bdnews24.com gets government permission for registration

bdnews24.com, which has taken Bangladesh’s news services to the internet era, has received permission from the government for its registration as an “online news media”.

bdnews24.com is not only the first and largest internet-based news publisher of Bangladesh, it is also arguably the world’s first internet-only national news gathering operation.

The information ministry published an order with a list of 51 online news portals, including bdnews24.com, giving the permission for registration on Sunday.

A total of 177 news outlets have received the permission so far.

The government began receiving applications for registration of online media outlets by the end of 2015. The deadline for application was extended several times to 2016.

The move to register all the online news publishers aimed at preventing “malpractices in journalism” and ensuring government facilities for the publishers, the government had said at the time.

In the first round, the government selected 34 online news publishers for registration on Jul 31.

In the next round, 92 websites of dailies got the permission for registration on Sept 4.

They have 20 working days to complete the registration process by submitting the fixed fees following the rules.

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud had earlier said that the process of registering the online news portals would continue. The online news publishers will receive permission upon no-objection reports from government agencies, he had said.

Known simply as BDNEWS in 2005, it had worked as news agency for the other media outlets. It became the first media outlet to ever operate over the internet in Bangladesh. The other agencies were still using teleprinters to supply news.

In 2006, a new management led by journalist Toufique Imrose Khalidi brought sweeping changes to the news publisher and the 24/7 journey began in a new form.

In the 14 years of operation, bdnews24.com has earned plaudits for introducing many firsts as a digital news provider, including mobile sites and breaking news SMS alerts.

The bilingual newspaper is also the first Bangla internet news media. It has launched the first Bangla website run by child journalists.