Reform Initiated Archives | Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh

Implement necessary state reforms in all government institutions (Department of labour, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, labour Welfare Center, Industrial Relations Institute (IRI), National Skill Development Authority and other government and non-government organizations) in order to strengthen the capacity and coordination of the Ministry of labour , departments and institutions, as well as to establish accountability, democratic practices, transparency and the right to information.

a. Eliminating gender discrimination in recruitment, placement, and training to ensure the participation of all genders at all levels of the media; b. Preparing gender-sensitive codes of conduct in each media outlet and establishing systems for providing information, discussion, training, and monitoring for effective implementation of the code of conduct; ensuring infrastructure (e.g., separate toilets, childcare centres) for the smooth participation of all genders; c. Ensuring the utmost caution in the safety and protection of journalists of all genders, prioritising the needs of women; providing transportation arrangements for safe travel; d. Establishing a complaints redress cell in each media office as per the High Court directive on preventing sexual harassment (2009); e. Taking mental health protection measures to cope with various types of pressure in journalism; f. Ensuring that women receive proper maternity leave and do not face any discrimination upon returning to work after leave; g. Formulating clear guidelines and rules for how women will be presented; preparing policies on not publishing or broadcasting stereotypical ideas that create hatred, animosity, or negative attitudes towards women, or hinder their smooth presence in all fields; h. Highlighting the multifaceted roles and participation of women in society; ensuring that the voice and perspective of women are reflected in any news/feature; i. Preparing clear guidelines for language use to avoid direct or indirect humiliation of women through words or descriptions.

It is necessary to introduce specific systems/methods for verifying misinformation/fake news in every newsroom. Responsible and trained journalists can do this work. However, technological support should also be in place. To address the shortage of adequate investment in truth verification activities due to the financial crisis in the media, the possibility of arranging a larger and collective initiative within the news industry can be considered. The right of this initiative to work independently must, of course, be ensured.

Due to the emergence and growing popularity of social media and other online platforms, advertisers are increasingly shifting towards so-called new media. At the same time, in Bangladesh, the expansion of traditional or legacy media is still continuing. As a result, competition for advertisements has reached an unhealthy stage. In the competition to reduce prices, advertisers are naturally benefiting. At the same time, amid this crisis, allegations have emerged of collusion among advertising agencies in the competition. Transparency and fairness are not being maintained in the competition. In light of the opinions of stakeholders, the Commission believes: a. An oversight institution, the Advertising Standards Authority, needs to be established soon to ensure the standard of advertisements, transparency, and fairness in competition. b. This institution will be an autonomous and statutory body. c. This institution will create advertising policies consistent with international norms and various laws, which will be mandatory for advertisers, agencies, and the media outlets that publish and broadcast advertisements. d. This authority will also formulate transparent policies and codes of conduct for PR agencies and media buying, as well as ensure compliance. e. The representation of the organisation of advertising agencies, the Advertising Agencies Association of Bangladesh, must be ensured in the system for determining television ratings (TRP) and the inspection system for verifying newspaper circulation figures. The commission has made separate recommendations regarding this. f. It would also be appropriate to investigate whether any collusion and strategies contrary to fair competition are practised in the advertising industry. The Competition Commission can take the initiative in this regard.

Prompt payment of advertisement dues by the government and autonomous agencies to newspapers is necessary.

It is urgent to reform the auditing of newspaper circulation figures. There is corruption in the current system. The conditions for being listed in the media list include a minimum circulation number. For example, for newspapers published from Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet divisional cities, it is 6000, from divisional other towns it is 4000, and from other cities it is 3000. This should be the number of sold copies, not the circulation number, which will be subject to verification of paid bills. Newspapers will be media-listed if they have three thousand sold copies in a divisional city outside Dhaka and one thousand in a district city.

The commission believes that merging BSS into the news division of the new combined institution of BTV and Betar would be the optimal use of state resources, rather than keeping it as an independent institution. News generated by this central newsroom will be broadcast on BTV and Bangladesh Betar. The new unified institution combining BTV, Betar, and BSS can be named the Bangladesh Broadcasting Agency or the National Broadcasting Agency. This new institution will have three divisions: Television, Radio, and News Division. The News Division in the new broadcasting agency will continue to provide services to its current clients. There will be a Director as the head of each division, and the head of the new integrated broadcasting agency will be a Director General. The government will appoint the Director General; however, he will be accountable to the Governing Board.

If government announcements are to be broadcast on FM radio, they should pay a determined fee.

FM radio broadcasting appears to be facing an existential crisis due to declining listeners and a dramatic drop in advertising revenue. However, the importance of radio has not yet ended. Some unreasonable restrictions on FM radio licensing should be removed. For example, the security deposit kept by the government against the license should be refunded, and the provision for keeping a security deposit should be abolished.

The mandatory use of Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited (BSCL) for uplink and downlink must be removed. This is because no channel can broadcast internationally through this BSCL.