Web-based Info Portal 'the Editor' Launched
Exercise freedom to ensure free, fair election by Dec '08
Speakers urge media
Veteran journalist ABM Musa speaks at the launching ceremony of a web-based news agency at the National Press Club in the city yesterday. On his left are Prof Anu Muhammad and Prof MM Akash.Photo: STAR
Speakers at a launching ceremony of a web-based news agency yesterday urged the media to exercise its freedom to ensure a free and fair election by December 2008. They said the people of Bangladesh are politically conscious and they know which newspaper is practising embedded and bottle-fed journalism and which one is playing a pro-people and balanced role. Speaking at the launching ceremony of 'The Editor', a web-based information portal and resources, at the National Press Club in the city, the speakers also discussed various issues regarding recent journalistic practice in the country. The Editor has officially appeared as a new web-based news agency and is committed to practice 'community journalism'. The new thing in it is that people from all over the country can actively participate in reporting. The web-address is www.the-editor.net. Speaking as chief guest, veteran journalist ABM Musa said, “We badly needed '1/11', otherwise we would have got a February 15-like election. The media should not do anything that will make room for the caretaker government to linger the electoral process.” “Similarly, if the caretaker government is truly committed to its roadmap, it need not announce the election schedule everyday...this type of announcement can create mistrust in people on the prospect of election,” he added. Appreciating Bangladesh media for its unique way of journalistic practice, Musa said, "Still some newspapers are twisting news...and very often they are publishing exaggerated news which is coming from unverified sources.” Emphasisng the role of internet-based news agency, Prof Anu Muhammad said the web-based news has become the 'alternative media' and now considered to be a 'counter hegemony' to 'controlled media' across the world. “The US people had been kept away from news very cleverly. They never knew the aggressive role of the US government and the massacre it is carrying out in Iraq and Afghanistan. At that time internet became the source of getting balanced news and it started changing the mindset...People are now launching anti-war movement,” he observed. Prof MM Akash of Dhaka University appreciated the new approach which will entertain people's participation. He said pro-people bias is a healthy practice in journalism but ruling-class bias is not only worth abandoning but also dangerous. Maj Gen (Retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, Editor Dipu Hasan and Managing Editor Dr Shamim Talukdar of The Editor also spoke on the occasion.
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