Editors' Council President Nurul Kabir on Sunday said journalism cannot remain neutral in an unequal society, arguing that its foremost duty is to serve the public interest by holding those in power accountable.
Delivering the keynote address at a seminar at the University of Dhaka, attended by Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon, the New Age editor also urged the government to repeal laws that, he said, continue to restrict press freedom more than five decades after Bangladesh's independence.
Questioning the idea of "neutral journalism", Kabir said neutrality was impossible in a society marked by class divisions and injustice.
"If society is divided into different classes and injustice exists, how can journalism, or any intellectual activity, remain neutral?" he said, arguing that neutrality in such circumstances merely preserves the status quo and runs contrary to the public interest.
He said journalism's first responsibility is to present truthful information, but it must also interpret facts from the perspective of public interest so that people can form informed opinions about the political, economic and cultural order.
Describing journalism as "a political intellectual activity", Kabir said it must remain committed to democracy and public interest by holding power accountable.
He also criticised media laws that he said continue to constrain press freedom. Referring to the 1973 publication licensing law, he said publishers are still required to undertake that their publications will not act against the government's interests, calling the provision inconsistent with democratic principles.
"If an elected government acts against public interest, writing against it is not only the people's fundamental right but can also be their responsibility," he said, urging the minister to repeal the provision.
Responding to the keynote address, the information minister said journalism had become an indispensable pillar of modern democracy, but stressed that factual accuracy and objectivity must come before any broader public-interest mission.
He warned that advocacy could distort reporting if objectivity was compromised, and said the government was working with media owners, editors and journalists to establish a media commission to strengthen professional standards, improve journalists' safety and address issues related to media freedom.
The seminar, titled, “Politics, Power and the Interrelationship of Journalism: Theory, Reality and the Future”, was organised by the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism to mark its 64th founding anniversary.
University of Dhaka Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr ABM Obaidul Islam attended as the special guest. The programme was chaired by Prof Kazi Mohammad Mahbobor Rahman, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and acting chair of the department, and moderated by Prof Robaet Ferdous.
