Govt working to create database of journalists: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud said on Sunday that the Bangladesh Press Council was working to create a database of journalists with a view to bringing fake journalists to book.

“Once the database is created, identifying oneself as a journalist will become tough. As a result, the number of fake journalists will drop,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a views exchange meeting with the Editors Forum at his ministry’s meeting room.

During the meeting, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, advisor of the forum, said that journalists must work according to the spirit of the Liberation War, while Rafiqul Islam Ratan, convener of the forum, said that there is no scope to air talk shows or news bulletins on the websites of newspapers or on online news portals according to the Printing Presses and Publications (Declaration and Registration) Act, 1973.

Leaders of the Editors’ forum submitted a 10-point memorandum to the minister at the meeting.

The demands include refraining from providing government advertisements and supplements to and cancelling the registrations of irregular and weak newspapers, paying the outstanding advertisement bills, reorganising the circulation-determining process of newspapers, not making unprofessional journalists the editors of newspapers, designating VIP status to the members of the Editors Forum and enabling the information ministry to provide declarations to newspapers.

Hasan Mahmud thanked the forum for agreeing with the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) that talk shows and news bulletins can’t be broadcast by newspapers.

“Newspapers can publish short videos with their news, not talk shows or news bulletins. The existing law prohibits such practice,” Hasan said.

Member Secretary of the Editors’ Forum Faruk Ahmed Talukder, Advisors of the forum Azizul Islam Bhuiyan, Sharif Shahabuddin and Belayet Hossain, and Members of the forum Dulal Ahmed Chowdhury, Mir Moniruzzaman, Mofizur Rahman Khan Babu, Rimon Mahfuz, Nazmul Alam Toufiq and Jagdish Chandra Sarker attended the meeting.