Chief adviser鈥檚 deputy press secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said on Wednesday that the revised guidelines on accreditation cards for journalists would be published within a week.
The guidelines aim to address various concerns with the existing system regarding the accreditation card and ensure a more transparent and fair process for the journalists, he said at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital Dhaka.
Azad Majumder outlined key updates and changes to the guidelines, saying that the new guidelines would be based on recommendations from a newly formed committee to review and revise the 2022 guidelines regarding issuance of accreditation card for journalists.
The committee will propose measures to foster a free and independent press in Bangladesh, he said.
Once the committee finalises its recommendations, they will be reviewed and approved by the information ministry, media representatives and other stakeholders.
One of the major changes involves the elimination of controversial terms and provisions from the 2022 accreditation policy. These include requirements for journalists to promote government development projects, which, critics say, undermine journalistic freedom.
The revised guidelines will recommend removing such language to ensure that those align more closely with the principles of independent journalism.
Another change is the removal of a clause that requires journalists to notify government agencies before travelling abroad, which many considered humiliating, will also be scrapped in the new policy.
Regarding the issuance of accreditation card, Azad Majumder said that the existing system regarding the issuance of the card based on newspaper circulation would be cancelled.
The new system will allocate cards to journalists based on their respective newspapers or media outlets, with a cap of 30 per cent of journalists from any given outlet being eligible, or a maximum of 15 journalists per organisation.
The new policy also addresses freelance journalists, stipulating that they must have at least 20 years of experience in journalism or be involved in advocacy related to press rights to qualify for an accreditation card.
Azad Majumder also said that the decision to issue accreditation cards would no longer be solely in the hands of the chief information officer, instead, a committee comprising journalists and various media organisations would issue or cancel the card.
In case of disputes, journalists will have the rights to appeal. An appeal board comprising newspaper editors, retired judges and professionals from various sectors will hear the cases.
The new accreditation system will also recommend a system for issuing the cards for district journalists at the district level.
Under the revised policy, only one type of accreditation card will be issued, valid for three years. The existing system, which offers both permanent and temporary cards, will be replaced by this streamlined process.
Regarding the revoking of accreditation cards, the new guidelines specify that a journalist鈥檚 card cannot be revoked simply due to the filing of a criminal case.
It will only be suspended after a final verdict is passed. However, if a journalist is indicted in a criminal case, their accreditation card may be temporarily suspended by the committee.
So far 167 journalists have had their accreditation cards revoked, with only seven of them requesting reconsideration of the decision.
