CPD Working Paper 131
Role of Media in Delivering the SDGs
A Mapping Exercise on Bangladesh
Among the non-state actors in Bangladesh, media has a critical role to play in ensuring the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The present paper identifies five key roles of media in contributing to the SDGs delivery. These include: channeling information flow, ensuring proper monitoring and accountability, acting as an enabler of a ‘culture of peace’, upholding marginalised voices and facilitating the localisation of SDGs. Based on a mapping exercise on selected national and sub-national Bangla, English and online newspapers, this paper finds that among the five identified roles, the media in Bangladesh at present is primarily playing the role of channeling information flow. Media is also playing a watchdog role in a limited scale, while their participation in the SDGs accountability process is almost non-existent. This paper concludes with highlighting some challenges faced by media in Bangladesh and providing recommendations to address those.
Contributors: Debapriya Bhattacharya, Towfiqul Islam Khan and Mostafa Amir Sabbih
Publication Period: March 2020
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