Navigating Corporate Pressures: An Investigation of News Selection During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Print Journalism?

Abstract

This study examined the corporate influence on the choice of news during the Covid-19 crisis by analyzing the conversation with the working journalists, policymakers in the media, and the owners. Based on the theory of the political economy of communication, this study analyzed data on the conversation of the key informants. Remarkably, it dissected the reasons beyond the newspaper's service and intention to the corporates in average time and this pandemic. Results indicate that the newspapers in Bangladesh have a more significant influence on the corporate sectors. In the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, corporate sectors took the chance to flourish themselves, and the only tools they used to get to people were the media. The findings widen our understanding beyond the corporate interest of media, revealing the deeper problem of ownership, political influence, and authoritarian perspective on freedom of expression.