1 to 15 August 2005                                         <<<Previous

Roundtable on ?Corruption & Media'

TIB organized a roundtable on ?Corruption and Media? on 4 August at the V.I.P. Lounge of the National Press Club. Eminent journalist Mr. ABM Musa presented the keynote paper. Names of the winners of TIB Investigative Journalism (IJ) Award 2005 were also announced on this occasion. This year, Selim Zahid of the Daily Samakal won the IJ Award in the Print Media category for his report on ?Bottled Mineral Water? published in the Daily Inqilab in 2004. Shakil Ahmed of ATN Bangla received the Award in the Electronic Media category for his follow-up report on the August bombing incident which was broadcast on the same channel in 2004. The winners received prize-money of Taka 50,000, certificates and crests. TIB Trustee and Editor of the Daily Star Mahfuz Anam moderated the discussion meeting.

In his presentation, Mr. Musa said that corruption has become uncontrollable though everyone is aware of its presence. It is because the definition of corruption has changed with times and those who are in politics and in government are also accused of being corrupt. And media, in many cases, cannot reveal the stories and the relevant information. The program was followed by a lively discussion session where eminent journalists took part. They praised the role of the media in exposing and fighting corruption in the country and blamed the government for not taking any action against these unveiled cases of corruption. It was observed that the situation would have been worse, had there not been reports on corruption in the media. They also criticised the government for often blasting the media for exposing corruption in the name of tarnishing the image of the country. The extent of corruption in our society is at an alarming level, as a result, the country has been named the most corrupt four consecutive times. Editor of the Bangladesh Observer Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, journalists Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Kajal Siddiqui, Khadiza Begum, Nikhil Chatterjee, Abdur Rouf, T Ali Minto also took part in the discussion. Khan Sarwar Murshid, former chairperson of TIB, stressed the need for interaction between the media and TIB for breaking the "unholy alliance of power, money and corruption".

TIB, on this occasion, released a book on the collection of the media reports that have received TIB Investigative Journalism Awards till date. The book can be purchased at Tk. 200/= from TIB office.

Television Talk Show

?Role of the mass media in curbing corruption? was the title of the Television Talk Show ?Teleshomoy?. The show was aired on Channel-i on Friday, 12 August. The program was moderated by Muhammad Jahangir. TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, The Bangladesh Observer editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Chairman of the Journalism Department of Dhaka University Dr. Golam Rahman were present to discuss on the topic. The discussants agreed that the mass media has an important role to curb corruption in our country. They also observed that the media itself should not get involved in corruption while disclosing corruption related information.

CCC Activities

Workshop in Kishoreganj: The Committee of Concerned Citizens in Kishoreganj organised a workshop on ?Quality of Municipality Services? on August 2, at the local Municipality Auditorium. Local Government, role of the municipality and their duties were some of the issues that were being discussed. Chairman of the municipality Md. Abu Taher Mia and Assistant Land Officer of Kishoreganj Sadar Md. Zakir Hossen were present on the occasion. Member of the CCC Professor Abdul Ghani presented a working paper. The program was moderated by CCC Convenor Advocate Ashok Sarkar.

Muktagacha Theatre Group staged Durnitir Chobol: The People?s Theatre group of CCC ? Muktagacha staged Durnitir Chobol on August 9, at the Khamar Bazar High School ground Tarati Union Parishad. More than 300 students and local people enjoyed the show. After the show the audience expressed their views and welcomed the efforts of the CCC and TIB to use people's theatre as an advocacy tool to create awareness among local people.

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