Press Secretary of the Chief Adviser, Shafiqul Alam has explained why media reforms are necessary.
He said that during the Awami League government’s 15 years, the media had been used extensively, creating narratives and even staging terrorist acts.
He mentioned that media outlets were influenced by a simple phone call from various agencies and ministries.
Even the ICT law was misused to commit severe injustices against journalists.
He emphasized that media reforms are needed so that newspapers can operate independently, and journalists can perform their duties appropriately.
On Friday, he spoke at a discussion titled “Proposals for Media Reform: Citizen’s Thoughts” under the banner of “Fascism-Free Media” at the Nasrul Hamid Auditorium of the Dhaka Reporter’s Unity.
Shafiqul Alam said: “In the past 15 years, Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian government has severely misused the media. You all know how they did it. They camouflaged it when foreigners visited, saying, ‘Look, we have 1,000 presses and 10,000 websites. There’s no thriving media industry like ours in the world.’ However, they knew they had the ability to control all of these media outlets.”
He also discussed the issue of mainstream media copying news without permission.
He pointed out: “Our copyright enforcement is very urgent. All journalists should speak strongly about this. You work for two months on a news story, and within seconds, another news portal copies it. You take the most beautiful photo, and a major newspaper publishes it without your consent. Copyright enforcement must happen, as it’s your source of income.”
He further said: “Media outlets that steal news should be shut down. The Editors’ Council, the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity, and the Noab (Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh) should take action against these violators. This theft is affecting our salaries. Because copyright enforcement is absent in our country, everyone steals.”
He emphasized: “To do journalism, you need to spend money. You must pay journalists their salaries. Journalists’ work is not easy. Those who work with journalists should genuinely consider this issue.”
Addressing journalists, Shafiqul Alam said: “If workers in the garment sector can fight for their wages, why can’t you? Whatever media outlet you run, you need to hire good journalists and pay them a minimum wage.”
Akbar Hossain, Press Minister at the British Embassy and senior journalist, mentioned that after August 5, they have been talking about many changes.
They’ve been discussing minimum wages in the garment sector, but how many media outlets follow this standard? He suggested that if a standard could be set, media outlets could be required to adhere to it or shut down.
During the discussion, 13 proposals were raised, which included: Ensuring media freedom, establishing ethics and professionalism in the media, forming an independent media commission to prevent government control, ensuring transparency in ownership and funding, improving journalists’ hiring process and job security, reforming the wage structure, reforming cyber security laws, enacting laws for journalists’ safety, allocating funds for media in the budget, simplifying media registration processes, developing regional and alternative media, ensuring free flow of information, increasing public participation.
Other speakers included Plabon Tariq, spokesperson for “Fascism-Free Media,” Convener Zainal Abedin Shishir, cyber activist Abbas Uddin Nayan, lawyer Mollah Faruk Ehsan, and Lecturer Mahbub Alam from Uttara University.
Dhaka Tribune
