Where does David Bergman fall short? Toufique Khalidi has an explanation

Editor-in-chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi has recalled the short stint of David Bergman with bdnews24.com as the British journalist once again finds himself the subject of intense debate in Bangladesh thanks to Al Jazeera’s report – “All the Prime Minister’s Men”.

“I won’t say that he was a dishonest man. He was actually an amateur, yet to understand the things of journalism,” said Khalidi.

He believes Bergman prioritises activism over journalism in his works, and is biased.

Joined by Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the prime minister’s adviser on power and energy, Khalidi was speaking at Ekattor TV’s talk-show Ekattor Mancha on Saturday night.

The International Crimes Tribunal fined Bergman Tk 5,000 for contempt of court in 2014. The court said Bergman had tried to “challenge” the tribunal through the “irresponsible” views he expressed about sub-judice and historically settled matters in his blog.

Bergman is one of those in the recent Al Jazeera report, which was at the centre of Saturday’s discussion hosted by Nur Safa Julhaz at Ekattor TV.

Khalidi said he knows one of them by name and face, and heard about another person before seeing him in the report.

“And the other person, David Bergman, had worked for us for some time. David has an agenda. You will discover this if you work with him,” he said.

Bergman had worked at bdnews24.com for less than six months in 2010. Before that, he was at The Daily Star.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi says David Bergman confuses activism with journalism

Khalidi said a family friend of Bergman introduced him, saying he wanted to work at bdnews24.com. His work in the War Crimes File, a documentary aired by British broadcaster Channel 4, convinced Khalidi that he had a good background.

At first Bergman said he was keen on working at bdnews24.com, but later joined The Daily Star. But he again showed an interest in joining bdnews24.com.

Recalling the days, Khalidi said they were desperately looking for English copywriters at the time who can write correctly in English. “I didn’t need someone for editorial decision-making or gatekeeping. When I found a native speaker, I was happy to hire him.”

As Bergman began questioning editorial decisions, his intentions were becoming clear, said Khalidi.

“He believed some headlines were not right. I told him that there is a difference between activism and journalism and he was behaving more like an activist or a blogger. He was not behaving or thinking like a journalist.

“For example, a company made some big acquisitions. These were big news. But he could not grasp the merit of the news. We gave big headlines because these were big news, not because that it was Bashundhara or Beximco. But he wouldn’t get it because something else was in his mind,” said the bdnews24.com editor-in-chief.

Recalling his first meeting in 2009 with Bergman, a former law student of London School of Economics and Political Science, Khalidi said they talked about the laws on libel or defamation in Bangladesh which were similar to those in England. “I had to tell the former law student a bit about the defamation laws.”

Before his exit, Bergman came to speak about a story. “He suspected that we are close to the government and we are doing so with a specific motive,” Khalidi said.

The bdnews24.com boss said the organisation never bows down to unfair demands despite the dangers it faces.

He said he had been quite annoyed by Bergman’s works, such as interviewing people in the name of bdnews24.com investigation without informing the news organisation specifically.

“I was annoyed that day and told him that he could leave if he was not liking it here. And that was the last meeting we had with David Bergman.”

He said he had nothing personal against Bergman, but added that the British journalist had tried to speak to his colleagues against Khalidi and bdnews24.com for a long time. “The gist of what he said was that we try to do things in favour of the government.”

Bergman had even made it to the headlines of bdnews24.com through his activities. He had immense interest in the war crimes trial which appeared abnormal to Khalidi.

“My colleagues covering the trial had done one or two stories about his behaviour that did not put him in a good light,” he said.

Bergman has some bias, Khalidi said, explaining why the Al Jazeera report arose his suspicion.

Two young officials from the British Foreign Office during a meeting had asked Khalidi what he thought of Bergman.

“I told them that he has only one problem. He is a good man. But he doesn’t realise the difference between journalism and activism. He is more of a blogger-type journalist,” said the bdnews24.com editor-in-chief.

PM’s Adviser Chowdhury said it was unfortunate that bdnews24.com had to employ a native English speaker because it could not find Bangladeshis who know English well.

Khalidi then said it’s not the knowledge of English language, but the skill of editing English copies that matters.