Bangladesh newspapers urge government policy to help newspapers
By Leah McBride Mensching, Tuesday 12 February 2008 at 22:54 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #1246 :: rss
Editors of four national dailies in Bangladesh, as well as 30 editors and publishers of local dailies, urged their government to implement policies that would help newspapers survive during difficult times.
The editors of Amar Desh, Amader Shomoy, Manabzamin and Bhorer Kagoj and others addressed the government at the “Problems of the newspaper industry” forum, organised by the Progressive Democratic Party, The Daily Star has reported Wednesday.
Those representing newspapers said production costs in Bangladesh are increasing, while advertising rates are slow, and urged the government to provide bank loans to small newspapers to help them survive, according to The Daily Star.
Motiur Rahman Chowdhury, editor-in-chief of Dainik Manabzamin, said in his keynote speech that the government is suppressing the newspaper industry, and that the government's allocation of advertising to newspapers is full of corruption. He pointed to the events of Jan. 11, 2007 (when the country's military-backed caretaker government declared a state of emergency, which prohibited street protests and public gatherings, but not “indoor political activities.”) as evidence.
“Newspapers had a great role in bringing about 1/11 but the fact is newspapers have been suffering after 1/11,” said Motiur, according to The Daily Star.
Those representing local dailies urged the government to allocate government advertisements to them, and said a new system needs to be developed for distributing the ads, which are currently improperly allocated by the Department of Films and Publications.
All newspaper representatives agreed that advertising rates are currently too low, The Daily Star reported.
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