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bdnews24.com journalists, joined by their former colleagues, celebrate their 17th anniversary at a homely gathering
Published : 24 Oct 2023, 02:30 AM
bdnews24.com has renewed its pledge to fight “for news, for the truth” - as its states in its anniversary slogan - by beating all the odds it faced in a 17-year journey.
Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi says the first standalone 24/7 news portal of Bangladesh that ushered the nation into the digital era will press forward by maintaining the editorial standards of not providing wrong information.
“We’ve continued our efforts, and this fight will continue for all of us, for the next generations, our children and those who will join this profession in future.”
bdnews24.com journalists, joined by their former colleagues, celebrated the occasion at a homely gathering on Monday in the newsroom that never sleeps.
It had all begun in early 2005. Then known simply as BDNEWS, 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. The 24/7 journey began in a new form.
bdnews24.com exploded onto the scene and caught public imagination with the mantra: “breaking the news before everyone else, but not by compromising objectivity”.
Now nearly 10 million ‘Likes’ on its Facebook page is a testament to the readers’ unwavering trust in the leading news publisher.
Khalidi cut a cake with his colleagues to celebrate the occasion. He thanked everyone for being with bdnews24.com despite all the “pains and problems”.
He recounted the challenges bdnews24.com encountered, all for journalism, in the 17-year journey.
“If you want to do journalism very well, in any country or society, including ours, you’ll create new enemies and face new challenges everyday. We have to move forward through all these hurdles.”
Khalidi said bdnews24.com remained silent when it could not tell the truth, but never resorted to lies. “Our fight against the band of miscreants was always on.”
“But the fight against those, who create problems in society, who do not care about the law and who do not want the establishment of the rule of law in the country, has become difficult. They have grown in number over a long time. We’ve become so much a minority group that the fight has become difficult for us.”
He lamented the “misinformation campaigns” by this class of miscreants. “It’s a problem when you face unlimited lies from a strong machinery.”
In Bangladesh, they have unlimited financial and political powers, he said. “How will you always fight against them?”
Not only the state agencies, but private organisations also create problems when the news goes against them, Khalidi said.
