NOAB president responds to bdnews24.com report on meeting with Salman F Rahman

The Newspaper Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) President and Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman has responded to a bdnews24.comreport on a meeting between a NOAB delegation and the prime minister’s private sector advisor Salman F Rahman.

In an email to the bdnews24.com editor-in-chief, he wrote:

“NOAB did not issue a press release regarding the statement.”

“Those who attended the meeting say that none of them have spoken to bdnews24.com on the matter.”

“bdnews24.com responded to a protest note from The Daily Star editor on the piece and reaffirmed the accuracy of the report, but it is not accurate.”

A delegation from NOAB met the Prime Minister’s Advisor on the Private Sector, Industry and Investment Salman F Rahman on Tuesday.

The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam registered his ‘protest’ against the bdnews24.com report on the meeting.

Matiur Rahman’s statement came after Anam’s protest note.

It was unclear from Rahman’s statement which part of the bdnews24.com report he has reservations about.

Though the NOAB president denies that the organisation issued a press release, such a document was sent to bdnews24.com on the day of the meeting.

As the meeting was not held in secret, it was treated as a regular news story. Before releasing the report, bdnews24.com spoke to several people who were present at the meeting to confirm its authenticity.

Despite the denials of the NOAB president regarding the press release, The Daily Star, the newspaper edited by Anam, also ran a report regarding the meeting which did refer to a statement from NOAB.

The following photo of the report, from The Daily Star newspaper, serves as proof.

The Prothom Alo, which is edited by Matiur Rahman, also mentioned

such a ‘statement’ as the source of the news report and the photographs.

Much of the bdnews24.com report matches the one published by Prothom Alo under the headline ‘প্রধানমন্ত্রীর উপদেষ্টার সঙ্গে নোয়াবনেতাদের শুভেচ্ছা বিনিময়’.

The bdnews24.com report also touched on another issue based on a source present at the meeting, which led to Anam submitting a ‘protest note’.

The section stated that at one point Anam, in the course of conversation, raised the issue of “misunderstandings in the past” and insisted that there was no “malice” toward the Beximco Group vice chair in reference to The Daily Star’s many reports on the group.

Mahfuz Anam, in his protest note, claimed that nothing of the sort was said at the meeting and that the discussion was limited to ‘matters pertaining to the newspaper industry’, ‘especially those rising from the 9th Wage Board’ and ‘did not discuss Beximco coverage by any particular media including The Daily Star’.

In response to this statement, bdnews24.com said that its report was released after the information contained in it was confirmed.

Both Anam and Rahman claimed that none of the individuals who attended the meeting spoke to bdnews24.com on the matter.

But, it is natural for a source who speaks to bdnews24.com on condition of anonymity to deny their statement to bdnews24.com before that forum.

Of the seven-member NOAB delegation that attended the meeting, five serve as editor at newspapers.

These editors should know that news outlets reserve the right to issue

reports based on information from anonymous sources according to the journalistic code of conduct.

bdnews24.com says it will not disclose the name of its sources.

bdnews24.com also says that it stands by the report it published and is prepared to defend it.