Editorial
Make draft media policy public
Seek wide ranging public and professional reaction before finalizing
Every government, even those with the most democratic of credentials, loves to formulate media policy, or at least dreams of doing so. That is because they want to control the media. Some directly but the more sophisticated ones, indirectly. The fact that they do not succeed is because they are prevented from doing so by the collective force of universal public opinion. It is in the nature of governments, fighting for the hearts and minds of the voters, that they abhor criticism. Those who have the maturity of seeking criticism prefers that it be done in private or through friendly counseling. They seldom, if ever, like public criticism of their actions and a thorough revelation of their failures and misdeeds.
Our government is no exception. In response to a question in the parliament last Sunday our affable information minister, who never tires of saying how media friendly he is, revealed that a draft policy is ready and is being scrutinized, obviously by some bureaucrat whose life long training is to maintain secrecy, and not promote openness which is the life long mission of the media.
From the tenor of the questions in the parliament last Sunday is it clear that our honourable MPs are in a vengeful mood against the media. We saw a regrettable spectacle of media bashing in the House the other day in which Speaker himself participated to the surprise of the public in general. Reportedly last Sunday some MPs suggested that a code of conduct be formulated for the media so that our honourable members are spared what has been called "baseless, politically motivated reporting". They demanded that policy be formulated to prevent "yellow journalism". While we appreciate their eagerness to prevent yellow journalism, may we point out that there is a even greater need to prevent "yellow politics". We think before venturing on a code of conduct for journalists there should be a code of conduct for MPs. In fact there is one already in existence as a private members bill. The House might just as well consider that urgently.
As we can surmise what the MPs have in mind is to tie the hands of the media so that we cannot hold any MP responsible even if he or she indulges in corruption, abuse of power and nepotism. We would like to categorically state that we will oppose tooth and nail such moves.
Let us remind our honourable MPs that one of Bangladesh's biggest success, and one for which our country's image soars sky high, is free media. There are no comparable country at our level of development that has such free media. We have earned it, we are proud of it and we intend to keep it that way. We freely admit that we have many flaws and we are willing to work through some independent body to rectify them. We have, on numerous occasions, suggested that the best body to undertake such a task is the Press Council. Government should strengthen it, fund it, equip it and let it function independently. We promise to co-operate.
For the present, the government should immediately make public the draft media policy so that a wider public discussion can take place. Do not unnecessarily tamper with things that are working well. There are far more pressing issues to occupy government's attention and energy.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
An alarming report on children’s exposure to climate risks
11 hour(s) ago
Editorial
Why is safe water inaccessible for millions despite rising spending?
19 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
BB must confront bad loans’ true scale
18 June 2026, 18:38 PM
Editorial
Dolphin deaths must be investigated
18 June 2026, 08:00 AM
Editorial
Weak policing fuelling rise in crimes
17 June 2026, 18:18 PM
Editorial
Comments