bdnews24.com celebrates 7th anniversary

As tension rises and optimism grows about a dialogue to end the political impasse in Bangladesh, top decision and news-makers have gathered to share a common platform at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in Dhaka.

Prominent government and opposition policymakers, judges and lawyers, businesspersons, poets, writers, journalists, cultural activists, athletes, and defence and civil officers attended the 7th anniversary celebrations of bdnews24.com on Wednesday.

The program began at 8:50pm through the rendering of the national anthem.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moin Khan and former Caretaker government Chief Advisor and then Chief Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman were among the many prominent citizens wishing the country's first online newspaper a success.

The dignitaries included Barrister Rafique Ul Haque, Ambassador of the Russian Federation Alexander A Nikolaev, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose, Communist Party of Bangladesh President Mujahidul Islam Selim, DSE President Ahsanul Islam Tito, CSE President Al Maruf Khan and former FBCCI President Salman F Rahman.

bdnews24.com, Bangladesh’s first internet newspaper, was opened to readers in Bangladesh and beyond seven years ago, inspiring a legion of followers.

A bdnews24.com spokesperson said, “We have been doing nothing more than drafting history by collecting and presenting news for the last seven years. We believe all responsible news mediums have to play this role.”

It all began in 2005 when ‘BDNEWS’ was a news provider like other news outlets. But while they had begun operating with the teleprinter, it set itself up on the World Wide Web.

The news provider got a massive makeover after a change in ownership in 2006. It emerged as Bangladesh’s first dot com company and came to be known as bdnews24.com under a new management led by journalist Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

Precisely at 12.01pm on Oct 23, 2006, the website was launched as Bangladesh’s first Internet-only newspaper, providing news both in Bangla and English.

During its journey, bdnews24.com expanded its work, reaching out to readers and well-wishers while earning their trust.

Google Analytics shows hundreds of thousands of readers from 235 countries and territories visiting bdnews24.com.

Since 2011, what used to be two million viewers per month, the number has risen to 10 million. That translates into 45 million page views and 80 million minutes of internet traffic every month.

When activists of Hifazat-e Islam marched into Dhaka in early May to hold an indefinite sit-in at Motijheel, Dhaka’s business hub, one million people visited the site for a round-the-clock, comprehensive coverage.

“Bangladesh’s first Internet newspaper bdnews24.com emerged when democracy and journalism were passing through a transition in the country,” said the bdnews24.com spokesperson. “Our only goal was to create a new standard for journalistic practices in Bangladesh. We have made our mark by familiarising readers with a new technology-based medium and its usage.”

bdnews24.com’s website has added multimedia content to incorporate current innovations. Readers are constantly connecting with bdnews24.com through their favoured social media websites.

When the newspaper celebrated its 5th anniversary in 2011, its Facebook page had 76,257 fans. In the two following years, the number dramatically rose to 5,65,000.

bdnews24.com is also a ubiquitous presence on twitter.

Readers were able to join the celebration in the evening with personalities who make news every hour, as arrangements had been made to broadcast the programme live from Radisson’s ballroom through webcast on Wednesday evening.

The bdnews24.com spokesperson said the news portal, in the past seven years, had successfully striven to become ‘richer and more mature’ for readers of all ages and tastes.

It has been unwavering in its policy of maintaining a ‘responsible editorial stance’ against a trend letting anything pass in the name of ‘unfettered flow of opinion’.

“bdnews24.com is presenting the views by various social actors just as it is giving rise to discussion in blogs and through its news reports in social media websites.”

bdnews24.com was the first to initiate a platform for citizen journalism in Bangladesh. It has added separate sites to provide amusement to children, excitement to sport lovers, materials to intrigue the tech-buff, and sublime stuff for those with literary inclinations.

kidz.bdnews24.com, started in 2007, is Bangladesh’s first website for children in Bangla. tech.bdnews24.com was the site that began providing the news on latest technology and gadgets in Bangla language.

Arts.bdnews24.com brought online news on art, literature, creative writing, literary debate and criticism, and exhibitions in Bangladesh.

This website has made acclaimed literary works easily accessible through e-books, while letting people enjoy the taste of flipping the digital pages of its v-mag or virtual magazine.

Lifestyle on bdnews24.com is a wondrous palette for capturing the contours and colours of what life can offer.

bdnews24.com has dedicated a separate site for cricket lovers, besides providing the latest news on all forms of sport.

People in the country using the Internet on their cell phones can always stay abreast of events with bdnews24.com. It also was the first to provide news through the entirely new mediums of sms and voice news in 2006.

“bdnews24.com, by combining ‘flawless exclusivity’ of print and the ‘instantaneous’ aspect of broadcast journalism, has achieved enviable reliability,” said a former bdnews24.com news editor.

“I believe bdnews24.com has succeeded in retaining its credibility among readers and critics though its in-depth coverage of national and foreign news.”