Interim govt asked no outlet to remove report: CA’s press secy

The current government is working to ensure that the media can work independently as it has not requested any media outlet to remove news reports, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said.

"After taking oath, the Yunus-led interim government has not asked any media outlets to remove any new report," he said at the Investigative Journalism Awards and Conclave 2024 organised by the Transparency International Bangladesh in Dhaka today (5 December). 

Talking about misinformation, he mentioned that the viral screenshots of supposed messages between a senior secretary and a joint secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration on the appointment of deputy commissioners were fake.

"A terrible lie was published about the senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration. After the news came out, we formed a committee," he said, referring to the news, first published by a Bangla daily on 3 October.

"The committee conducted an investigation into the issue through a third party," Shafiqul said. "The committee found the screenshots were fake."

Media control by Hasina regime 

The press secretary also mentioned that Hasina's government controlled the media in three ways - by appointing party people to top positions in various government agencies, administration and media. 

The regime also gave approval for registration to newspapers, television and online portals on a mass scale but only one-fourth of the approved outlets had the ability to run the press, he added.

Besides, the ousted Awami League regime appointed people from their party at the policy-making stage of those outlets, the press secretary said.   

"As a result, reporters of those outlets could not publish any report that was critical of the government," he added.

Shafiqul, who previously served as the chief of the international news agency AFP's Bangladesh bureau, also said the Hasina admin used law enforcement agencies against the press to control the media.

"Sometimes interventions were made by ministers. They used to call the media's top management and ask them to sack journalists. Besides, the Prime Minister's Press Wing was dedicated to calling media houses and asking them to delete news reports that were critical of the government."

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman moderated the event where chief of Media Reform Commission Kamal Ahmed, New Age Editor Nurul Kabir and others spoke.

Media licences under political consideration

Kamal Ahmed in his speech said numerous newspapers and television channels had been given licences during the Hasina regime under political consideration although they did not have the capability to run a media outlet.

He noted that Bangladesh currently has 46 operating satellite television channels and 546 newspapers. 

"Most of them were given licences during the fascist Hasina regime without considering whether these media maintain public interest or not. These media houses' role was to counter those media which tried objective journalism," added the commission head.

State of investigative journalism 

New Age Editor Nurul Kabir called on the government to introduce a new wage board that will pay journalists in accordance with the current economy.

"Investigative journalism is very expensive. Without enough budget, you can't do it. Reporters struggle to operate under the ninth wage board. It [current wage board] was made 8-10 years ago, and it's not in line with the present inflated economy," added Kabir.

Earlier in the morning, during a panel discussion on "Investigative Journalism in Bangladesh", Golam Mortaza, newly appointed press minister at Bangladesh Mission in Washington, said only 15%-20% of reports on militants were based on investigative reporting by journalists, while the remaining 80%-85% relied on police sources, serving the police's agenda.

He added, "Individuals, such as madrasa teachers with beards and caps, were labeled as militants without proper justification, and there was no opportunity to challenge these claims."

Later, TIB announced the winners of the Investigative Journalism Awards and Conclave 2024. 

The Daily Star reporter Zyma Islam was awarded in the national media category; Shariful Islam, chief reporter at Chattogram's Ekhushe Patrika won in the local media category; and Al-Amin Haque Ahon of Jamuna Television won the award in the television category.

Talaash, a programme of Independent Television, was awarded in the documentary category.