President M Abdul Hamid today asked mass media to play a responsible role by giving priority to the national interest.
“Play a responsible role by giving priority to the national interest and abiding by the journalistic ethics,” the President said while addressing a function on the occasion of 45th founding anniversary of Bangladesh Press Council Day and Press Council award-giving ceremony at a city hotel here.
Noting that media, democracy and development are interlinked, he said each
of the three key components will be dysfunctional without others, and the
mass media can help institutionalize the democracy.
“Fabricated, provocative news and yellow journalism can never be the friend
of democracy,” he said, adding that the Press Council can play a very
significant role as the ‘watchdog’ in this regard.
The President said billionaire businessmen now own different media outlets
and they are playing a very conducive role in flourishing mass media
undoubtedly. “But the authorities concerned must keep in mind that the media
cannot be used to serve the narrow personal or institutional interest,” he
said.
The Press Council must work to ensure publishing and airing objective and
unbiased news simultaneously, upholding the spirit of Bengali culture and
Liberation War, he suggested.
Referring to country’s tremendous development, President Hamid said the
role of the media people is also very important in turning Bangladesh into a
middle-income country by 2021 and attaining the target of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Appreciating the entry of the youth forces with university degrees and ICT
knowledge into journalism, he said they should utilize their talent and
expertise with honesty and impartiality for the sake of the motherland.
“They (young journalists) would be a model of a non-communal Bangladesh to
be freed from militancy and terrorism,” the President hoped.
A total of seven awards were given to five personalities and two
institutions for their outstanding contributions to journalism.
Late editor of Samakal Golam Sarwar (lifetime achievement award), Jasim
Uddin Harun from The Financial Express (development journalism), Md Murshid
Alam from Dainik Mukta Barta based in Bogura (rural journalism), Sony Ramani
from Daily New Age (photography), Ayesha Siddika Akashi from Madaripur based
newspaper daily Subarnogram (women journalism).
Daily Ittefaq and Dainik Azadi have been awarded in the ‘institution
category’.
Congratulating the Press Council award winners, the President said this
award would encourage brave, honest and neutral journalism in the country.
Press Council Chairman Justice Mohammed Mumtaz Uddin Ahmed, Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Information Ministry Hasanul Haq Inu, Information Secretary Abdul Malek, Press Council Member Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul, among others, spoke on the occasion.
