Participants of a roundtable on Tuesday said that broadcast journalism should be run by journalists and not by industrialists.
Speaking at the discussion on ‘what we have achieved in the era of broadcast journalism’ organised to mark World Television Day officials, industrialists and working journalists said that industrialists can invest in TV channels but they should be run by professional journalists.
Journalism Training and Research Institute and Media Museum of Bangladesh jointly organised the session at JATRI conference room with assistance from Sydney International School and University of South Asia.
Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said that journalists alone could formulate a broadcasting policy for which they need to unite and open an institute of journalism.
He said that BTV and Bangladesh Betar are there to praise the government for which they lack credibility. People trust what they say and avoid them, he said.
He said that the draft broadcasting policy of the government is silent about the qualifications of owners.
In open market economy, journalists have many choices but they should be careful to avoid embedded journalism, said information commissioner Sadeka Halim.
Editor of yet to be published daily Jagoran Abed Khan said that the rules and regulations regarding recruitment of journalists and appointment of editors are more often overlooked.
He said that the main obstacle for the independence of journalists is that media is run under corporate culture.
Among others, JATRI chief executive Jamil Ahmed, Media Museum of Bangladesh M M Badshah, journalist Jaglul Ahmed, former BGMEA president Anawarul Alam Chowdhury spoke.
In December 1996, the UN General Assembly proclaimed November 21 as World Television Day to acknowledge that television can be used to educate many people about the world, its issues and real stories that happen on the plant.
-With New Age input
