IF a newspaper is called a conscience-keeper of the society, then this paper has-during 36 years of its publication-tried to prove true to that.
When it was launched as a daily from 15th October in 1981 after three years of operation as a weekly, The New Nation was the only independent English daily in Dhaka city. This independent stance had made this paper useful in airing people’s views and grievances.
At that time two other English daily newspapers were run by the government under the then Newspaper Management Board, a remnant of the short-lived one-party rule of the mid-seventies. The New Nation enlisted the services of some legendary figures in Bangladesh journalism-the late Hasan Sayeed, Mahbubul Alam, Amanullah, ABM Musa, Alamgir Mohiuddin, Enamul Huq, Fazle Rasheed, Amanullah Kabir, Moazzem Hossain, to name a few-plus a number of then bright professionals who now shine in their own right.
The late Atiquzzaman Khan had offered useful suggestions. As a champion of democracy, human rights and private entrepreneurship, this paper succeeded to attract the attention of a cross-section of people within a very short span of time. During the 36 years the profession of journalism itself went through different upheavals marked by change from strict control of newspaper registration since the seventies to virtual free breeding of papers in the early nineties, politicization of newspapers and journalist unions after the restoration of democracy and the negative influences that are associated with such changes.
Some successful new experiments have also been made in the newspaper industry during the period. We, in the New Nation do not claim to have been producing the best newspaper in Bangladesh, but our commitment to democracy, constitutionalism, human rights, people’s welfare, good governance, journalistic objectivity remains as firm as before. May we assure our readers of our resolve to uphold this glorious tradition of our paper?
