STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Establishing strong editorial institutions and resisting financial and political pressures are essential for the survival and growth of investigative journalism, speakers said at an event yesterday.

The remarks came at a session of the Bangladesh Journalism Conference 2026, titled “Investigative Journalism in Bangladesh: Current Status, Challenges and Way Forward”, organised by the Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) at the Radisson Blu Water Garden hotel in Dhaka.

Zaffar Abbas, editor of Pakistan’s Dawn, stressed that the survival of a media house depends entirely on the autonomy and integrity of its editorial team. Meanwhile, management and publishers’ support is crucial.

“Unless you trust your editor and his team to do good journalism, there is no way a media house can flourish,” he said.

Calling the exposure of corruption “a kind of public service”, he warned that self‑censorship is often more damaging than direct censorship, as media outlets cannot publicly admit to it.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said a strong editorial institution is a precondition for independent and investigative journalism.

“An editor should not be a PRO [public relations officer] of the owner. While owners have a role, there must be a distinction between

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