Government will list 'genuine' journalists in consultation with journalist bodies: Yasser Khan in parliament

The government is working to prepare a list of genuine journalists in consultation with various journalist organisations in order to uphold the dignity of the profession, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasser Khan Chowdhury has said.

He made the remark on Thursday (November 12) in the Jatiya Sangsad, replying to a supplementary question from lawmaker Joynul Abedin Faruk. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad Bir Bikram presided over the session.

The state minister said the government is holding regular exchanges with the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), the Broadcast Journalist Association and other journalist organisations with the aim of preparing the list of genuine journalists.

The list will be prepared on the basis of the journalist organisations' opinions, he said, and the government will not interfere in setting the criteria for determining who qualifies professionally as a journalist.

Fake journalism is harming not only lawmakers but ordinary people, including men and women of various professions, the state minister commented.

He added that the government believes in the freedom of the press, is committed to ensuring the dissemination of correct information and encourages it.