The Editors Council on Tuesday sought more ‘responsible and supportive’ role from the government in preserving the freedom, objectivity and neutrality of all the media, including the newspapers.
“We’ve been observing with grave concern that it has become difficult for all national electronic media, including the newspapers, to work freely and neutrally,” the Council said in a statement.
On one hand, incidents of violence and attacks on on-duty journalists are going on in the name of political programmes and efforts are there on the other to curtail the freedom of newspapers and electronic media, the statement said. The Editors Council said it thinks the directives about programmes and news are interference in freedom of expression.
“TV talk-shows have been intervened in many ways. Some talk-show programmes have been stopped by this time. Lists of talk-show discussants have been specified. Interference is there in TV live programmes. We think the direction over which items will be aired or which not is interference in freedom of expression,” the statement said.
Alleging that some journalists are not getting any chance to cover government and particular party programmes, the statement said treating the media and other forces as opposition cannot be helpful for independent media.
“The governent and the administration are creating obstructions towards gathering and dissemination of unbiased news. Sometimes some newspapers have been labeled as the mouthpieces of a specific party/quarter,” the statement added.
Citing the government’s reaction in Parliament to a photograph and caption published in The Daily Star, the statement said expression of negative view is not desirable from any government.
It said the statements made in Parliament against Editors and Publishers are tantamount to threat to their security.
“Editors and Publishers are being harassed through filing false cases against them. Even the incident like police search in the New Age office which is also part of harassment,” the Editors Council said.
The statement mentioned that a frightening situation has been created by arresting owners of more than one TV channels.
Govt regrets statement
The information ministry in a statement on Wednesday said that the statement published in the name of the Editor’s Council was “unfortunate and regrettable.”
It said that at a time when the media was enjoying full freedom such a statement was “neither realistic nor desirable.”
It went on to say that the current government had enacted the Right to Information (RTI) Act, set up the Information Commission and Human Rights’ Commission and announced the Eighth Wage Board for the overall development, protection and welfare of the media and media persons.
Moreover, it had taken a number of steps including constituting the Journalists’ Welfare Trust for the benefit of working journalists.
The statement cited several steps including the Press Council Act and the National Broadcasting Commission as contributing to the general development of the media. It also said that the Penal Code had been amended to give media person’s clemency.
The statement said that under the current government the media had “boomed” and that there was double the number of publications than in the past.
Besides, 26 television channels were also permitted and 11 FM radios and 32 community radios were provided licensees to operate during the tenure of the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The government also said that no media outlet or any stakeholder was taken to task for their media activities.
The statement further said that parliament had the right to discuss all issues pertaining to the nation.
It said that the government welcomes factual criticism and analysis as it improves its functioning through better transparency and accountability.
It reiterated the government’s position that the media was an integral part of a democratic order. – BSS
