Swapon for independent commission to strengthen media
Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon has said the government is going to establish an independent commission to strengthen media by ensuring press freedom. “In the past, the government’s approach was focused only on control. But the present government is committed to ensuring overall discipline and welfare in the media under an independent legal framework in cooperation with all stakeholders, instead of imposing control,” he said.
Swapon was speaking as the chief guest at a views-exchange meeting with the leaders of the convening committee of the newly formed Television Editors Council (TEC) at the ministry. “Just as a strong Election Commission ensures transparency in voting and benefits the state, a strong media commission would ultimately benefit the people,” he said.
He said government itself is one of the stakeholders of media, just as like many others outlets, owners, journalists and workers. The government’s responsibility is to ensure a fair playing field and equal rights for all stakeholders, he mentioned. “We do not want to turn the commission into a tool of propaganda or control like the fascist government,” he said.
Describing the media as a full-fledged industry, Swapon said, many business enterprises hold the ownership of media with the intention of evading taxes or protecting illegal income from other sectors. He stressed that this culture must be stopped. He said if any entrepreneur fails to comply with labor law and implement wage board, pay salaries and benefits regularly and retirement benefits of their employees, and lacks transparency in tax, VAT, or balance sheets, then they will have no right to obtain any media license or renew the existing one.
To keep pace with new transformation of media, the state will take initiative to improve the skills of professionals associating with broadcasting, sound, and graphics engineering in media industry, he said. He strongly criticized the mentality of showing false circulation figures of newspapers, saying the ministry will no longer stand on false structural method to count actual circulation. “A digital print counting system for print media and a digital TRP system for electronic media will be introduced,” he said.
Government provided advertisement benefits will no longer be available on the basis of fabricated circulation figure, he added. TEC convener Dr. Abdul Hai Siddique, member secretary Zobayer Babu and newly elected council members were present.
