The political transition following the July Uprising in 2024 reshaped Bangladesh’s media landscape, creating new possibilities for independent and digitally driven media ventures. For years, media ownership in Bangladesh has been concentrated among business and political elites, with some television channels and newspapers serving as instruments of influence.
After the July Uprising, several new media startups have emerged alongside Bangladesh’s established newspapers, television networks, and online news portals. These emerging organisations are increasingly adopting social-media-driven business and editorial models, targeting younger audiences while experimenting with alternative approaches to news production, distribution, and audience participation. Their emergence reflects a broader shift in Bangladesh’s media ecosystem, in which digital platforms are becoming increasingly important spaces for journalism, political discourse, and public engagement.
To understand the role, practices, and challenges of emerging media outlets in Bangladesh, Digitally Right conducted a study titled “New Voices, Fragile Foundations: An Assessment of Emerging Media Outlets in Bangladesh”, in collaboration with International Media Support (IMS), with support from the Royal Danish Embassy.
The study focuses on the outlets’ editorial independence, commitment to public-interest journalism, organisational orientation, and financial sustainability. The study examines 10 emerging media startups identified through desk research and assesses their editorial and organisational practices through Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews, as well as an analysis of their published content, distribution strategies, and target audiences.
Key findings of the study are below:
- Most media startups form an emerging “third stream” of media, including small, digital-first, and hybrid organisations. They receive external funding while maintaining editorial independence; however, there is limited transparency about their ownership, investment, and funding sources.
- Most media startups have not clearly identified their target audience, so their editorial decisions are based more on the content they want to produce than on audience needs and feedback.
- Most outlets focus on producing public-interest content that raises awareness, promotes accountability, counters misinformation, amplifies marginalised voices, and encourages greater civic participation.
- Most outlets heavily depend on Facebook and YouTube for distributing content, reaching audiences, and generating revenue, making them vulnerable to changes in platform algorithms, policies, and monetisation systems.
- Journalists leading these organisations mostly have limited experience in operational, administrative, financial, and business management, creating additional institutional challenges.
- Financial sustainability remains the most significant challenge for the outlets currently assessed. Depend on a combination of investor support, platform monetisation, advertising, sponsorships, partnerships, and grants, none of which provide a source of reliable and sufficient long-term funding.
- Revenue-generation strategies remain underdeveloped. Very few outlets have contingency plans or strategies to gradually introduce subscription models, membership programs, or paywalls, leaving many at risk of exhausting their initial funding within a few years.
The report recommends strengthening media startups’ organisational capacity, defining clear audiences and editorial strategies, diversifying funding beyond social media, improving financial and legal skills, ensuring transparent ownership, and investing in staff and leadership development.