Media with integrity and responsibility is vital for the country's welfare, asserts Rizwana.
In a significant move towards media reform and sustainability, key figures in Bangladesh's media landscape gathered on September 7th, 2021, to discuss the way forward.
The Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, emphasized the importance of objective and accountable media for the national interest. She also highlighted that an objective media is one of the expectations of the caretaker government.
The Executive Director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Barrister Sara Hossain, addressed the event as a special guest. Other speakers included Member Secretary of the BJC Elias Hossain, Country Director of BBC Media Action Md. Al Mamun, and Executive Member Golam Parvez Reza.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan emphasized that media must create a space for accountability in the interest of the nation. She also highlighted the need for enhancing journalists' professionalism, fostering self-regulation, promoting unity within the media sector, and empowering the media to contribute meaningfully to the national economy.
To ensure sustainability, if all stakeholders implement the Media Reform Commission's recommendations, it will be a significant step forward. The government has taken a firm stance against mob justice and is bringing those involved under the purview of the law.
However, it's important to note that, as of current research findings (end of 2023), there is no widely known, uniformly named institution in the German-speaking world (Austria, Germany, Switzerland), which goes by the name of "Committee for the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Media Reform Commission." The terms Media Reform Commission, Government Committee, and related implementation committees are not fixed labels like Bundestag, Bundesrat, or Mediator-Kommission, but rather have specific tasks and specific names, depending on the country, the political context, and the specific time period.
In Bangladesh, a committee has been formed by the government to implement the recommendations submitted by the Media Reform Commission. This committee consists of five advisers who are reviewing not only the commission's recommendations but also various relevant issues. Efforts are being made to compile a summary of the Media Commission's recommendations and chart a clear roadmap for their implementation.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan also stated that true sustainability in the media cannot be achieved through superficial changes in written policies. She expressed that the mass media will be sustainable only if public confidence and acceptability increase. Deeper psychological transformation is required for true sustainability in the media, as per Syeda Rizwana Hasan.
The government will provide support, but the responsibility of maintaining the media's durability lies with the media itself. Representatives from various media outlets and media organizations took part in an open discussion.
The event was chaired by Sayed Ahmed, Trustee of the Broadcast Journalist Centre (BJC). The gathering marked a significant step towards ensuring a sustainable, objective, and accountable media landscape in Bangladesh.
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