Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Joint General Secretary of Awami League Dr Hasan Mahmud has called upon the members of Overseas Correspondents Association Bangladesh (OCAB) to represent the country properly in foreign media.
He made the call in a solo speech at the 'Meet the OCAB’ event at the National Press Club in the capital on Wednesday afternoon, describing the important role of OCAB in reflecting the country in the world media. The minister answered various questions of the journalists at a function presided over by OCAB convener Qadir Kallol of BBC Bangla and chaired by Nazrul Islam Mithu, Member Secretary of German Press Agency. AP, Deutsche Welle, Xinhua representatives and OCAB members were present at the time.
The Prime Minister has been trying her best to ensure smooth functioning of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting since its inception, said Dr Hassan.
“Above all, ensuring freedom of the press - for which I am constantly striving. With the approval of the Prime Minister, the name of the ministry was changed to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting from March 15 last year, which is consistent with our work,” he said.
The minister spoke on the occasion of Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and Transparency International Bangladesh.
He said, "Heads of various international organizations, including the United Nations, heads of state of different countries and the world's media have praised Bangladesh's unprecedented development in various fields over the last decade."
On the other hand, Amnesty International, an organization that is biased against Bangladesh, does not protest against the killing of Palestinian children by the Israeli army in a brushfire in response to the throwing of Palestinian children. That is why they have lost credibility. Reporters Without Borders has proved to itself that their free media index and reporting is malicious by pointing out Bangladesh's position behind the killing of women in Afghanistan for their coverage of the news. At the same time, the TIB is losing its grip on political parties by making statements on all issues, he added.
Minister Hassan Mahmood said, "I think the way the media enjoys freedom in Bangladesh is an example for many developing countries. In the UK, if there is a false or untrue report against someone, a lawsuit is filed and the media is fined. An entire BBC team had to resign for spreading false news against an MP. Even three months ago, many BBC members had to resign due to a misreporting. There, in 2011, the 17-year-old News of the World newspaper was fined so much for its misreporting that it shut down the newspaper and declared the company bankrupt. This kind of thing happens in continental Europe too, it has never happened in our country.”
Highlighting the recent activities and achievements of the minister initiated the implementation of the law on ad-free broadcasting of foreign channels. He said that tax evasion campaign against eviction of more than 1 thousand crore taka of the country through operation of illegal Dish TV through operation of mobile courts on several occasions.
At the same time, in the light of current realities, policy formulation on OTT platform management, drafting of media workers law and broadcasting law, providing unprecedented assistance to media workers from Covid-19 under the sincere patronage of the Prime Minister to save thousands of rupees in the construction industry. The joint general secretary of the Awami League also highlighted the issue of increasing government grants for films and directing the Press Council to create a database of journalists.
