Advisory council meetings unlikely after Nov: Mahfuj

Information Adviser Mahfuj Alam hinted yesterday that the advisory council meetings are unlikely to continue past November.

He said the ministry has taken initiative to implement around 13 recommendations out of a total of 23 "urgent and feasible" recommendations from the Media Reform Commission.

"These measures need to be approved by the cabinet or enacted through issuing ordinances or regulations. After November, we will no longer be able to do this, as the cabinet will close and no further cabinet meetings may take place," the adviser said while speaking at a Dhaka Reporters' Unity programme.

Mahfuj said the information ministry is going to announce the minimum wage for journalists by next week and is working on formulating ordinances to protect journalists' rights and regulations for private television channels and OTT platforms.

He said the rate of government advertisements in the media will be doubled, with the condition of implementing a minimum basic salary for working journalists. "A journalist's salary of Tk 12,000–15,000 is unacceptable."

Announcing that the actual circulation of newspapers will be published soon, Mahfuj said the irregularities of falsifying the circulation numbers must stop.

"We want to increase benefits for the existing media outlets. We will increase the advertisement rate from public funds, but in return, we want ethical journalism and better pay for journalists."

If journalists are not given this basic salary, the benefits will not be extended for that particular outlet, Mahfuj said. "Low pay creates a moral crisis for journalists."

"We've completed a list of the newspapers that are not published regularly or use the same content under different names. If you [journalists] give us your support, we will take action against them."

"Our goal is not to shut down media... rather, we want new media to emerge and create competition. The good will survive in the market, and the poor will be left behind," Mahfuj said, urging media companies to improve reporting quality and good content to remain competitive.

Replying to a query, Mahfuj said, "A permanent media commission's work will be extensive, which may interfere with the work under several divisions of the ministry… We will have our recommendation for the elected government," he added.