Manufacturing Legitimacy: Media Ownership and the Framing of the July 2024 Uprising in Bangladesh

ORCID

  • Arman: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5681-3236
  • Uddin: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2612-6168
  • Islam: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4711-9829

MSU Affiliation

College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Communication, Media and Theatre

Creation Date

2025-11-21

Abstract

Bangladesh witnessed its biggest nationwide mass uprising since gaining independence in 1971, which led to the overthrow of an authoritarian government that had existed for a decade. This study employed the protest paradigm to analyze how the protests were framed by mainstream print media and how media ownership influenced their coverage. Drawing on a quantitative content analysis of five major newspapers from different ownerships, the study explores dominant media frames, tone, and legitimacy of protest coverage. The findings indicate that media ownership significantly affects the credibility and tone of the protest coverage. The protest paradigm was applied more strictly by pro-government media outlets. Independent and anti-government outlets, on the other hand, took a more impartial stance. The study reveals how media ownership shaped the framing of dissent, reinforcing the protest paradigm in ways that aligned with the ruling party’s interests. This study adds to the body of knowledge on South Asian media bias and authoritarian information control.

Publication Date

9-9-2025

Publication Title

Journalism and Media

Publisher

MDPI

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS
 

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6030148