Relief International organized a radio talk show on Radio Foorti, a nationally broadcast radio station of Bangladesh. The program was held as part of the “Transparency for Human Rights in Bangladesh” in order to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day on 3^rd May 2011. The program began with a brief introduction about RI and introduction of the speakers, Mr. Jalil Bhuyian, City Editor of The Daily Star and Mr. Rafiqul Islam Ratan, Chief Reporter of Daily Jugantor. They started the discussion with analysis of the term “Freedom of Expression”, which is one of the core codes in our Constitution.  Both speakers agreed that freedom of expression is subject to certain situations, and certain other factors must be taken into consideration such as contempt of court, slander, national security and the like. They stressed that media professionals are at complete liberty to express their opinions, as long as it does not create a problem for anyone else.

Mr. Ratan spoke about the time journalists were under such strict restrictions that they were only allowed to print news that was dictated to them. In response to this , Mr. Jalil elaborated that Marshal Law was followed in Bangladesh, and citizens were not even allowed to use certain words in the paper. Even the word “hartal” was not allowed to be printed in the paper, and strikes had to be described as a special situation. They agreed that when an elected government is in power, the newspapers face no problem in exercising freedom of expression. The example of the current government was presented, which has allowed widespread freedom of expression and strict scrutiny and has even changed some of its decision based on public opinion. Various journalists’ unions and journalists’ unions advocated for rights of journalists, and as a result The Right to Information Act has been implemented.

Mr. Jalil thoroughly appreciated the fact that the Act empowers journalists to a large extent, and that Bangladeshis are enjoying press freedom to a large extent as Bangladesh has approximately 1350 daily newspapers and 450 weekly magazines, besides other leaflets, newsletters, etc. Mr. Ratan quoted from a document released from the Press Wing of the President’s Office that the the Commissioners of the Information Commission ,Muhammad Zameer and Sadequa Haleem ,received approximately 25410 questions from all over the country, and out of this they have been able to answer 25350 of those questions. These questions were about various important issues pertaining to Bangladesh and the economy. Mr. Jalil added that this information was used not just by journalists, but also by other civil society officials, officials of community based organizations, and more such officials.

Both speakers together agreed that those members of the public who work with information and media must remember that responsible treatment of information is imperative. One important example they put forward was that the share market crash had primarily been reported by newspapers. In fact investment in Bangladesh and bank loans are a crucial issue in Bangladesh ,thus newspapers need to ensure maximum caution and objectivity when reporting on these issues. If the media ensures fair and objective reporting, then the reports can indeed be very useful for all Bangladeshi nationals and even the government. They stressed that media should be seen an ally and informant of the government instead of an opponent.

Mr. Ratan related that in The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV)  that took place between 9-13 May, 2011 in Istanbul,Turkey, our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her belief that Bangladesh will be a middle income country before the next United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries takes place.  She also said that a country can only be able to come out of the Least Developed Countries’ category and improve their standard of living by ensuring good governance and complete transparency. The Managing Director of the World Bank also supported her views and looked forward to the prosperity of Bangladesh.

The show ended with the speakers’ recommendation to the aspiring media professionals. They said that media has always been a positive force of our country and has always helped in the development of our country. Thus aspiring media professionals must also ensure that they prepare objective and informative reports, and although they should certainly exercise freedom of expression, they should be cautious not to hurt anyone by it.

To listen to the recorded version of the radio talk show, Download.