In the region of social media, of internet news hawking, it is refreshing to go back to old-fashioned journalism. We mean, of course, journalism which comes in black and white. We mean, certainly, that moment of relaxation tempered by inquiry about the world when we can pick up a newspaper and read through the pages, beyond the headlines. Now that The News Times rounds off a year since it hit the market, it feels good to know that despite the difficulties the media have been up against in Bangladesh, The News Times has held on to its goal.
That first year is always the hardest in the life of a newspaper, for the good reason that it must cope with a slew of challenges — challenges which again are natural given the prevalence of other newspapers which have been there for far longer than a newspaper which celebrates its first birth anniversary. There is all that recruitment to be made, which is one of the toughest of jobs a newspaper faces initially because the search is obviously for a dedicated as well as professional team of journalists. It is upon this team that the onerous responsibility of taking the newspaper to the doorsteps of readers falls.
From day one of its arrival until a year has gone by, it is for the management of a newspaper to convince the public why the newspaper must be read, what it is that is new about it for families to savour at home. In offices straddling politics, business, academia and what have you, a new arrival on the media market needs to get in, almost aggressively, in order to convince the denizens of such areas of public interest that this new newspaper is different, is out there to uphold the principles of journalism. Newspapers get traction when they convince their readers that it is bold, persuasive and principled journalism they have on offer.
In its first year, a newspaper clearly needs to keep an eye on advertisements, for in a stiffly competitive market it must ensure its economic viability. Indeed, an expanding readership in combination with increasing advertisements are necessary elements that become the prime focus of a newspaper in its early stages. Besides, one cannot quite ignore the truth that in Bangladesh the readership for English language newspapers — and The News Times falls into that category — is depressingly low. And here comes a new challenge, or call it mission for a year-old newspaper. That is to promote, through its reports and editorial comments and analyses, language that is of an uplifting nature, with all its charm and nuances and depths shining through the lines. It needs to initiate and promote debate on the issues, both domestic and foreign.
Given the tremendous odds it has been confronted with, The News Times has done well. And yet there is always the future that must be touched. As it steps into its second year, it will need to keep up the momentum. It cannot afford to slow down. And speed can be maintained through a full, purposeful dedication to the profession. The call of journalism is essentially a drawing of attention to history as it is as also as it ought to be. Newspapers ask questions, for in homes and offices and in the humble tea stalls there are the masses who wait to come by answers. One expects The News Times to hammer home those questions and not give up until all the answers have been extracted. Serving the public interest is the goal.
The News Times gives us hope. And hope is fundamentally a belief, on our part as readers, that it will speak for the country, for the huddled masses — that it will speak up for justice where injustice runs riot — that it will demand accountability and transparency from those on whose shoulders lies the responsibility of ensuring public welfare — that it will not be intimidated in its projection of the truth — that at the end of the day readers will count the hours till its next edition, on the morning to be, falls into their hands.
Happy birthday!
Syed Badrul Ahsan is an independent journalist, political analyst. His works include biographies of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and its first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad
