Staff Reporter:
State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yeaser Khan Choudhury yesterday said the government does not want to control the mass media, as it believes in complete freedom of the press.
“We have no intention of controlling the media. The media will continue to work independently at its own pace. This is the Prime Minister’s policy,” he said while addressing the ‘BSRF Dialogue’ organized by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) at the Secretariat Media Centre.
BSRF President Masudul Haque presided over the event, while the organization’s General Secretary Obaidullah Badal conducted.
Yeaser said, “We are currently working on misinformation and disinformation issues. In particular, we need to address the propaganda being spread online. Work is underway to ensure that accurate infor-mation reaches the public.”
The state minister said the government wants the media to be strong so that they can expose the govern-ment’s mistakes.
He said, “Journalists are among the best teachers of society. The government is working to improve their standard of living.”
He assured that the Secretariat Media Centre would be renovated soon.
Announcing the elimination of discrimination in the government supplement distribution process, the state minister said a policy should be formulated for distribution so that no one is deprived. “We want everyone to receive this facility in a balanced manner and no specific newspaper should receive the bene-fit repeatedly,” he added.
Principal Information Officer Yakub Ali, members of the organization’s executive committee, and jour-nalists from various media outlets were present at the event.
