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Controversial National Broadcast Policy

Independent commission may fix problems

Roundtable told

Staff Correspondent
The objectionable provisions of the recently approved National Broadcast Policy could be corrected by an independent commission through consultations with the stakeholders, said speakers at a roundtable yesterday.
The speakers also hoped that the unexplained words and points in the policy could be elaborated in the proposed broadcast act.
The roundtable on "National Broadcast Policy 2014: Concerns and Actions” was held at Cirdap auditorium in the capital.
Article 19 in collaboration with Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra, the Institute of Information and Development, Mass-line Media Centre, Media Watch, Nijera Kori and Transparency International Bangladesh organised the roundtable.
Journalist leader Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul said broadcast journalists had demanded a policy to regulate the sector through dealing with issues such as provision of licences and protection of those working or investing in
broadcast media.
He criticised the government for not mentioning in the policy how licences will be given and on what basis.
Bulbul, who was involved in drafting the policy, strongly objected to the provision which said editorial policy of broadcast media should get approval of the proposed broadcast commission.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB, said there are many negative provisions in the policy which hopefully can still be amended.
“The proposed broadcast commission can do the job after consulting with the stakeholders. The policy will be a complete one after that," he said, adding that a ban on broadcasting any item which demeans armed forces or law-enforcing agencies and government officials who punish others for criminal offences is contradictory to the Right to Information Act.
According to the policy, anything that is in favour of a country, but proves to be harmful to other countries and thus affects friendly relations cannot be published.
"So we will not be able to write on incidents like the murder of Felani by the Indian Border Force if the provision
remains," he observed.
Barrister Sara Hossain said many provisions need to be defined.
Prof Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, chairperson of film and television studies department at Dhaka University, said a policy can be explained in many ways, but the good thing here is that a policy was formulated and it can be modified with definitions and explanations.
"The policy is a working document. We can work on it through discussions and criticisms, ” said Alam, a member of the committee that prepared the draft of the policy.
Terming the policy a good step, Mustafa Jabbar, also a member of the draft preparing committee, said information ministry officials were to correct the policy's language but they did not do so.
Media expert and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Prof Golam Rahman suggested a comprehensive mass media policy considering the advancement of the technology.
Moderated by Tahmina Rahman, director of Article 19, Bangladesh and South Asia, the programme was addressed, among others, by Kamrul Ahsan Monju of Massline Media Centre and Shamsuddin Haider Dali of MaasrangaTV.