This study thematically selects and analyses 4 530 news items from 15 mainstream news outlets of Bangladesh through a gender-equality and gender-sensitive lens. It tries to ascertain baseline practices and coverage trends concerning women and people of non-binary genders.

The study scanned contents of 21 days for each selected newspaper, television bulletin and online news portal. The days spanned 2019 and 2020 for print and TV, and November-December 2021 for online news portals. 

Qualitative analysis found that at least 70% percent to nearly 90 percent of the news coverage ignored these people. Even the samples selected mainly for their representation carried voices of men more. Voices of the hijra or the non-binary people were nearly absent.

The study recommends similar and more thematic content analysis as follow-up and qualitative studies of smaller samples. It recommends advocacy for ethical guidelines stressing gender and diversity as core requirements, and for enabling policies to ensure equal representation of genders in newsrooms. These steps could help news media contribute to ending discriminations prevailing in society on grounds of gender and diversity.