‘New media law to address unethical journalism’
The government will establish a media commission and introduce a new, time-befitting media policy by July-August this year, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon announced on Tuesday, promising a framework that protects journalists, balances owner interests, and brings unethical media practices under legal accountability.
“A policy and a commission acceptable to all will be formed by July-August so that the interests of all parties are guaranteed,” Swapon said at his weekly press briefing at the Press Information Department (PID) conference room in the Secretariat.
The minister’s announcement comes amid long-running tensions over wage board implementation and labour disputes in the media industry. Swapon said the government views protecting journalists and supporting media owners as twin responsibilities — not competing ones.
“We are working to create a specific and organised legal framework to resolve disputes between journalists and the owners,” he said, signalling that the proposed commission would serve as a permanent arbitration mechanism rather than a one-off intervention.
Prime Minister’s Information and Broadcasting Adviser Dr Zahed Ur Rahman, Additional Secretary Md Yasin, and Principal Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed were present at the briefing.
Plugging Legal Loopholes on Unethical Journalism
A significant part of the minister’s remarks addressed what he described as a structural gap in existing media law — the absence of specific provisions to identify unethical journalism as a punishable offence.
Swapon said the issue had also come up during a government meeting with the Editors’ Council.
Because no clear legal definition exists, he said, aggrieved parties — whether individuals or institutions — are currently forced to resort to a patchwork of unrelated laws to seek redress against false or harmful reporting. That, in turn, has led to a surge in cases filed against journalists under laws not designed for media disputes.
“Since there is no specific provision in the existing law to identify such activities as a crime, aggrieved people are often using different laws,” he said, adding that the proposed media commission would close that loophole.
The minister went further, invoking the country’s Liberation War to make the case for retrospective accountability. “Have we been able to bring the crimes of those who used the media in favour of genocide or Pakistan in the great Liberation War of 1971 under the media law so far? We have not been able to do so. But does that mean it is not a crime?” he said. “With the cooperation of all, all these crimes will be brought under the legal framework by forming a commission.”
Electric Buses on the Policy Agenda
In a separate announcement, Swapon said the Cabinet has taken a policy decision to maximise encouragement for the import of environment-friendly electric buses — a move aimed at easing both traffic congestion and urban pollution.
Educational institutions, he noted, would be allowed to import such buses with duty-free facilities. The minister argued the multiplier effect could be significant: a single bus serving fifty students would eliminate the need for dozens of individual private cars on the road.
“If a bus is introduced in an educational institution, the guardians of 50 students will not have to use their separate cars, which will ease traffic congestion and pollution,” he said.
Implementation work on defining seat-capacity thresholds for duty-free public transport buses has already begun, he added.
