- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 1 (219.97 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 2 (259.39 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 3 (171.06 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 4 (247.69 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 5 (253.03 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 6 (258.23 KiB) Viewed 7 times
- Bangladesh News Industry Newspapers In Crisis Https Thefinancialexpress Com Bd Views Newspapers In Crisis 1653238747 W 7 (193.45 KiB) Viewed 7 times
BANGLADESH NEWS INDUSTRY Newspapers in crisis https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/view ... 1653238747 With the economic crisis deepening almost all across the world, how do the media, print media in particular, fare? The news is bad for newspaper industries everywhere except in India where it is experiencing a robust growth. In case of Bangladesh, the industry is enjoying mixed fortunes. A handful of national newspapers are still maintaining their circulations at a reasonable level but had to go for downsizing their expenditure by dispensing with experienced and high-salaried staff members. With the once largest newspaper industry, the United States of America have seen a steep fall in their numbers, circulations, advertisement flows and staff sizes. In 2020, more than 300 US newspapers closed. Advertisement revenues of print and digital media recorded a double digit decline. Only 3.0 per cent US adults had preferred newspaper as the prime source of information. The number of newsroom employees of newspapers, reportedly dropped by 50 per cent since 2008. It is equally dismal if not worse for the United Kingdom. Expenditure, according to Statista, on newspaper 'fell from 4.45 billion British pounds in 2005 to under 2.28 billion BP in 2020'. Printed newspapers are struggling to survive against the onslaught of online news. Again the broadsheets fare worse than the tabloids. Just three of the most important printed newspapers, UK readers considered, were broadsheets. So readers' or public perception matters most when it comes to survival of newspapers. This can, however, be distorted by the ruling class in not-so-developed countries by unfair distribution of advertisements and facilities. Revenues from circulation are not enough in today's world for survival of a newspaper but one that has a very large circulation can earn a substantial portion of its total income. This, however, is not the case for newspapers with a limited leadership. They have to cut costs on several fronts and still risk demise unless injection of financial largesse from conglomerates or generous ad support extended by the government. In a country like Bangladesh, dependence on import of newsprint makes the financial viability of the newspaper industry even more precarious. At a pre-budget virtual meeting with the National Board of Revenue on March 23, 2021, the president of the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) argued that 'tax incidence on import of newsprint is 30 per cent including 5.0 per cent customs duty, 15 per cent VAT, '5.0 per cent advance income tax (AIT)'. The condition has not improved after a year even at a time when the economy is gradually turning around. It is because of the imperative of the situation, the editors of both print and electronic media present at a pre-budget meeting on Thursday last once again brought the issue to the fore. Although the NBR expressed its desire to protect the interests of local newspaper mills and have a look into their incapability of supplying newsprint for the domestic need, nothing to this effect has turned positive. Instead, newspaper price has shot up almost double its level by this time on the pretext of supply crunch. In a situation like this, it is a fair bid to bring the import duty of the item down. Newspaper is a service sector with a difference and it should not be compared with other entities in that sector. Let the 15 per cent vat be brought down to a reasonable level, preferably between 4.0-5.0 per cent. At the same time the deferred payment of advertisement should be updated. If these measures are implemented, newspapers in this country may have a breathing space. Still this is no guarantee for the majority of the newspapers' survival. The deciding factor is readers' choice between printed newspapers and e-papers with social media combined.
