Media must apprise people of country’s progress: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday urged the mass media to present the country’s progress and development to the mass people.

“The development and progress of the country have been recognized by the global community and it is the ethical responsibility of the mass media to inform people about the attained development of the country through their respective media,” he said.

The minister made the call while unveiling the cover of the book ‘Jatir Pita Sheikh Mujib’, published under a project of the Department of Mass Communication being implemented by Bangladesh Ansar and VDP, at his Secretariat office in the capital.

Director-General of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP Major General Mizanur Rahman Shamim, additional secretary of the ministry Md Faruque Ahmed and project director Dewan Omar Faruk, among others, addressed the function.

Frustrated people do not have the capability to reach the desired target of the country, Hasan said, adding people will become perturbed if bad news is published constantly.

He said negative news must be published if those have news value. But it is also needed to inform the progress of Bangladesh as the country has already left behind Pakistan in every index and India in many indexes, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.

Replying to a query over BNP’s negative remarks on dialogues regarding the formation of EC, the minister said the Election Commission was formed through the dialogue of the President with political parties ahead of the last parliamentary polls.

Mahabub Talukder, who expressed his disagreements with many decisions of the EC, was also selected as one of the members of the commission through the dialogue, he added.

He said it is proved that the system of forming the election commission was correct and the dialogue is effective. The dialogue of the President with the political parties for forming the EC is for consolidating democratic norms, he added.

The minister said there are many democratic countries across the globe where even the dialogue is not held before forming the election commission.

Hasan hoped that BNP would come out from the unconstructive politics, saying if they (BNP) have any objections on any issue, they can tell it to the President by taking part in the dialogue and it is the democratic norms.