Media reform: A roadmap for the interim government

With Bangladesh poised to transform its media landscape in tune with a free and enlightened society, the following strategic areas are the subsequent crucial pillars. These are not long-term goals; these are immediate actions, poised for execution right now, to base our progress on transparency, fairness, and honesty.

Legal and Policy Overhaul: In a just society, the law must protect the vulnerable, ensure liberty, and prevent abuse of authority. But in Bangladesh, all the legal instruments geared towards curtailing the media have instead become instruments of repression. From the Digital Security Act (DSA) to the colonial era Official Secrets Act, repressive laws have been used to gag dissent, criminalize journalism, and silence critics under the cover of national interest.

It has brought about a climate of fear, as the media self-censor, citizens are afraid to speak up, and whistleblowers are silent. It is high stake not only freedom of expression, but democracy. As long as these laws remain in books, any effort to reform the media will be incomplete and devoid of credibility.

The Chief Advisor of the interim government (IG) must realise that legal reform is not a technical issue, but a Constitutional commitment. This is the moral framework to which all other reforms must be linked.

Key Reforms NEED TO BE CARRIED OUT

• Abolish the Digital Security Act and substitute it with Rights-Based Legislation. Immediately repeal the Digital Security Act (2018), condemned by the media, civil society, and international human rights organizations for criminalising freedom of speech. Instead, enact a Digital Rights and Safety Act that protects citizens’ freedom of expression online without infringing on civil liberties.

• Repeal the Official Secrets Act and Enact Whistleblower Protection Law. Repeal the antiquated Official Secrets Act (1923) and enact a Whistleblower Protection Act granting citizens impunity to reveal corruption and abuse of authority without fear of reprisals.

• Enact and Enforce the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Upgrade the existing RTI Act to an effective mechanism by establishing an Independent RTI Commission with statutory authority to inquire, direct disclosure, and fine for default. Compel public organisations to disclose information on governance, budget, and public services.

• Grant Constitutional Guarantees to Freedom of Expression. Make specific protections for media professionals, journalists, and cyber-activists part of the Constitution in a way that vague concepts of state security or public order cannot replace freedom of expression.

This change of law is not one of weakening the state capacity—it is one of redefining it in the terms of democracy. An open society can never flourish in the shadow of terror. In replacing terror-based legislation with liberty-based legislation, the Chief Advisor can write his chapter in history as the guardian of an open society.

Let us move from criminalising expression to enjoying it as the driving force of national progress.

Media Development Fund and Incentives: This is the era of digital revolution, and a sustainable media sector cannot be built on the pillars of aging institutions and traditional sources of revenue. We need to reward innovation, independence, and diversity—not by accident, but through wise investment and foresighted policy. Suppose we are to move away from crisis coverage and politically motivated reporting in building Bangladesh. In that case, we need to invest in the next generation of journalists, technologists, and media entrepreneurs.

But now, these promising businesses—especially the ones controlled by women, youth, and rural folks beyond large cities—are fighting for their survival. They have enormous challenges in the areas of finance, infrastructure, and institutional support. In the meantime, already entrenched media oligopolies continue to commandeer resources and power, even at the expense of ethics and pluralism.

An Incentives-funded Media Development Fund, with defined incentives and nationally prioritized direction, can be the impetus for this new generation of journalistic excellence and civic innovation.

Strategic Initiatives to Apply Immediately:

• Establish a National Media Innovation and Development Fund. Establish an independent, state-funded Media Innovation Fund to provide competitive grants to startups, freelancing journalists, civic tech platforms, and fact-checking businesses. Highest priority must be given to projects that benefit the greater good, promote accountability, or develop new digital storytelling tools and media literacy.

• Grant Tax Relief to Ethical and Diversified Media Houses. Develop a tiered system of media tax reliefs for media companies that commit to editorial independence, gender equality, respect for the rights of workers, and community representation. Reward those who engage in inclusive hiring practices, local language publication, or journalism training schemes.

• Encourage Development of Local Content and Cultural Storytelling. Financing programs by institutes and public-private partnerships to promote regional narrative storytelling, documentaries, and creative content reflecting Bangladesh’s diversity and multiculturalism of cultures, languages, and ethnicities. Foster intersectional alliances between journalists, filmmakers, artists, and historians to recover hitherto excluded discursive spaces.

• Establish Fellowships and Awards for Public Interest Journalism. Establish senior-level, government-funded journalism fellowships and national awards to honour bold, honest, and compelling journalism. They must be open to both veteran and new voices, and be decided by panels of experienced, unbiased professionals.

This is the moment to invest not only in media, but in meaning. The CA office can seize this moment to make institutional safeguards for the truth-tellers, the power resisters, and the bringers of light to the stories that matter. By shifting from control to cultivation, Bangladesh can build a media ecosystem that is not only free but also flourishing.

Let us invest in the future of journalism, and hence the future of our democracy.

Institutional Capacity and Regulatory Coordination: Reform cannot be implemented in isolation. The optimal policies will fail if they are obstructed by inefficient bureaucracies, competing mandates, and uncoordinated schemes. In Bangladesh’s plural media ecosystem consisting of ministries, regulators, civil society, and the private sector, governance is as much about coordination as it is about regulation.

For generating a new age of media responsibility, inclusiveness, and innovation, the state must build institutions that are open, reactive, and collaborative. This requires moving away from a culture of policymaking being reactive to one of proactive governance, where there is inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary synergy.

Beneath this is the necessity to enhance the regulatory architecture and provide institutions with the right tools, capacity, and vision to deliver fair change.