Newspaper industry faces big crisis, burden of tax must be reduced https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/ne ... be-reduced Almost every industrial sector of the country received government incentives during the corona pandemic period. The only sector that was left out is the newspaper industry. Because of corona outbreak the readership of newspaper has decreased already. Revenue generated from advertisements has dropped as well. Meanwhile, a war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. As a result, the price of newsprint, the main raw material of newspaper, has soared abnormally. Within just a year, newsprint prices have escalated to USD 1,050 from USD 570 per tonne. Overall, the country's newspaper industry is going through a big crisis and has become a struggling industry now. However, this sector is burdened with different types of taxes. Again, despite being declared as an industry, this sector is denied incentives that are entitled to an industry. So the various taxes imposed on newspapers have to be revoked or reduced in the upcoming budget to solve these issues. Besides, newspapers have to be freed from legal restrictions as well. Newspaper owners, editors, journalist leaders, businesspersons, economists, teachers and representatives of civil society made these observations at a roundtable organised by Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB). The roundtable, 'Upcoming Budget: Problems and Crisis of Newspaper Industries' was held at a city hotel on Monday. Almost everyone in the event unanimously recognised the crisis presented on behalf of NOAB and called for initiatives on government's part for the solution. The roundtable presided over by NOAB president AK Azad, was moderated by Dewan Hanif Mahmud, editor of Bonik Barta and a member of NOAB. AK Azad said the newspaper industry is an exceptional service industry. This industry has long been plagued with problems. The Ukraine-Russia war has doubled the price of paper, whereas premium quality paper has to be imported from countries like Russia and Korea. He said, the printing cost of a 10 taka daily is several times higher than the price. Out of that, 4 taka goes to the hawkers while the owners get 6 taka. Advertisement and circulation are the main revenue generating sources of a newspaper. That income decreased after the corona outbreak. Meanwhile, tax is levied on the revenue derived from advertisements. Again, advertisement bills worth Tk 1 billion owed by the government, remain outstanding, he added. Highlighting various aspects of the newspaper industry, Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman said, journalist community has played a significant role in every advancement of the country up until now. Newspapers have been publishing opinions, comments or news about some shortcomings and problems of the society, state and the government. This sector is in great trouble now. Highlighting the current critical situation, he said newsprint, sold at USD 570 per tonne just about one and a half years ago, is now being sold at USD 1,050. The country's newspaper industry has become weak. However, no government facilities or aid could be availed as a struggling service industry. Even, when different industries received many types of stimuli during and after the corona outbreak, no assistance was rendered to newspapers and there were no such attempts either. He demanded withdrawal or reduction of different sorts of imposed tax in the face of this crisis. Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, former president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) said, there are 26 laws related to freedom of expression in the country while four more are being enacted. Of them, the right to information act is comparatively better. He also said, the said circulation number of newspapers, published from Dhaka is highly deceptive. And a class of people is using the media as a tool. Asif Nazrul, professor of law at the University of Dhaka said, many government-imposed regulations can be noticed in generating revenue through advertisement as well. Some companies are discouraged from advertising. And in cases of government advertisements, strange data about the circulation number is provided. Plus, the bills are left unpaid. It seems it is the government's undeclared policy that there should be no ownership of newspapers, except the ones who have made billions in dishonest ways, by grabbing land or misappropriating project funds, he added. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, professor at the department of development studies of Dhaka University commented that newspapers are a public good. If there could be allocation for education and health sectors, there could be assistance entitled to newspapers as well.
As the issue of tax is monitored by National Board of Revenue (NBR), there could be a separate tax structure for those who pay their employees according to the wage board. For example, newspapers that follow the wage board can get zero-tax facility on the import of raw material. Omar Faruque, president of a faction of BFUJ said, the Department of Films and Publication (DFP) works based on lies. They raise the circulation and advertisement rates and shows 200 thousand circulation for papers that does not even have a circulation of 200, in exchange of money. It is beyond imagination that there could be so many phony companies. M Abdullah, president of another faction of BFUJ said, although demands for solution to the problems of the newspaper industry are being raised, they are not being fulfilled. It all seems useless. Even if there's an overdue government advertisement bill of Tk 1 billion, it is kept due intentionally to keep the newspapers under pressure. Mostofa Azad Chowdhury, senior vice-president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) said at the time, all the industries that fell into a crisis because of Covid-19, received assistance from the government. The newspaper industry should get it too. Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), said, newspapers play a crucial role in creating human values, forming an image of the country and inspiring people into dreaming. As the newspaper is an industry, this industry has to be saved and made powerful, he added. Ittefaq editor Tasmima Hossain said, as the fourth pillar of the state, newspapers have been functioning like the opposition party. Newspapers as per their capability, are working on the humanitarian responsibilities or necessities that are being neglected on behalf of the state. She believes the obligations of the newspaper to be much higher. Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) commented, it is as if it has become compulsory for the government to regulate the "democratic space". "We are moving towards the surveillance society now." He added, it is time for newspapers to move away from the conventional business model because major parts of the advertisements are switching to the digital media. Bangladesh Press Council chairman Md Nizamul Haque said, a lot of newspapers can be seen going to the district towns but none of them are regularly published. That means, owners, editors and journalists of those newspapers are introducing themselves in the society by those identities. Plus, they are trying to earn a little extra money using those identities "differently". These should be stopped. Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam said in his speech, "My question is why there are so many laws for the media? There is no act that helps journalism to flourish or it protect it. Again, these laws are being made and enacted with a bureaucratic point of view. Bureaucrats will never want the expansion of free press." He further questioned, how many acts are there against people who smuggle, supply adulterated goods in the market and indulge in unethical activities in the name of trade?
