In their Media Monitoring Project, FEMA has analysed the space given to each of the main parties in seven of the country’s leading newspapers. It also analysed the position, size and content of photographs, and the trend of the editorials and commentaries published.
Some newspapers have shown a tendency to side with one particular party or another. Daily Ittefaq has given maximum coverage to the leader of JP (Manju), who is also an owner of the newspaper. The Daily Janakantha’s editorials and post editorials are mainly in favour of the Awami League. All newspapers should adhere to the highest principles of journalism by not publishing false stories.

General Election 2001
WEEKLY MEDIA MONITORING REPORT 2
27 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2001Daily Ittefaq
According to the weekly analysis, Anwar Hussain Manju, the leader of JP (Manju), who is also one of the owners of Daily Ittefaq, got the maximum coverage this week in terms of lead stories on the parties and photographs. News of his party took up 124 column inches over the last week. AL and BNP, the two main political parties, received 115 inches and 92 inches each. Even after finalizing the nominations, photos of the leaders of the main two parties were absent, and those parties were not reflected in the news headlines. The newspaper featured stories with photos of Anwar Hussain Manju on the inside back page. It also published news stories about the electoral campaign of the same leader in a four column spread for four days and in a three column spread for one day. In addition the newspaper published two advertisements with colored photographs of the JP (Manju) leader on the back page.
For additional news the space allotted to different parties is as follows:
35 news stories on AL, 26 on BNP, 7 on JP (Manju), and 4 on JP (Ershad). There was no news on Jamaat for five days. However over a two-day period Jamaat got 15 inches. Counting up total numbers of articles, it can be said that the newspaper has continued the trend spotted last week of being positive towards AL and BNP. One contrast was that negative news stories on the 4-Party Alliance were not given much importance whereas news stories on JP (Ershad) were given prominence. The paper published news stories on 11-Party Alliance in only one column, along with the candidature list of the Alliance.
This week there were two relevant editorials, one of which gave importance to arms recovery. The other one, titled "Nirbachan Samagato" (The Forthcoming Election), welcomed the proposed plan of formation of a high-powered council on election security headed by the chief advisor.
During this week there were seven commentaries concerning electoral matters. Most of them were more or less in favor of the AL. Only one of the columns titled, "Does the Article 57(3) of the constitution still exist?", criticized the AL leader. Interestingly one psychologist has also written a column on the physical fitness of the older politicians.

The Inquilab
News about the 4-Party Alliance again this week got maximum coverage in this paper with 149 inches. 11 additional stories were published about the Alliance. In addition BNP had 110.75 inches and Jamaat had 54.75 inches of coverage. The total coverage for AL was 119.5 inches. But in terms of treatment, BNP and Jamaat were in a better position than AL. 44 additional stories were published on the AL and 49 on BNP, Jamaat had 6. Apart from the main parties, a respectable space was given to news from JP (Ershad) – 114.5 inches. 13 additional news stories were published on this party. The allocation of space to JP (Manju) has increased since last week. They got 29.75 inches, and 1 item of news. The 11-Party Alliance got 37 inches and 2 items of additional news.
An analysis of the commentaries shows that stories were written against AL and in favor of Jamaat and 4-Party Alliance. For example one article contained the line, “the 4-Party alliance should strengthen their coalition to recover the immense loss caused by the immediate past government.” Another commentary said “the AL politicized and corrupted the former administration and I don’t think they will ever get rid of this.”

The Daily Star
The newspaper has tried to maintain a balance between the two main candidates from BNP and AL. Stories on the BNP nominated party list have been integrated with news from the 4-Party Alliance.
The total allocation of space to the BNP-led 4-Party Alliance was 80.25 inches. In addition the total weekly allotment to BNP was 111.75 inches and for AL 161 inches. Both AL and BNP had the same number of additional news stories – 15 each.
The pictorial coverage of the two leaders on the front and back pages is as follows; 4 photos of Sheik Hasina on the front page and 1 on the back; 1 photo of Begum Khaleda Zia on the front and 3 on the back page. The majority of the photos published showed the women in the role of leaders. One photo of Sheik Hasina on the front page showed her praying. One of Begum Khaleda Zia showed her with a blank expression on the back page. Apart from these, one photo of the founding anniversary of BNP was also published on a back page.
Among the other parties the JP (Ershad) led the others in terms of print coverage. Their allotment was 35 inches plus three pieces of additional news. JP (Ershad) was followed by Jamaat, 18.5 inches, then the 11 party alliance, 16 inches and JP (Manju) with 8.25 inches. These three parties were only featured in the newspaper during two days out of the week and every story was negative.
In the same way as last week, the newspaper published commentaries which reflected the views of civil society and intellectuals calling for honest and qualified candidates to ensure a free and fair election. Some of these pieces give importance of "removing muscle power" and following correct policies and the rule of law. At least two articles can be seen as critical of AL. Maybe not so surprising as one was written by a member of the BNP’s advisory committee.
In the three relevant editorials there are constructive criticisms of the two main parties and reference to the intra-party violence. The paper has criticized support given to loan defaulters by different parties. It also calls on the parties to add to their manifestos their agreement not to call hartals.

