Misinformation biggest challenge for journalism now: Swapon

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon on Friday said the biggest challenge facing journalism today is the battle between misinformation and accurate information, falsehood and truth, and dishonest journalism and objective journalism.

Speaking as the keynote speaker at a seminar titled “Role of Media in Sustainable Democracy” organised by the Television Editors’ Council at a city hotel, he said protecting credible information has become the core ethical responsibility of journalism.

“Protecting clean information is now the fundamental ethics of journalism. Combating dishonest journalism is also the responsibility of honest journalism,” the minister said.

“Therefore, the main challenge today is not simply the government versus journalists or media owners versus journalists. Rather, it is the battle between misinformation and accurate information, falsehood and truth, and dishonest journalism and objective journalism,” he added.

The seminar was attended by Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the chief guest.

Swapon said sustainable democracy and a free, responsible media are complementary to each other.

“Just as sustainable democracy requires an independent media, the development of an independent media also requires a democratic environment,” he said.

The minister said there is currently no interference in the media by the government or any intelligence agency.

Raising the question of whether democracy should be established first or whether a sustainable democracy will emerge through the growth of a free media, he said the two must advance together. “These two issues complement one another and should move forward in parallel,” he said.

Describing the media as an industry, Swapon said media organisations must remain financially viable to survive.

“A media organisation must have financial capacity and ensure profitability to sustain itself. At the same time, accountability, compliance with the law and social responsibility are equally important,” he said, describing the government, media owners and advertisers as key stakeholders in the media ecosystem.

“The government is accountable for serving the people, media owners are responsible for ensuring institutional sustainability, and advertisers strengthen the industry's economic foundation. A healthy media system can only be built if there is balance among these three stakeholders,” the minister said.

He also highlighted the growing influence of digital platforms, global technology companies and artificial intelligence (AI) on journalism.

Swapon stressed that establishing sustainable democracy and a strong media requires a comprehensive understanding of the entire media ecosystem.

“It is not possible to reach effective solutions through a partial understanding of these issues,” he said.