On 28th of May SACMID Representative Syed Kamrul Hasan participated in a seminar on Assessing Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh at PIB.
The seminar titled as: “State of Journalism in Bangladesh within the context of Freedom of Expression “was organized to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day 2017.The seminar was based on dissemination of a recent research report- Assessing Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh, conducted by Professor D.A.J.M Shafiul Alam Bhuiyan, Dept.of Television, Film and Photography, University of Dhaka with financial assistance from UNESCO, Bangladesh.17 media organizations joined as co-organizers of the seminar.
The Honorable Information Minister of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Mr.Hasanul Haq Inu MP graced the occasion as Chief Guest and Mr.Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Information Advisor to the Prime Minister as Special Guest.The panel discussants ,on the research findings,included Advocate Sultana Kamal,Human Rights Activist & Former Advisor to the Caretaker Government and Professor Dr.Gitiara Nasreen,Dept.of Mass Communication and Journalism,University of Dhaka.Mr.Shah Alamgir,Director General,Press Institute of Bangladesh(PIB) presided over the seminar.Large number of eminent journalists,members of the civil society and representatives from the press freedom and human rights watchdog groups attened the event. Mr. Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Editor in Chief & CEO, Ekushey Television (also Vice Chairperson, BoT, SACMID) moderated the session.
The research has tried to assess the state of freedom of expression from the perspective of working journalists. For this purpose, 55 interviewees and 08 FGD participants included journalists from different types of news media outlets including newspapers, television channels and online media. The respondents represent entire Bangladesh as they were selected from all over the country. As part of literature review, the research comprehensively analyzed the freedom of expression report of ASK(Ain-O-Salish Kendra) ,a national NGO and the 2016 freedom of expression reports of international organization-Reporters without Border and US based conservative think tank Freedom House. The research was ended on 23 March 2017.