NOAB demands cutting corporate tax on newspapers https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/nati ... 1644202478 The Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) on Sunday proposed a cut in corporate tax on newspapers from 30 per cent to 10-15 per cent, considering the sector's declining financial health. The NOAB also proposed waiver of the existing 15 per cent VAT on newsprint import by the newspapers or at least reduce it to 5.0 per cent, considering the item's recent price hike in the international market. The proposals were placed at a pre-budget meeting of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) with the NOAB and the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) at the NBR conference room in the city's Segunbagicha area. Presided over by NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, the programme was addressed by NOAB President A K Azad, ATCO Vice-President Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, NOAB members Mahfuz Anam and Dewan Hanif Mahmud, and NBR members Md Masud Sadiq, Zakia Sultana and Md Shamsuddin Ahmed. Placing the budget proposals, Mr Azad said the newspaper industry has long been facing various challenges due to transformation of media from print to digital, while revenue from advertisement has dropped significantly during the pandemic. Mentioning that the price of newsprint in global market increased to US$890 per tonne from $570, he said: "Considering the price hike of the key material of the sector, we propose to exempt the existing 15 per cent VAT on newsprint import or at least cut it to 5.0 per cent." "Despite significant drop in revenue from advertisement due to the pandemic, the newspaper sector didn't get any support from the government." The NOAB president noted that the sector has seen a whopping 55 per cent drop due to the pandemic. Proposing a cut in the corporate tax on newspapers, Mr Azad noted that although the sector does not generate that much profit, it gives corporate tax like many other profitable companies.. "The newspaper industry pays 30 per cent corporate tax, which shouldn't be more than 10 to 15 per cent." Besides, he proposed to reduce tax deducted at source (TDS) on income from advertisement from 4.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent, and abolishing existing 5.0 per cent advance income tax (AIT) on raw material. Meanwhile, Mahfuz Anam said both print and electronic media provide sort of social service to the society, so the sector should be considered for different types of tax exemption. He also requested the NBR to relieve newspapers from paying the income tax of its workers, as no other industry does so. Responding to that proposal, the NBR chairman said newspapers pay the income tax of their workers as per the wage board rules for the sector. The NBR has nothing to do with it, as the issue is not within its jurisdiction. He added: "It is true that the news organisations don't generate that much profit. Considering the sector a special one, the NBR will think whether its corporate tax can be reduced or not." Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said electronic media outlets pay VAT on their advertisement revenue, which was previously paid at source. "We usually get advertisement via agencies or directly from companies. So the VAT should be realised from them - as part of reducing tax burden on media." Mr Chowdhury also proposed to make set-top boxes tax-free to accelerate digitization of cable TV networks. High Court: Shut down all unregistered online news portals within 1 week https://archive.dhakatribune.com/bangla ... online-new s-portals-within-1-week A legal notice was sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the BTRC and the Press Council, for formulating a code of conduct, on May 5 The High Court has directed the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman and Bangladesh Press council to close all unregistered online news portals in the country within seven days. The High Court has also asked them to submit a report after implementing the order within seven days of getting the written copy of the order. The bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after hearing a writ petition on Tuesday.
