disappear entirely. F.M. Masum, a journalist on the English-language daily The New Age, the editor of which is a hate figure for the army, was detained and maltreated by soldiers from an elite battalion in October.

Bangladesh boasts around half a dozen television stations, the same number of privately owned radio stations and several dozen dailies in both Bengali and English. This diversity belies the fact that numerous draconian laws allow journalists to be imprisoned for “defamation” or “sedition”. The security services continue to keep the journalists under surveillance, tapping phones and monitoring emails of scores of them, particularly correspondents for foreign media.

Asia

Bangladesh

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