FBCCI-NOAB meeting: Newspapers seek assistance to survive

The newspaper industry is gradually becoming a sick industry due to the higher price of paper, rising maintenance costs, decreasing circulation and advertisements, said Newspapers Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) President AK Azad.

During a meeting with leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), he sought the assistance of all stakeholders concerned for the survival of the newspaper industry.

Various problems faced by the newspaper industry, including the Digital Security Act were discussed at the meeting, "Role of Media in Overall Economic Development and Progress of the Country: Problems and Prospects," organised at a city hotel on Tuesday.

At the meeting, it was decided that the FBCCI will negotiate with the government to take necessary initiatives to overcome the crisis of the newspaper industry. The organisation has decided to form a standing committee to negotiate with the government. 

AK Azad said, "Today we came to the FBCCI as a member organisation with a number of problems. The newspaper industry is slowly turning into a sick industry. The main reason for this is the high cost of paper. On the one hand, the price of paper is gradually rising, and on the other hand, the salaries of journalists and other employees of newspapers are also increasing every year."

He said, "The income of the newspaper has not increased, and advertisements have decreased. At present, we have to give a lot of discounts for advertising and a lot of money from selling newspapers and advertising remains uncollected and unrealised.

Mentioning the crisis during Covid-19, NOAB president said, "Many people read online instead of buying printed newspaper during the pandemic. As a result, sales are down 20%-25% but we did not sack any journalists. Sales and advertisements are our main source of income and many newspapers are no longer able to cover costs."

"It costs Tk20-22 per copy of a newspaper. The reader buys it for Tk10-Tk12. From this, we get Tk6.5, and the rest goes to the hawker. We bear the rest of the expense with the money earned from advertisements, and although we are printing advertisements on discount, the money remains unrealized and uncollected," he added.

NOAB informed FBCCI leaders that they did not get any loan support from any stimulus packages declared by the government.

"We sent letters to the people concerned, including the governor of Bangladesh Bank, seeking a stimulus package for the newspaper industry, but in vain. As an industry we are not getting any favours from the government and wee have informed the FBCCI about this discriminatory treatment by Bangladesh Bank," Azad said in reply to a query from journalists.

"Many people could not pay the salaries of journalists in time during the pandemic. If this trend continues in the future also, many will have to at least partially shut down their newspapers and terminate the jobs of many journalists," he added.

"If Bangladesh Bank provides a stimulus facility to newspapers, like other industries, we will be able to come out of the sick phase we are going through," he said.

In this regard, FBCCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said, "Employment and revenue are being generated in this sector, VAT-tax is being paid, then why will they not get stimulus packages? We will work with the Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry on this matter."

"We have standing committees for different sectors and we are forming a standing committee for newspapers also. The committee will regularly inform us about the problems in the sector," he said.

Jashim Uddin said, "NOAB has informed us about the problem of the Digital Security Act. We will look into this and if our standing committee considers that any amendment is needed, then we will comment on it."

Azad said, "We have to pay VAT-tax at a very high rate. Other sectors enjoy tax exemptions, but the newspaper industry does not get any such facility."

Highlighting the problem of newspaper hawkers, he said, "There is no specific place for hawkers to sit. They sit on the street and we have asked the mayors to provide dedicated spaces for hawkers."

Among others, FBCCI Senior Vice President Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, NOAB executive members Matiur Rahman, editor and publisher of Prothom Alo, and Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, were also present at the meeting.