COVERAGE OF EDITORIALS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN BANGLADESHI NEWSPAPERS

Abstract

Bangladesh is one of the most promising nations towards attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the SDGs were announced in September 2015, Bangladeshi print media have covered SDG-related issues. This study aims to examine the treatment, mode and theme of SDG-related editorials in Bangladeshi newspapers. Content analysis method has been applied to assess the coverage. Editorials (n=88) were collected from the two leading national newspapers in Bangladesh, The Daily Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, between April 1, 2022, and April 30, 2022, based on circulation and readership. A coding sheet has been developed to measure the coverage under 17 subcategories. These coding have been analyzed manually by two coders and NVivo-14 has been used for the thematic analysis of the editorials. The findings revealed that SDG goal 6: Clean water and sanitation has received the highest priority whereas SDG goals: Affordable energy, Gender equality and Life on land are the least covered area in the newspapers. It is also found that most of the entire editorials have been interpretatively written, while majority of them have adopted proactive approach. The most cited themes of these editorials are development, health and water. However, newspaper coverage has a significant impact on the adoption and implementation of public policies like SDGs. This study explored the extent to which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are reflected in Bangladeshi newspapers.