A report published on January 12, 2026, by Amar Desh examines how several major Bangladeshi newspapers allegedly conducted systematic propaganda against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leaders following the 2007–08 military-backed government and the 2009 rise of Sheikh Hasina’s administration. The report claims that outlets such as Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, Bangladesh Pratidin, and Janakantha portrayed BNP leaders Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman as corrupt, violent, or anti-state figures, often prioritizing political narratives over factual accuracy.

Researcher Taiyib Ahmed from Colorado State University attributes this trend to political parallelism and the economic dependencies of media houses, which he says cause reporting to favor certain political sides and compromise journalistic objectivity. The report cites examples of headlines, editorials, and cartoons that linked BNP to terrorism, corruption, and conspiracy, while recent years have seen some outlets reverse tone and present the same figures as democratic symbols.

Analysts quoted in the report argue that these shifts reflect a structural crisis in Bangladesh’s media, where editorial stances change with political power but ethical consistency remains absent.