Covid19 Pandemic and Media Performance in Bangladesh

Abstract

Mass Media plays a crucial role in the contemporary world and it has become more significant in health information communication since the covid19 pandemic emerged. The study aims to identify how the Bangladeshi mass media responded and performed in tackling the outbreak situation from the perception of selected youths. Employing a mixed research method, the study collected data from selected 100 respondents from an online questionnaire survey. The major findings of the study reveal that to some extent Bangladeshi media performed well in the pandemic, updating regular news about the virus, giving advertisements, launching various programs, guidelines regarding health issues and seeking information in covid related corruption cases. Nevertheless, media helped citizens with information, few drawbacks of media has been found for publishing fake news which results rumor and decline of trust in the citizens regarding their programs. The findings appear that the majority of the respondents reprimand the health ministry for insufficiency in disseminating health guidelines through effective programs, discontinuing daily press briefing of corona patient. Besides, a great concern has also been expressed as the freedom of media and journalists hampered in the covid19 pandemic, disrupting their work in that challenging time. The overall study finds out that the media performed moderately during covid19 pandemic, whereas it could have served better in that situation. The study suggests that media in Bangladesh can perform better if provided adequate freedom to carry out appropriate investigations, develop creative contents to make citizens more aware and familiar with the pandemic, update credible sources of information, and avoid any sort of infodemics, follow international media sources to be more effective and efficient.

Combating Corruption during Covid-19 in Bangladesh: The Role of Community-Based Organizations

“…There has been progress with the use of both vertical and horizontal accountability. In research titled "Covid19 Pandemic and Media Performance in Bangladesh", the majority of the respondents criticize the health ministry for not doing enough to spread information (Paul et al, 2022). The media has a few drawbacks for disseminating bogus news, which causes citizens to have less faith in their initiatives (Paul et al, 2022).…”

“…In research titled "Covid19 Pandemic and Media Performance in Bangladesh", the majority of the respondents criticize the health ministry for not doing enough to spread information (Paul et al, 2022). The media has a few drawbacks for disseminating bogus news, which causes citizens to have less faith in their initiatives (Paul et al, 2022). That is why the rise of social media has been a significant step toward becoming a principal role player for the action of community-based organisations (CBOs).…”

“…According to the police, they charged Tk 5,000 for each sample collection and Tk 7,000 to 8,000 for each sample from expatriates (Bdnews24.com, 2020a). JKG Healthcare Chairman, Dr. Sabrina Arif Chowdhury, and seven other people were arrested soon after the incident was leaked (Paul et al, 2022) Community Organizing against the Regent and JKG Scam However, in both cases, anti-Covid-19 certificate scam protests took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where community and civil society members took part and raised their voices against such corruption.…”

The portrayal of antimicrobial resistance in Bangladeshi newspapers during 2010–2021: Toward understanding the narrative

“…This was indeed beneficial to the public. The mass media played a huge role in preventing an infodemic (overwhelming quantity of information including incorrect and misleading information) filled with disinformation and misinformation regarding the pandemic, subsequent vaccination campaigns, and treatment procedures [47].…”