Action Items for Immediate Action:

• Form a National Media Reform Taskforce. Implement an empowered, multi-stakeholder Media Reform Taskforce, directed by a senior-level advisor to the Chief Advisor and consisting of representatives from government, independent media, academia, civil society, and digital rights groups, and tasked with driving the coordination, monitoring, and periodic review of all efforts on media reform.

• Develop a Centralised Media Governance Dashboard. Institute an open-access Digital Dashboard to track and report real-time data on licensing, cost of funds, complaints, enforcement actions, and policy impact. The transparency dashboard will reduce corruption, enhance accountability, and restore public trust in the reform process.

Building Institutional Capacity through Training and Exchange.
Organise regular training programs and policy workshops for regulators, bureaucrats, and media stakeholders on the following topics: global best practices in media regulation, models of freedom of expression, conflict-sensitive reporting, and digital ethics. Partner with institutions like UNESCO, Article 19, DW Akademie, and Al Jazeera Media Institute to enhance regional and international knowledge sharing.

• Set up Open Cross-Ministerial Media Coordination Cells. Create coordination cells in key ministries (Information, Education, ICT, and Justice) to ensure media policymaking is justified and the contradiction or integration of regulations is prevented.

It is not housekeeping governance—it’s building the scaffolding for a more innovative and responsive state. The Chief Advisor’s office must drive a coordinated, accountable, and visionary agenda for media regulation and turn reform into outcomes.

Make Bangladesh’s institutions not only regulate the media, but also change it.

Cross-Cutting Principles: Actual change is never made in policy - it is a matter of the values which inform each decision, every law, and every institution. Suppose the media landscape of Bangladesh is to be altered in a manner that is long-term, ethical, and equitable. In that case, the reform agenda needs to be shaped by a group of underlying values greater than short-term programs or policies.

These are not aesthetics; these are the moral guide that will have to steer the office of the Chief Advisor as it steers the nation to this defining moment of democratic renewal. Without bringing gender equality, young people’s participation, moral integrity, and global harmony into the substantive fabric of the reform agenda, all achievements will be cosmetic and short-lived.

This is not institution-building. This is redefining the media-public relationship, that is, between the media and the audience it addresses, i.e., those who have hitherto been excluded or stereotyped.

Guiding Principles for All Media Reforms:
• Prioritise Gender Equality and Youth Empowerment in All Policies. Subject all media reforms like funding, licensing, appointments, and programming to examination in terms of gender justice and intergenerational communication. Enact gender quotas for media regulatory institutions, invest in mentoring potential young journalists, and accord highest priority to media content conveying equality and respect for all.

• Institutionalise a National Code of Media Ethics and Accountability. Enforce a single national code of ethics for all media entities licensed to operate, ranging from professionalism in reporting, fact-checking, avoidance of hate speech, to delicacy in conflict. There would be an independent Media Ethics Council to conduct investigations into complaints, mediate conflicts, and impose sanctions where necessary.

• Comply with International Best Practices and Global Norms. Adopt frameworks such as UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators, the Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists, and the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms to benchmark Bangladesh’s efforts at reform. Such international standards will not only be credible but also attract global endorsement and investment in the country’s media sector.

• Create and ensure Inter-sectionality and Inclusiveness in Representation. Ensure ethnic minorities, indigenous groups, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and rural communities’ interests and voices are mentioned clearly and factored into policymaking and content regulation.

• Ensure Media Sustainability and Environmental Responsibility. Promote media sustainability by adopting environmentally responsible print production, reducing digital carbon footprints, and utilising green technology for public broadcasting.

By basing reform on these principles, the CA office can ensure that this is not just something that goes by with the generation, but an era of change. A fair media system does not enlighten the majority, but protects the minority; it is not just a system of reporting the truth, but delivering justice.

Let these values not be at the margins; they must be the rhythm of the media revolution we are now embracing.

• Encourage Media Sustainability and Green Accountability. Promote media sustainability through adopting environmentally friendly printing, reducing digital carbon footprint, and adopting green technology in public TV and radio broadcasting.

By basing reform on such values, the CA’s office can transform this moment not just into one of correction, but of change.

An equitable media machinery is one that not merely instructs the masses, but also protects the minority; it does not simply utter the truth, but pleads justice.

Let these values not be on the margin; they have to be the pulse of the media revolution we undertake today.

Conclusion: Bangladesh stands on the brink of a profound transformation—one that would reshape not just its media institutions, but its democratic self. The fall of an oppressive regime and the advent of a new caretaker regime fanned an ember of hope: that the authority can once more be wielded in the people’s interest, that truth can triumph over propaganda, and that journalism can reclaim its rightful place as the bulwark of accountability and civic life.
But hope must be accompanied by action.

This agenda of reform is not an intellectual exercise; it is a call to conscience, a change agenda, and a challenge to this government’s moral will. All of these proposals—defending journalists and sharing content, reimagining state media, and overhauling repressive laws—grasp a more profound aspiration of the Bangladeshi people: to be seen, to be heard, and to live with dignity under an open and inclusive system.

For the Chief Advisor, it is a moment of decisional history-defining intersection of political possibility, public will, and moral responsibility. Moving decisively and with haste on these reforms will not only serve to keep the transitional government honest but also prepare the ground for a new social contract among the state, the media, and society.

This is how to restore trust—by bold choices, by honest leadership, and unrelenting adherence to justice. This is how the promises of the July 36 revolution are kept—not in words, but in hard, quantifiable change.

Let this moment’s legacy be more than a transition. Let it be a turning point. Let it be noted that when the time for change arrived, we did not hesitate. We did not bargain. We delivered. Let this be the start of a people’s free, equal, and unafraid system of the media—and finally, by and by the people. [Concluded]

Dr Serajul I Bhuiyan is professor and former chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia, USA
sibhuiyan@yahoo.com