The government does not want to control the media, state minister for information and broadcasting Yaser Khan Chowdhury has said, adding that it is committed to developing professional journalism, improving the quality of the media and ensuring journalists’ welfare.
He was speaking at a meeting with members of the current executive committee of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in the conference room of the information and broadcasting ministry at the Secretariat on Tuesday (September 29).
The tendency to spread rumours by opening fly-by-night social media pages and online portals, under real or fake names, has grown and is having a negative effect on society, the state minister said.
Outside the mainstream media, many people use a single mobile phone to call themselves journalists and spread misleading information. Describing this as a major problem, he said an accepted definition of and criteria for who is a journalist urgently need to be set.
He said this would be discussed with journalists’ organisations including the BFUJ, DUJ and DRU, and with editors, and that the matter is also being reviewed at ministry and inter-ministerial level. Specific criteria are also needed for benefits from the Journalists’ Welfare Trust and for other policies, he said.
Assuring the DRU of support on journalists’ welfare, professional standards and various media-related problems, the state minister said: “We will continue talking with the DRU on matters concerning journalists’ interests.”
Noting the government’s sincerity about implementing a timely wage board for journalists, he said he would hold personal and institutional discussions with the labour ministry to make quick progress.
DRU president Abu Saleh Akon said looking after journalists’ problems is the responsibility of the information and broadcasting ministry. The DRU has been helping the government on journalists’ welfare and problems and will continue to do so, he said, expressing hope that the government will take effective steps to ensure a media-friendly environment.
DRU general secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel said the organisation works as a non-political platform for the welfare and development of professional journalists. He called for steps to ensure journalists are not harassed under the proposed cyber security law.
DRU vice-president Mehdi Azad Masum, office secretary Rashim Molla, women’s affairs secretary Jannatul Ferdous Panna, sports secretary Omar Faruk Rubel, cultural secretary Monowar Hossain, hospitality secretary Aminul Haque Bhuiyan and members of the executive committee were also present.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report