This study investigates whether the media ownership in the countries affect the performances of government banks by using 67 country data from 2004 to 2010. We find that government banks in countries with lower government-ownership outperform private-owned banks. The evidences confirm a bright side of government banks when countries have strong media monitor environment. On the contrary, government banks in countries with higher government-ownership apparently underperform the private-owned ones, supporting the political view. Therefore, if a country wants to enhance the operation performances of government banks, then the government should minimize the influences in media.