Staff Reporter :
The journalists’ community has expressed deep concern over the recent hike of newsprints and the decrease of the government advertisement rate.
They said that such steps of the government will take the newspaper industry into the black hole of no return.
The handful of newspaper houses, which are solely dependent on the advertisements to meet the expense, are facing financial crunch due to such draconian steps, they said.
Even when the government has recognised media as an industry, the media entrepreneurs especially the newspaper owners are not getting any bank loans.
The big chunk of the media is now in the hands of the business tycoons who can invest in their media houses but small media houses are gasping to survive.
The journalists’ community said the government has undertaken a number of mega projects across the country which is an indicator of country’s economic solvency.
But when media stands for the freedom of expression and uphold the democracy, it is going out of the radar of the government’s support.
Expressing concerns, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, a former Press Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said, “The journalists and employees of the media will suffer if the cost is increased.”
“After the price hike of newsprints, we brought the issue to the government’s notice. The government does not have any newsprint industry. This sector is solely import dependent. The sudden price hike of newsprints in the international market has affected our newspaper industry,” he added.
Iqbal Sobhan, who himself is an owner of a newspaper, sought the government’s intervention to save the media industry.
“The government should take certain steps including increase of advertisement rate and reduction of the newsprint price as the newspaper industry suffered badly during the Covid time. If the government does not support the newspaper industry, all individuals in this sector will suffer,” he asserted.
Asked about the loans for the newspaper industry, he said, “In most of the cases, the newspapers owners do not get bank loans because they don’t have their own assets like buildings or lands which can be used as mortgage.”
Regarding the investment of the business tycoons in media industry, he said, “It’s good in one side. Their investment can help run the houses smoothly. But it becomes a concern when black money is used here or media is used for personal gains. It’s an attack on free media.”
“Sometimes it is seen that some investors come to media industry with huge investment in the beginning. But after some days, we see that the same media is shutdown for the end of the continuous investment. Then people of the house become helpless,” he pointed out.
Former President of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Shaukat Mahmood said, “The government steps to cut the advertisement rate and the hike of newsprints are an attack on the press freedom.”
“When the prices of all things are going up, such steps of decreasing the advertisement rate will kill the industry. When this industry will die, many people will be jobless,” the senior journalist said.
He said the government should take immediate steps to increase the advertisement rate and decrease the price hike of newsprints for the sake of free press in the country. When the government has taken multiple mega projects for the country’s development, it should cut the supplementary taxes from newsprints and other newspaper related materials to save this industry, he said.
“The government said that country’s media enjoy freedom of expression. So now the government should pay immediate attention to save the media which is regarded as the fourth column of the state,” he added.
About the loans, Shaukat Mahmood said, “It’s really unacceptable when newspaper owners don’t get loans from banks. Even the individual journalist does not get loans with his journalist identity.”
The journalists’ community has urged the government to take immediate steps to decrease the price of newsprints.
Currently the local newsprints is being sold at Tk 94,000 per tonnes while it was Tk60,000-65,000 a month ago.
On the other hand, the imported newsprints is being sold at Tk1,60,000 per tonnes which was Tk1,10,000-1,20,000, the newsprints association said.
