Speakers ask for uniform policy, rules for all media in Bangladesh

Speakers at a roundtable on the National Broadcast Policy have demanded one set of guidelines and rules for all types of media in Bangladesh.

Separate policies will cause conflicts among them, said a participant of the discussion – National Broadcast Policy 2014: Concerns and Recommendations – organised by ‘Article 19’ on Sunday.

Information technology expert Mustafa Jabbar asked why separate regulations were needed for different types of media.

“It is 2014 and we are talking about a broadcast policy but technology has brought us to a different place. Are we talking about a policy for what we singularly understand as media?

“Why do we need separate policies? Does that mean I can curse someone in the newspaper but not online?” wondered Jabbar.

“This is why a singular National Broadcast Policy should me made and the rest of the work should follow in that line.”

There was a wage board for newspapers but why not television journalists, he asked. “Those who will work for online media in the future, will anyone be there for them?

“There is a Press and Publications Act for newspapers, so why are we still looking for broadcast laws for TV?”

‘Media, not broadcast commission’

“I believe there should be a common platform for the overall media,” Jabbar continued.

“So there should be media commission instead of a broadcast commission. If that happens we can go to it for matters regarding newspapers and TV.”

“We are discussing one policy. The draft for online media was still at the ministry.”

Jabbar was part of both the committees set up to create draft policies for broadcast and online media.

“When I was told that the committee will make a draft policy for online media I thought my work will be easy.

“Why? …Because I can take half of its content from the broadcast policy.”

“I therefore must think about broadcast when I think about online policy. Ninety-five percent of that applies to online. I didn’t find too many differences except technological ones.”

Focus on laws too

Discussing the new policy without paying thorough attention to existing laws surrounding media was a futile exercise, said Jabbar.

“We’ve talked about broadcast policy. Are we talking about the ICT Act? Are we aware of how much it has limited expression?”

“Do we still have the Press and Publications Act from 1973? ... We didn’t talk about that. We haven’t talked about this law that has been strangling our necks.”

“Did we discuss the Special Powers Act? It blew my head off. No we haven’t talked about it. We’re talking about vague definitions now that the broadcast policy is looming before us.

“We can have one policy, one commission and one law for the future of our media. I also feel that the Press and Publications Act should be abolished after a media law is set up.”

Jabbar said BTRC must have a separate system to allot frequencies to broadcast mediums if there should be licence policies.

“It should also be clarified what can be written in blog and whether blog contents are going to be controlled,” he said.

Journalists agree on one policy

Journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul agreed with Jabbar on the idea of a combined media policy.

“The demand was made by the Dhaka Union of Journalists. We at the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists also want it. We are agreed on this,” he said.

“Separate policies including the one on broadcast media will lead to conflicts. The draft policy for online media is still lying around. There are two more drafts.”

“The 1974 Newspaper Services Act was just about workers of the newspaper media. Online media has been inserted there,” said the BFUJ chief.

“You’re saying you will take complaints to the Broadcast Commission... but the information ministry is sitting around with a draft which says complaints about online media will go to (Bangladesh) Press Council. So there should be one media policy if there is any.”

’Future demands common policy’

Professor Md Golam Rahman of Dhaka University’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism held up his phone to say: “You can watch TV here. You can surf online… read news.”

“A new medium may be attached to it in the future. Why can’t we have policy which unites all these things? What we need is a combined policy,” he said.

“There are plenty of good and bad debates on advertisement. Acting is an art, which can also be discussed.

“Jatra (stage performances) and dramas are a separate medium of communication, but they too are being on TV lately. There were things online too.”

“Then you have foreign channels. They have been devouring our culture. But that does not mean we will shut all doors and windows. Do they not fall in something, won’t we unite everything here?”

He said the tendency to form separate policies was rooted in colonial mentalities.

“There must be unity in planning,” he said. “These policies should not be imposed.”

The roundtable was conducted by Article 19’s Bangladesh and South Asia director Tahmina Rahman.

The speakers included, Transparency International Director Iftekharuzzaman, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) Executive Director Sara Hossain, Dhaka University’s Department of Television and Film Studies Chairman AJM Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, Mass-line Media Centre Executive Director Kamrul Hassan Monju, Centre for Women Journalists, Bangladesh General Secretary Parvin Sultana Jhuma and Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua.