Renewal in focus as bdnews24.com celebrates 18 years of news reporting

"This humble celebration, given all we have been through, is a statement that we are ready for what lies ahead. The fight goes on!"

After overcoming the trials of the past and nurturing new hopes for the future, bdnews24.com, the first online newspaper in Bangladesh, is celebrating the eighteenth year of its storied journey.

The humble celebration will include members of the government, policymakers from leading political parties, judges and lawyers, business titans, industrialists, poets, authors and journalists, cultural activists, sports stars, officers in the armed forces, changemakers in different sectors, and people from all walks of life.

The event will be held at 8pm on Tuesday at the Ballroom of the Radisson Water Garden Hotel, Dhaka, according to a spokesperson for bdnews24.com

Curtains will rise on the evening with a speech from Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi, followed by a dinner. The event will be live-streamed on bdnews24.com.

"The past five years have been our toughest. We went through it all - numerous trips to court, countless meetings with lawyers, a massive financial crisis leading to irregular salary payments to hundreds of colleagues, social stigma, fragile mental and physical health, and a long, unending gaze into uncertainty," said Khalidi, who has helmed bdnews24.com throughout its voyage as the torchbearer of digital media outlets in Bangladesh.

"Friends were tested, and betrayals were plenty. But we survived. Now is the time for rebuilding, repair, and renewal."

"Thank you to all who stood by us—and to those who didn’t. Schadenfreude is the word for what we’re feeling now, as we watch those who orchestrated our difficulties," Khalidi said.

"This humble celebration, given all we have been through, is our statement that we are ready for what lies ahead. The fight goes on!"

bdnews24.com launched at the start of 2005. Like other news agencies, 'bdnews' used to supply news to other media outlets. While others used teleprinters to supply news, bdnews began to use the internet.

In 2006, the news outlet went through an overhaul with changes in its ownership and management. Led by Editor-in-Chief Khalidi, the new management transformed the news outlet into the first ever dotcom company in the country.

The new epoch began on Oct 23 with a new look as the newsroom began to run 24 hours a day. It was the dawn of the digital news era.

Over the 18 years of its journey, bdnews24.com has chronicled history while reporting the news. It carved out an innovative path in the news sector that was then trod by many others.

To keep pace with the innovative nature of our times, 'multimedia content' was added to the bdnews24.com website. bdnews24.com has been a pioneer in providing news service on mobile phones, breaking news in both Bengali and English through news alerts.

It created different sectors of digital media to cater the readers with different tastes.

In 2013, when people's interest in news reached its zenith, bdnews24.com's unique visitor number reached 4.3 million, according to Google Analytics. Its nearest rival stood at 2.1 million at the time. Since then, the numbers have gone through ups and downs as many efforts were made to constrict the outlet.

bdnews24.com has always stood by readers on social media. The number of Facebook followers stood at 76,257 when bdnews24.com celebrated its fifth anniversary. The number crossed 10 million over the next 13 years.

This journey to make local and international news accessible for free in both Bengali and English 24 hours a day has not always been an easy one.

"We saw a gradual expansion of our work, with a gradual rise in the response of our readers and well-wishers. We faced crises, but we continued to struggle. There were bad times that tried to pull us back. We were challenged by the new demands of changing times, but we never compromised with the truth and accuracy of our news reporting," a spokesperson of the news outlet said.

"The biggest challenge was to maintain a responsible editorial style against the so-called popular style. bdnews24.com has maintained its pledge and succeeded in becoming a news outlet trusted by its readers."