The development trends and features of online news websites in Bangladesh

Abstract

This article refers to the brief history of the development of online media in Bangladesh starting from the beginnings of the Internet to the contemporary stage. Since 2006 Bangladeshi news organizations have been reshaping their strategy towards being a digital-only news outlet. News organizations are now using different features of mobile devices and social media to tell stories and engage with their target audiences. Today both the digital-only news outlets and mainstream media use QR codes, messengers, social media platforms, which enable them to reach a wider area of audiences. By using yet inexpensive digital tools journalists can easily create and distribute content for digital-only platforms. We consider digital-only platforms as new media, social media, and convergence media platforms. Social media platforms have provided the opportunity for traditional journalists to share news quickly, get feedback from the audience, and have two-way communication with the reader. Previous studies have looked at the genres of online journalism from a western perspective. Little has been done on the topic from the context of Bangladesh. In this article, we analyze the basic features of online news media that exist in contemporary Bangladesh and provide an account of the development trends. We outline the new genres, techniques, and use as a sample two most famous online news platforms: The Daily Star and bdnews24. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 different professionals from Journalism and mass media. This study is based on both primary and secondary sources of qualitative data to understand the new genres of online news media, challenges, and opportunities to work in the ever-changing media landscape.