Commission finds extreme fraud in newspaper circulation audit

The Media Reform Commission dropped a bombshell Saturday about the audit of Bangladesh’s newspaper circulation. 

“Extreme fraud,” called it the commission chief Kamal Ahmed, peeling back a scam where 15.1 million papers are claimed sold daily in Dhaka alone—yet the real number barely scrapes 1 million. That is 14.1 million ghost copies, a mirage built to rake in government ad cash.  

Kamal Ahmed came up with the information at a press briefing organised outside the State Guest House Jamuna after the commission submitted its report to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

The Department of Film and Publication (DFP) lists 600 newspapers snagging state advertisements, Kamal Ahmed revealed. But chat with the city’s two hawker unions—the boots on the ground—and only 52 titles hit the streets regularly. 

“Who’s buying the rest?” he asked, voice sharp. “They don’t exist. They’re props for ad fraud.” 

This isn’t new, he stressed—just a long, dark dance of deceit now dragged into daylight.  

Pressed on solutions, Kamal Ahmed did not flinch. “We’ve pitched hard checks,” he told reporters. “Make tax returns mandatory—show your sales. Cross-check hawker bills too.”