Published: 12:17 AM, 23 August 2026
'Independent media vital to building state and society'
Former information minister Zahir Uddin Swapon has stressed the importance of an independent and responsible media in building a functioning state and society.
Speaking at an event on Saturday, he said the media was an important element of the social structure, with a significant reach and influence, bdnews24 reports.
"Its impact is very large when it does good, just as its impact is very large when it does bad," he said.
Swapon said the media had become one of the most important components of civilisation. "If those who regulate the state and society think they can build a state and society without the media, without an independent and responsible media, that is impossible. Even if they want to, they can no longer do it," he said. He said such control might have been possible to some extent in the pre-internet, pre-digitalisation or pre-smart-device era, but it was no longer possible. "As a citizen, I try to remain vigilant while performing any responsibility I have, because a state and society cannot achieve completeness in any way without an independent and responsible media," he said. The outgoing information minister also spoke openly about journalists' professional responsibilities, objectivity in news gathering, truthful and ethical journalism, yellow journalism and journalists' salary structures. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman reshuffled his cabinet on Friday night, six months after the BNP formed the government, adding three ministers and two state ministers.
The Bangladesh Jatiya Party or BJP Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho, a partner of the BNP-led alliance, was given charge of the information ministry.
Swapon was made an advisor with the status of a minister.
"Although I am a six-month-old renunciant, I have been a reader and viewer of the media for 50 years," he said.
Swapon attended the opening ceremony of the United News of Bangladesh (UNB) District Journalists' Conference 2026 at the Cosmos Centre in Dhaka's Malibagh.
