The Nexus Of Media And Capital In Bangladesh

The Nexus Of Media And Capital In Bangladesh

There are many variations of capitalism but the most lucrative one is crony capitalism where wealth making is achieved not through the operation of market forces of conventional capitalism but through clan, club, affiliation etc based connections. It can happen in any post war scenario as it did in Bangladesh but if the ruling class finds that it’s much easier to make money through this method they keep going.

And as profits are hyper, the wealthy also need media institutions to support the system. They don’t follow any political party but the political system that allows them to continue to make such money. The media that emerge from such a system in any era have peculiarities of their own including challenges and opportunities. But fundamentally, no media can be a mainstream outfit and not be a supporter of the system. That is because to reach a point where one can fund such a media unit requires one to be part of the network capitalism system.

The rise of wealth and media in Bangladesh

The period from 1972 to 1975 marks both the rise of network/connection capitalism, as I like to call crony capitalism, and the only period when civilian rule was supreme. However, this created a conflict with a section of the army and after a period of turmoil, the mainstream army emerged as the rulers through martial law. Although civilian rule was restored the army remained influential and the second phase of military rule began in 1982. This continued till 1990 when the civilian alliance replaced it.

It also inaugurated a more sustainable civilian- military alliance based ruling model began which remains in place with regular adjustment till now. No exclusive civil or military looks likely now.