According to data from the Department of Films and Publications (DFP) released this last January, Bangladesh Pratidin holds the top position among the country’s daily newspapers with a circulation of 521,211 copies.
In second place is Prothom Alo with a circulation of 321,841 copies.
Nevertheless, under the recommendation of the Media Reform Commission, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) conducted a survey in the same month suggesting that 57 per cent of newspaper readers in the country read Prothom Alo, while only 32.81 per cent read Bangladesh Pratidin.
Newspapers with the third-highest circulation, such as Amar Desh, Naya Diganta, Jugantor, Kalbela, Dinkal, Amader Shomoy, Ittefaq, and Janakantha, were reported to have readerships ranging from only 6 to 21 per cent.
The findings have baffled newspaper hawker leaders and distribution agents.
They questioned how a newspaper like Bangladesh Pratidin, which has the highest circulation, could supposedly have fewer readers than Prothom Alo.
They also noted that some of the newspapers listed as having readers are entirely unfamiliar to them.
It is also worth noting that the survey, as published in Prothom Alo, reportedly cost the government over Tk 40 million.
Many media professionals have described the survey as nonsensical and a state-funded promotional campaign for Prothom Alo.
They argue that the head of the Media Reform Commission was previously associated with Prothom Alo, and that the survey was conducted at the commission’s recommendation.
BBS was allegedly used to produce a fabricated survey deliberately intended to promote Prothom Alo.
Critics argue that while a government-funded survey might be justified to determine what proportion of the population reads newspapers, measuring readership of specific newspapers is clearly biased.
Newspaper agents, they say, are in the best position to provide such information. Yet this flawed and partial survey was conducted without consulting any hawkers or agents, and the government spent Tk 40 million on it.
Investigations reveal that the survey, conducted from January 1 to 7, had a projected cost of approximately Tk 42.6 million. Of this, nearly Tk 22.6 million was allocated for conducting the survey, with a further Tk 5.5 million spent on honorariums. Additional costs covered printing, publicity, and other expenses.
Many have criticised the BBS report as a poorly constructed survey done from behind a desk.
Official records show that there are 1,369 daily newspapers published across Bangladesh, with 561 of them originating from Dhaka alone. Yet the survey only mentioned 68 newspapers (some of which were unnamed or listed as local papers).
According to the DFP’s circulation list, Desh Rupantor ranks ninth in circulation, yet its readership was shown as only 0.58 per cent.
Similarly, Bhorer Kagoj, ranked 22nd in circulation, was reported to have 0.83 per cent readership.
The survey also presented bizarre findings such as more readers of English-language newspapers in rural areas than in cities, and that more women than men read English newspapers.
Moreover, in divisions like Barisal, Chattogram, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, and Sylhet, surveyors could not identify a single reader of The Business Standard.
Likewise, no readers of Bonik Barta were found in Rangpur and Sylhet, or of New Age in Barisal, Chattogram, Mymensingh, and Rangpur.
Even a member of the Media Reform Commission, Jimmy Amir, criticised Prothom Alo’s report yesterday, which cited the survey and claimed “57% of newspaper readers in the country read Prothom Alo”.
In a Facebook post, he wrote, “It’s astonishing that Prothom Alo chose to publish a report based on a January survey four months later. One must question whether a four-month-old survey can be considered news. Are they now using this old data to reinforce their dominance?”
When contacted by Bangladesh Pratidin, newspaper agents and hawker association leaders from across the country confirmed that no surveyor had approached them for data.
Abu Tayeb, an agent from Khulna, stated that Bangladesh Pratidin sells 4,800 copies daily in his district, compared to Prothom Alo’s 1,700.
He said he had never even seen publications like Janobani, Bortoman, or Bangladesh Bulletin, which were listed in the BBS report as having significant readership.
Ijahar Ali, an agent in Jashore, reported daily sales of 1,595 copies for Bangladesh Pratidin and only 760 for Prothom Alo.
Md. Shahidullah, an agent in Rajshahi, noted that the BBS survey claimed a substantial readership for titles like Muktokhobor, Dhaka Pratidin, Gonokantho, Bangladesh Samachar, and Bhorer Darpan, yet he had never seen these papers and hadn’t even heard of some of them.
According to him, he sells 3,700 copies of Bangladesh Pratidin daily, compared to 3,100 copies of Prothom Alo.
Similar feedback from other regions of the country confirmed that Bangladesh Pratidin remains the newspaper with the highest circulation, followed by Prothom Alo.
Bd-Pratidin English/ARK