Therefore, it is now necessary for the daily newspapers to present news interpretation, analysis, research and opinions through online or social media. The Editors' Council thinks that there is no scope for creating any debate over presenting digital contents in the online platforms of the newspapers. Is bite-sized news making us lazy readers? https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news ... rs-3046516 Who is the modern news reader? One who gets their news from their newsfeed on social media? One who is tech savvy and can fact-check their own sources? Or is it simply one who does not have more than 10 seconds to read their news? Our social media newsfeed is a strange place for news to be. In the curious amalgam of our feeds, traditional newspapers, online news portals, and groups making political memes are all vying for the same space and attention. One thing is clear, the modern news consumer is drawn towards quick and snappy news presentation - a headline with a graphic - which is the forte of bite-sized news portals. But beyond the aesthetic presentation of news, these portals raise questions of how they are impacting news reading habits, both through their sourcing and style of news presentation. Bite-sized news portals essentially operate as highlights. Here, picking and choosing the flashiest and boldest stories of the day and publishing it takes away many of the challenges and restrictions traditional news media is riddled with. There is great liberty in gauging what people will want to listen to, and cover that exclusively. This automatically creates a bias where readers are more likely to find the news stories of such platforms appealing, as they often skip many of the repetitive, unentertaining stories that news outlets will not neglect out of journalistic duty. A 2008 Time magazine article quotes anthropologist Robbie Blinkoff using the term "newstritional disorder" to refer to a news audience with a diminished attention span. By making everything short and snappy then, are such portals cultivating lazy readers? Shadman Sharar Haque, CEO at Tyger Media and co-founder of Nutshell Today, does not believe so. "The way social media and smartphones are designed is what caused the rise of reading headlines and skimming through articles. Aspects like infinite scrolling, abundance of content, displays of smartphones are a few among the many causes that fall under that umbrella. Bite-sized news is not to blame here, but rather it came in and filled a gap, since such content was unavailable in the past, at this scale at least. So, the trend of reading only headlines or skimming through articles happened because of already existing causes before bite-sized news came in," Shadman comments. There is also the question of "reach", or how widely your news travels, particularly on social media platforms. "I think attractively packaged bite-sized news rather allows more people to stay informed since it gets better reach and engagement than general articles. We have clearly seen that through our two verticals, Nutshell Today and Cablgram. A lot of times our content generates more reach and engagement than the original source article," Shadman adds. On the other side of it are readers with their expectations from the news they get. Simran Nova Siddique, recent university graduate and bank executive, likes her news to be unbiased. She says, "Realistically, I feel like the only way to get a fuller picture is to get my information from various sources. The reason I follow bite-sized news accounts on social media is to stay in the loop for news that might be important to me so that I can later look it up and read broader articles about. On most days, since I am busy, I tend to look at a singular news source. Whichever link I see first on social media is usually it." The right way to consume news Shah Md. Akib Majumder, co-founder and chief editor of The Front Page believes in the power of news curation. "We provide readers with the important and relevant parts without the mundane information that would otherwise cause them to lose interest in reading the entire story. The mundane information in the news can sometimes overshadow the important and necessary information. If a reader finds it interesting enough, they will read it no matter how long," explains Shah. However, this strict curation can often confound or even mislead readers. Simran herself believes to have spotted certain news being misinterpreted.
Advocate Jarin Rahman and Adv Rashida Chowdhury stood for the writ petitioner. Deputy Attorney General Nowroz Md Rasel Chowdhury represented the state. Earlier on May 5, a legal notice was sent to the media asking them to formulate an ethical code of conduct for publishing any news, including sensitive news. The notice was sent to the secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, chairman of BTRC and chairman of Bangladesh Press Council. As they did not respond to the notice, lawyers Adv Jarin Rahman and Adv Rashida Chowdhury filed a writ petition in the High Court. According to the writ petition, a case was filed under Section 306 of the Penal Code for incitement to suicide in the recent recovery of the body of a 21-year-old girl in the capital. The news about this incident has spread to an unacceptable extent in the media of the country, especially in various online news portals. However, neither the BTRC nor the Press Council has taken any initiative to stop the spread of this news. "In this situation, it has become urgent for the Bangladesh Press Council to formulate an ethical code of conduct for publishing news. At the same time, BTRC has not taken any action against the launch of unregistered news portals in the country. So the registration of these portals is also important," reads the petition. On 16 August, the High Court issued a rule asking why an order should not be passed directing that registration to the online news portals which are under consideration be provided and the other unapproved and unregistered ones be closed. The rule also sought an explanation as to why an ethical code of conduct will not be formulated for improving