The Bangladesh Police Service Association (BPSA), representing elite officers (BCS cadre) of the law enforcement force, has issued a strong and ominous message to the media. The statement was disturbing, as its tone and tenor appeared to intimidate journalists from reporting on corruption involving any of its members. In an unusually lengthy release (12 paragraphs and over fifty lines), the association did not cite a single report or name to which they objected for being slanderous. The association's statement  seems to place collective blame on the media, claiming that "partial, motivated, and indiscriminate reports about former and serving members of the Bangladesh police are being published serially in the news media (print and electronic) and on social media." While the association has every right to protest what it calls a "smear campaign" against its members, it did not name any alleged victims of defamation, making it difficult to justify accusing any m...

  “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”- This is what article 19 of the Universal Human Rights Declaration promised 75 years ago . As a signatory to this declaration, Bangladesh is duty-bound to uphold these rights for all its citizens. At the heart of this commitment lies the crucial role of journalists and media outlets, entrusted with the responsibility of delivering fact-based, unbiased information. Nevertheless, within the current political environment and economic realities, the cherished ideal of press freedom appears increasingly elusive.   Even more disheartening is the unprecedented level of assault on journalism worldwide. Governments, large corporations, tech giants, transnational criminal syndicates, and various interest groups are all intimidated by \ revelations, fiercely s...

Another day, another attack on the press in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, this latest attack was brutal and the target was a journalist working far away from Dhaka, the capital, which meant he had little or no protection and institutional support for doing the most difficult job of holding the powerful accountable. The horrific death Golam Rabbani Nadim met with last week in Jamalpur’s Bakshiganj upazila was the  result of merciless beating by some musclemen allegedly on the orders of the local union parishad chairman Mahmudul Alam.  Nadim was attacked the very day he learnt that a court had exonerated him from defamation charges brought under the most dreaded Digital Security Act (DSA) by chairman Mahmudul Alam for publishing a story about the latter’s alleged bigamy. In many conservative societies,  bigamy is considered a crime - or at the least moral degradation. UP chairmen are entrusted with the responsibility of issuing character certificates to residents within their ...

As countries observe World Press Freedom Day today with the theme “freedom of expression is a driver for all other human rights,” Bangladesh is perhaps passing through the worst phase of it. Our standing in the global index has been witnessing a year-on-year slide for quite some time, despite the fact that the number of media outlets - be it a newspaper, a TV channel or a multimedia portal - has seen a spectacular growth. These numbers have given the government a viable tool to counter the national and international outcry of curbing media freedom.   Media plurality, though essential in all democracies, has become a tool for drowning out independent and critical voices. From India, the world has learnt a new term called ‘Godi media’ which is used to describe the unprecedented growth and expansion of news outlets that represent the coterie formed among politicians belonging to the ruling party, the government, and their corporate owners. Replication of this model in our country...

  The timeline of arrestingProthom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman Shams is very telling. According to the police documents, a case under the Digital Security Act against Shams was registered with Tejgaon police station at 02:15 a.m. on Wednesday by Syed Golam Kibria, general secretary of Jubo League’s Dhaka North Ward 11 unit. In less than two hours, members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) reached Shams’ home in Savar, accompanied by a sub-inspector from the local police station. The speed of police response to this case indicates that the ruling party man did not bring it on a whim. Now, a case has been filed against the newspaper’s editor-publisher, Matiur Rahman. Remember the announcement made by law minister Anisul Haque that the home ministry had instructed the police that journalists would no longer be arrested under the DSA until an investigation was complete? Why was that instruction not complied with by Tejgaon police? This incident is a clear proof that the pl...

Frustrations over the role played by the media in Bangladesh can be felt profoundly in every corner of the country. Trust in media , to be more precise, so called mainstream media or traditional media is in free fall for quite some time. Many of us, people behind the media, journalists, editors and publishers often seek solace in blaming the emergence of new media phenomenon, internet and social media. No one can deny the fact that people have almost given up reading newspapers over morning tea, looking at flagship news programmes at their scheduled hours, may it be in the morning or in the evening. Instead, their eyes are on handheld devices, mostly smartphones for breaking news spread through Facebook status or Tweets. If anyone wants little more about any specific story, they will look for catch–up big stories or a video clip. But, what about our failures? What about our professional leaders, the editors? Haven’t they failed their audiences by not being able to keep engaged? ...

  On May 31, our diplomat-in-chief, foreign minister A K A Momen sent a message to diplomatic correspondents in Dhaka suggesting what questions they should ask the US ambassador. By the time his message was transmitted to journalists, the US ambassador’s press event, DCAB Talk was over, and the minister’s note ended up as a story itself instead. It couldn’t be ascertained whether the message was a government advisory or a tutorial note as there was no official explanation about it following the publication of the story.  It was a story for all the wrong reasons. Contents of his note suggest that he was unhappy, perhaps angry, too - at the US ambassador’s public comments on the state of democracy, human rights, press freedom and sanctions on RAB. He wrote, “Please, you (newsmen) ask the US envoy why they cannot stop such extra judicial killings in their own country? Secondly, about 100,000 US citizens go missing every year. Even children are deprived of reuniting with their His...

Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their relentless struggle to protect freedom of expression. Announcing the award, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said the duo were receiving the prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia. "The committee considered Ressa and Muratov to be representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions," she added. The recognition of the struggle for freedom of expression and independent journalism in Andersen's speech is also a source of joy and inspiration for us, because we, too, are part of that long struggle. The Nobel Committee, in its announcement, noted that "free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda." Justifying its awarding decision, it ...

Though the phrase, “newspapers are a mirror to society”, is an overused metaphor, the situation of a country’s media does reflect the nature of the state, whether it is democratic, autocratic, monarchical, authoritarian or indeed one-party rule. The media’s 50-year journey in Bangladesh is no exception. Its characteristics, purpose and behaviour over the five decades have transformed according to changes in the custodians in power. Accordingly, its development can be broadly defined in different segments of time, including two brief periods when the media enjoyed real freedom.  The first period of real freedom was very brief, lasting about two years after independence while the second episode took place following the restoration of democracy in the 1990s. In between those two periods – involving the final years of the first government and two different military regimes — there were contrasting scenarios. Between 1973 to 1975 and between 1982-1990, there was stricter tightening of m...