Articles by Media Watch
Revised media code introduced
(Media Watch/IFEX) – The Bangladesh Press Council has introduced a twenty-two-clause revised code of conduct for journalists, newspapers and news agencies prohibiting any campaign against the liberation war or communal harmony. “The spirit and ideals of the independence and the liberation war must be upheld and there could be no campaigns against the spirit,” states […]
Television programme censored
(Media Watch/IFEX) – According to a “Daily Star” report, a political debate focusing on the upcoming municipal election, originally scheduled to have been televised on 11 February 1999, was abruptly cancelled due to a last minute intervention by the Ministry of Information. The report states that the current affairs programme AEI SOMOY was scheduled to […]
Bangladesh Home Ministry orders law enforcement agencies to ensure the full protection of journalists
(Media Watch/IFEX) – The Bangladeshi Home Ministry has ordered law enforcement agencies to ensure the full protection of professional journalists by all means possible. **Updates IFEX alert of 11 February 1999** A letter from the ministry, issued to all the heads of law enforcement agencies on 13 February, said: “please ensure the safety and protection, […]
Photojournalist shot and injured, journalists assaulted, newspaper offices attacked, vehicles burned
(Media Watch/IFEX) – Once again in Bangladesh, newspaper offices and journalists have become the target of political activists. Leading opposition parties (Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP, Jatyo Party, JP, Jamat-e-Islami and Islami Okkyo Jote) called a three day national general strike from 9 to 11 February 1999. During this strike period, two newspaper offices were attacked, […]
Poet escapes murder attempt
(Media Watch/IFEX) – Leading Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman escaped a murder attempt on the evening of 18 January 1999. The attempt on his life was made by a new, lesser known Bangladeshi Islamic fundamentalist group called Harkatul Jihad. Police arrested three people on the same day and recovered a pipe gun and an axe which […]
Journalists receive death threats from armed extremist group
(Media Watch/IFEX) – A newspaper has reported that Bangladeshi journalists working in the southern part of the country have received death threats from an underground armed political extremist group. According to the report, the group distributed a leaflet accusing journalists of working in collusion with the government and police. The leaflet blamed “a group of […]
State of the media in Bangladesh in 1998
(Media Watch/IFEX) – The following is a summary of the 1998 State of the Media in Bangladesh report compiled by Media Watch, Bangladesh: To obtain a copy of the complete report, please contact Bulbul Monjurul Ahsan, Executive Director of Media Watch. The full report will be available by the second week of March 1999. Happy […]
Journalists become target of political violence
(MW/IFEX) – Media Watch is reporting that journalists and media organisations in Bangladesh have become the target of political violence. During a country-wide sixty-hour general strike, from 8 to 11 November 1998, at least two photojournalists were injured and six vehicles (auto rickshaw) were set ablaze by angry political workers. The strike was called by […]