Interaction between journos imperative, says Indian Press Council chair Staff Correspondent

Members of a visiting team of the Press Council of India exchange views with senior journalists of media outlets of the East West Media Group Ltd at its conference room in the city on Wednesday.- sun photo

Interaction and cooperation between journalists of India and are needed to overcome common professional barriers, threats and challenges, said Press Council of India Chairman Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad. Media coverage in a conflict zone has become a great challenge for journalists, he stated. “Journalism is going to be a risky profession in the subcontinent as they have to face different kinds of threats and challenges.” The media crew of both the friendly countries should unitedly challenge the menaces confronting them in professional duties, Justice Prasad said. The observations were made during a view-exchange meeting of a delegation of the Press Council of India with editors and senior journalists of East-West Media Group Ltd on Wednesday. The event was held in the EWMGL conference room at Bashundhara Residential Area. The visiting team of journalists, mostly editors from prominent Indian newspapers, also made a tour of the EWMGL media outlets. The visitors got fully apprised of the state of the mass media in Bangladesh. Speaking on the occasion, the Press Council chair underscored the need for more interaction and communications between the journalists of two countries. Journalists from both sides also echoed Justice Prasad’s views on the matter and voiced concern over the mounting threat of terrorism, militancy and conspiracies against their respective countries. For further interaction between Indo-Bangla journalists, Press Council of India is going to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Press Council of Bangladesh. It will be signed in New Delhi on November 16. Editors and senior journalists of , , , Banglanews24 and TV station NEWS24 were present at the two-hour meeting. In the meeting, Indian journalists spoke frankly about the real situation of all independent media platforms and formats here. Press Council of India is independent and powerful and also enjoys full freedom, the delegates told the meeting. Host journalists also told the visitors that the Press Council of Bangladesh is growing day by day as a statutory body and trying to ensure the freedom of the press. Bangladesh Pratidin Editor and NEWS24 CEO Naem Nizam moderated the view-exchange meeting. Other members of the Indian side were Press Council of India secretary Punam Sibbal and member K Amarnath, Rajeev Ranjan Nag, Prajnananda Chaudhuri, Prakash Dubey, Dr Suman Gupta, SN Sinha, CK Nayak and Ravindra Kumar and Bipin Newar. daily sun Editor Jamilur Rahman, Advisory Editor Amir Hossain, Kaler Kantho Executive Editor Mostafa Kamal, Adviser (press and media) Mohammad Abu Tayeb, NEWS24 Current Affairs Editor Samia Rahman and Banglanews Consultant Editor Jewel Mazhar, among others, were present.