The Daily Janakantha
Although the gap between AL and BNP on allotment of column inches has shrunk, the gap of partiality has widened. The editorials, post editorials, commentaries and color pieces have all been presented in favor of AL – directly or indirectly. Examples include articles entitled: “Is the election under the Caretaker Government of BNP?” (27.08), “The remarkable law” (28.08), “Stand against the national and international conspiracy” (29.08) and “92 victims of millionaires and the Alliance in BNP nominations” (30.08).
The allotment of space to the lead parties was as follows; BNP -109.5 inches, AL - 103.5, 4-party alliance - 157, 11 party alliance -17.5, Jamaat - 40, JP (Ershad) - 64.5, and JP Manju – 10 inches.
Additional stories on the parties were 34 for BNP, 58 for AL, 13 for 4-Party Alliance, 2 for 11-Party Alliance, 3 for Jamaat, 9 for JP (Ershad), and 2 for JP (Manju) respectively.
The paper has continued to publish criticism this week of the Caretaker Government. It said the Caretaker Government has permitted major changes in the army. A government spokesman said this allegation had no basis in fact. And it suggested that before publishing any such report a newspaper should consult the relevant authorities.

Protham Alo
Although the newspaper made an intense effort to maintain a balance regarding space allotment to the different parties, display of photographs, headlines and editorials and columns, the BNP seems to receive a better treatment.
In displaying the photographs of leaders of the two main opposition parties the newspaper seems to follow a definite trend. The photographs of AL leader Sheikh Hasina always took the lower half of the front page of the newspaper, whereas the photograph of BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia have been published on the upper part of the front page of the newspaper. But when any portrait shots were used and on the occasion the two leaders were shown with the US ambassador they got equal treatment.
As for the party coverage of leading news stories the 4-Party Alliance is ahead of the others receiving 180 inches over the week. The 4-Party Alliance is followed by AL with 144.5 inches and BNP with 139 inches. The allotment for 11-Party Alliance was 15 inches, 32 inches for Jamaat, 44.5 inches for JP (Ershad) and the allotment for JP (Manju) was down to 2 inches only. The newspaper featured 53 additional news stories on AL, 27 on BNP, 14 on 4-Party Alliance, 9 on JP (Ershad), 2 on Jamaat and 1 on 11-Party Alliance.
Congratulations to Prothom Alo for featuring a colored cartoon (02.09) about the internecine war inside the two major political parties. This comment by the famous cartoonist Shishir reflects a clear view of facts.

Jugantar
In an analysis of the front and back pages of Jugantar the newspaper can be seen to have maintained a careful balance between the two main political parties, although the BNP is in a leading position in terms of allocation of column inches. BNP received 175.5 inches, the AL 137.5 inches and 4-Party Alliance 102.5 inches. But the gap is not very wide taking into consideration the additional stories on the two main parties. BNP had 75 stories and AL 80 stories. The number of additional stories is 22 for the 4-Party Alliance.
The newspaper has maintained the fairness of its special electoral section this week. The section gives an introduction to the candidates and election tidbits.
The editorials have dealt with subjects like political deaths, loan defaulters, manifestos and the celebrations by nominated candidates and their supporters. Even here the newspaper maintained a balanced approach between the two main parties. It is the same when considering the commentaries.
The lead news of the other parties are as follows. Jamaat 59.5, JP (Ershad) 74.5, JP (Manju) 30.5 and 11-Party Alliance 49.5. The numbers of additional news on the parties were 11 for the 11-Party Alliance, 11 JP (Ershad), and 2 for JP (Manju). There was no additional news for Jamaat.

The Observer
This paper has the opposite of the last week’s coverage, in its use of photo and its print coverage, which means that this week the AL came to the front in terms of coverage. AL had 128.25 column inches, as opposed to BNP, which got 109.25, but the JP (Ershad) got 123 inches. The 4 Party Alliance received 72.25 inches and was covered in 3 additional news stories. AL had 38 additional stories, BNP 25, JP (Ershad) 3. For the other parties Jamaat had 38.45 column inches, 2 additional stories, the JP (Manju) had 18 inches and no additional stories. The 11-Party Alliance had 31.5 inches and 2 additional stories.
Editorials and columnists criticized the power of the Chief Election Commissioner. Analysis of the commentaries shows that AL has a better treatment than the others. u

Report prepared by

Maruf Raihan
Media Coordinator
u
Media Monitoring Project of FEMA (Fair Election Monitoring Alliance)
Mahfuzul Islam
Ashutosh Sarkar
Shamima Nasrin
Kaniz Fatema

Abbreviations:
AL - Awami League
BNP - Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Jamaat - Jamaat-e-Islami
JP (Ershad) - Jatiya Party led by H M Ershad
JP (Manju) - Jatiya Party led by Anwar Hussein Manju
4-Party Alliance - led by BNP
11-Party Alliance - led by the Bangladesh Communist Party