The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

It appears from the protest note on front page of The Bangladesh Observer of today, 08 September 2007: the journalists, employees and workers of the country's oldest English daily are still suffering due to for example, non payment of their legitimate dues, either in part or in full, by concerned authorities. Factors such as: non-payment of one time legitimate dues; continuous non-payment of legitimate dues; partial payment of legitimate dues; irregular payment of legitimate dues; and delayed payment of legitimate dues; have now-a-days become a more or less regular practice on the part of authorities especially, when it comes to the people of print media.

Bangladeshis and others usually come to know about pay related miseries and sufferings of the media people through a variety of means. For example: personal contacts; media interviews; relevant news items including inter alia those relating to governmental actions or interventions in pertinent areas; outbursts of affected media people at different levels of societal interaction; solidarity statements; and overt actions similar to one The Bangladesh Observer has been doing for a relatively long period of time; to mention a few.

It is becoming clear increasingly: media outcomes (print, electronic and others) - whether or not to the satisfaction of majority of people on a continuous basis - have, in an average sense and in varying degrees, been instrumental in facilitating, sustaining and promoting human liberty, human freedom, moral values, democracy, human rights, right justice, progress and prosperity in world countries, relative to time, space and other variables, though.

On the other hand, the role of people, governments and others - at conceptual, operation and other levels - in facilitating, in a sustainable and result-oriented manner, a continuous development of media cannot be ignored or underestimated particularly at the present stage of human civilization and societal reintegration. One of the reasons for that is: they (I mean, people, governments and others, hereinafter: the people or people) represent both the demand side and the supply side of media and media products in relevant areas of life, living and continuity in the universe including inter alia those relating to beter governance in quantitative, qualitative and other terms. Further, the role of people in shaping the media, and in defining or redefining or positioning, or repositioning the media in the universe - relative to time, space and other variables - can be described, in many ways and as appropriate, as media movers, media shakers, media friends, media enemies, media patrons, media sponsors, media subscribers and media critics, to mention a few.

Against the backdrop of what has been discussed so far and not discussed in the article, it should, among other things, be clear to the people that they cannot afford to shrugging off, either directly or otherwise, their duties or obligations (or both) associated with for example, looking after the well-being of people who are behind the media machine (used in a wider sense) and who (to whom it may concern) become the subject of media calamities in the form of non-payment of dues and police excesses, among other things. The government and the people of Bangladesh are no exception to that

It will not, however, be out of place to mention here: the media is responsible, among other things, for informing people not only their problems and grievances but their response strategies, as well as solution alternatives in respect of those problems and grievances. They should keep the people posted about the work-in-progress in relevant areas and the measures taken or to be taken by owners, government, unions, professional bodies (relating to the media, in particular) and others in those areas.

A mere publication of protest note on a regular basis on the front page of dailies will not be probably sufficient for remedying the situation. Opportunities should be created for all parties concerned to express their views and suggestions, as appropriate, in pertinent areas. In that respect, the affected dailies could, among other things, initiate a kind of public dialogue on say relevant problems through a column dedicated for the purpose and continue the dialogue till those problems are atended to and solved in a proper and satisfactory manner, per se. It will not be an easy job. People-media synergies will inter alia be required for materialization and popularization of dialogues of above nature.

The last word: it is expected the owner, the management, the union of The Bangladesh Observer, the government, and others will be able to setle outstanding problems of the daily at the soonest and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Further, it is expected all concerned will be more forthcoming and result-oriented in dealing with and solving problems, whether relating to human resources management or not, of for example, other dailies (to whom it may concern) in an effective and efficient manner. Bangladesh must provide an adequate breathing space to the media world of Bangladesh for its own interest One of the ways of doing that involves: a proper and maximum harnessing of media freedom - that the country has been enjoying for a relatively long period of time including inter alia the present period of state of emergency - in pursuits of media reform and development