Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Shilpa Parishad, an organisation of the owners of newspapers, placed a 14-point demand including the payment of all outstanding advertisement bills owed by newspapers to government agencies, including Department of Films and Publications, by next June.
If not, the leaders of this organisation and publishers warned of waging a systematic movement to realise their demands from July.
The demands were read out during a regular meeting addressing the ongoing problems of the newspaper industry and its solutions at the Daily Industry newspaper office in Dhaka on Saturday with the organisation鈥檚 president Dr Enayet Karim in the chair.
General secretary of the organisation, Yunus Sohag, put forward the demands during the meeting.
The other demands included the formulation of policies for the equitable distribution of government advertisements including at least four Bengali and two English newspapers, ending price discrimination of government advertisements in English and Bengali newspapers, introducing government advertisement prices on online portals of registered newspapers, and increasing the rate of government advertisements based on market inflation.
The demands also included the provision of low-interest loans for the newspaper industry, accommodation for journalists-employees, a special allocation of Tk 5,000 crore, the introduction of a special pension scheme for journalists and media workers, repeal of all black laws including the Digital Security Act, and providing VIP status to all editors.
The leaders expressed their concern, stating that without timely payment of outstanding advertising bills, it would be challenging to sustain publications and pay journalists' salaries.
The publishers sought government intervention and cooperation, particularly from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the state minister for information and broadcasting, to sustain the newspaper industry.
The meeting highlighted that more than 700 media-listed newspapers in the country owe approximately Tk 2,500 crore for advertising bills from the government agencies. Therefore, Tk 5,000 crores are required to clear these outstanding bills and cover bills for the next financial year to sustain the newspaper industry.
Dr Enayet Karim, also editor of the Daily Industry, informed the meeting that previously, newspaper advertisement bills were settled every three months. However, as this trend has ceased, the arrears have now reached Tk 2,500 crore.
The meeting was attended by, among others, freedom fighter Md Faruk Alam Talukder, chairman of Dainik Alor Jagat, KM Belayet Hosain, editor and publisher of Daily Bhorer Dak, Md Fojlur Rahman Zulfiker, editor of Dainik Diner Alo, Md Abdul Awal, editor and publisher of Dainik Sangbad Protikkhon, Ayon Ahmed, editor of Protidiner Chitra, Md Habibur Rahman, chief editor of Dainik Bhorer Somoy, Asaduzzaman Swadin, executive editor of Dainik Alor Jagat, and Muha Nurul Aziz Chowdhury, editor and publisher of Daily Amader Jagoran, Md Rajaul Karim, editor and publisher of Daily Matribhumir Khabor, Nejamul Haque, editor of Daily Ajker Provat, Md Moniruzzaman, editor of Daily Bank Bima and Md Rashed Uddin, publisher of Daily Biswa Manchitra.