The Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) on Thursday hosted a dialogue titled “Media Freedom: The Issue of Political Commitments in Manifesto” to discuss potential reforms and challenges facing the mass media.

The event was moderated by CGS President Zillur Rahman.

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was present at the dialogue.

Executive Director of CGS Parvez Karim Abbasi, Convener of BNP Media Cell Dr. Moudud Hossain Alamgir Pavel, Special Assistant to the BNP Chairperson on Foreign Affairs Committee Dr. Saimum Parvez; President of Gonoforum Advocate Subrata Chowdhury; General Secretary of Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal Nazmul Haque Prodhan; Member of Central Committee of Communist Party of Bangladesh Manzur Moin, among others, also attended.

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said that the future of democracy could be in jeopardy if the incoming government fails to effectively combat misinformation and disinformation.

“The government that will run the country should brainstorm about tackling misinformation. Otherwise, failure to address it will lead the country towards political turmoil,” he said.

Shafiqul Alam reflected on the long and shifting relationship between the government and the media since 1947, noting that it has alternated between periods of openness and restriction.

“During Ayub Khan’s time, there was media freedom, but after 1990, journalists enjoyed the highest freedom under the caretaker government,” he said.

“During the Awami League government, journalism reached its lowest point. However, efforts are now being made to recover from that decline under Hasina’s leadership,” Shafiqul Alam added.

Zillur Rahman said the people of Bangladesh have long fought for democracy and sacrificed countless lives, but even after 54 years of independence, this struggle continues.”

He mentioned that media freedom was strictly suppressed in 1975, and its effects are still felt today.

He appealed to political parties, urging them to include media reforms in their election manifestos, hoping for a positive change among political parties.

Dr. Moudud Alamgir Pavel said there is a vast difference between news and photo cards. The ordinances we talk about are all for print media, but we do not discuss social media. Millions of journalists have emerged on social media, and their news goes viral quickly.”

He further stated, “Now print media is following social media. We need to think about how acceptable this is to us. The people of the country are losing faith in whether the media can represent them properly.” Pavel said, “There was an opportunity to work on media ordinances, but when they said ‘it’s better that nothing happens than this’, we too felt disappointed.”

CGS Executive Director Parvez Karim Abbasi said, “We have been fighting for media freedom since the Pakistan era, but no government, regardless of its political affiliation, has refrained from intervening in the media.”

He mentioned that social media has become a major issue today, and the corporatization of media houses has destabilized the economic structure of the media.

 “There is no reliable source of income for media workers, yet we keep saying 'media freedom is necessary', but in reality, it is not happening.”

Abbasi further said that there is no effective solution regarding media freedom among political parties. “To make the media independent, an independent financial structure is needed,”  he said.

Subrata Chowdhury remarked, “In my 54 years of journalism experience, we have seen many promises and high expectations, but we have never enjoyed media freedom under any government.” He mentioned, “When Sheikh Hasina was in the opposition, she spoke about less media coverage, but after coming to power, everything changed.”

General Secretary of Gono Odhikar Porishod Md Rashed Khan said journalism must remain independent, but the system that existed during Sheikh Hasina's time is still in place.

He said that protecting journalists' safety and security is our responsibility, and his party will include this in its manifesto.

“No news should be deleted due to fear. Journalists at the grassroots level do not receive proper salaries, and this needs to change,” he said.