the professional standard of journalists, newspapers and other media. The HC also sought to know why the directives should not be given to take steps in forming a 'Broadcasting Commission' as per the National Broadcasting Policy-2014. "Newspaper or e-paper not enough, audience wants audiovisual content as well" https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangl ... -wants-aud iovisual-content-well-3044876 In line with the new developments every day, newspapers worldwide are trying to incorporate innovative digital contents to keep the audience and create new audiences, the Editors' Council said today. Also, the print media is going through challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, there is no way of denying the rise of digital platforms, while the print media remains equally relevant. Now, the audience cannot be satisfied only through the newspaper or the e-paper, they want new contents in audio-video formats -- news, interviews, features and news analysis, they said in a statement. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The statement -- signed by Editors' Council President Mahfuz Anam and General Secretary Dewan Hanif Mahmud -- comes following the remarks of Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud recently. After a meeting with the leaders of the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) at the Secretariat on June 8, Hasan Mahmud said the newspapers in their declaration were not allowed to hold talk-shows and show videos on their websites. Streaming news through IPTVS also goes against the government's policy. He also said that the government will take actions soon against the newspapers that hold talk-shows and show videos on their websites. In the meeting, ATCO demanded enforcement of law to stop such activities by the IPTVs and daily newspapers' websites. The Editors' Council said it thinks that the advancement of newspapers lies in the combination of print and digital platforms because the newspaper industry is globally facing new challenges due to the digital revolution. The Bangladesh government has also introduced the process of "Registration for Online News-portal" for the newspapers under the National Online Media Policy-2017 (Amended-2020), considering the importance of digital platforms. Already, the government has approved more than a hundred online news portals, including online editions of the newspapers, the statement said. It said the government is committed to the building of IT-based Digital Bangladesh. Though print media is the last resort of readers, the government needs to take into consideration the web portals of the print media and social media with equal importance in the age of digital revolution.
"I think bite-sized news faces the same problem as traditional newspapers: people read the headline or image and skip the article or caption. I feel it especially spreads misinformation when statistics or rates are mentioned." A bite-sized news portal recently made a post with a headline stating "28% sexual harassment incidents among young female workers in Bangladesh remain unresolved". Simran explains from her observation, saying, "People misinterpreted this as 28 percent of all female workers in Bangladesh, even though this statistic is from a study, from a very specific demographic. The details of the study aren't mentioned in the caption." Bangladesh to introduce pre-registration rules for news websites in 2022 https://bdnews24.com/media-en/2021/10/0 ... news-websi tes-in-2022 Bangladeshi online news websites will have to register before their launch from next year, Information Minister Hasan Mahmud has said. Many others followed in the footsteps of bdnews24.com after it introduced internet-only news publishing to Bangladesh one and a half decades ago, but not all of them are following common journalistic rules and principles. In 2020, the government moved to register online newspapers in a bid to ensure professional journalism. Over 250 news portals received permission for registration. Now the new decision on pre-registration aims to bring order to the digital news media in the country, the minister said on Wednesday at a programme of the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum or BSRF on Wednesday. "We've kept registration ongoing for the ones that are already online. But we set off the registration protocol much later." "A newspaper must issue a declaration, or else they can't go to publication. The same should apply to online publishers," Hasan Mahmud said. "So we will take the online registration process to the standardised level. We've held discussions that online portals will have to register before the start of news service." The minister also said that IPTV channels still broadcasting news ignoring government directives will be shut down. IPTV is the streaming of television content over internet protocol networks. "IPTVS are a new media across the world. It will not be appropriate to shut them down. But such channels shouldn't be allowed to proliferate in a runaway fashion. So we've begun the registration process for IPTVS. The ones that are actually willing to stay on will be registered." Hasan Mahmud added that any IPTV with a name similar to that of a cable TV channel will not be allowed to register. He said IPTV microphones will have to be different from those of TV channels so that people at events can recognise them easily. Foreign channels with advertisements have been off the air in Bangladesh since Oct 1 following government directives. The minister said they will be available once they send clean feeds. "Cable operators have told me that the foreign channels will send clean feeds now. I said we will let them broadcast once they do it. Why did they not send clean feeds for a long time? It is their [foreign channels] responsibility to send clean feeds. If they do it for other countries, why would they not send it here? The minister said the country's mass media will benefit from the move and the decision was taken in the "best interest of the country". List of All Bangladeshi Newspaper https://www.24livenewspaper.com/all-ban ... -newspaper