From the crossroads to the highway

When I joined The Daily Star in mid-December 1993, a few months after the sudden and sad demise of the Founding Editor S. M. Ali, I was struck by the organisation's attention to detail and the starry-eyed philosophy behind it.

The man who had given a twinkle to the Star was no more, but the traces of his influence I could see etched here and there.

The first thing I noticed was the austere similarity in the size and quality of all the tables and chairs that made up The Daily Star's furniture inventory. This uniformity symbolised a democratic flair in the work environment. 

The second feature of surprise to a man used to a rather casual working style in Bangladesh's newspaper world was the almost daily run of circulars and notices issued to different departments and pasted on notice boards. This was a refreshing departure from the verbal culture practiced by most newspaper managements. In most cases, the tendency appeared to be to treat information as an exclusive preserve or a prerogative of a few in the hierarchy, so it could be used as a tool of power. More to the point, withholding information, whether wittingly and unwittingly, smacks of lack of transparency and accountability on one level and  ruptured working atmosphere on another. 

The third head-turner, if you like, to a new arrival was certainly the hectic pace at which one meeting after another would be held across the departmental corridors on daily basis. This was aimed to create a collegiate environment for interfaces, debates and consequently cross-fertilisation of ideas, so vital for a dynamic, innovative and thriving newspaper. It also keeps kindling a competitive spirit.

It is said that small is beautiful and that the nitty-gritty or the nuts and bolts make the cornerstone of an institution. Frankly, not until did I cross the gateway, look sideways into the newsroom and hop upstairs to settle down in the cubicle allotted to me, would I grasp the full meaning of the foregoing statement. 

The Daily Star had got its basics right from the beginning and in time the paper's management would read very much like an open book. 

Introduction of discipline in the work culture is a creditable contribution of The Daily Star to the newspaper industry which any serious media watcher wouldn't hesitate to endorse wholeheartedly.

Paying tribute to Editor Mahfuz Anam, like drawing up a catalogue of his achievements, can go on and on. It is under his stewardship for the 23 and a half years of The Daily Star's quarter of a century that the paper has made its mark as a truly international quality newspaper. From steadying the rocking boat until end-1995 when the paper broke even and went on to peak in circulation and revenues, it has been a long but tireless journey. Rigour-free because it was enlivened by the tenacity and good cheer of Mahfuz Anam. He thinks that his single-minded pursuit of improving the paper without distractions others fall prey to is the secret of his success. We couldn't agree more.

After the story telling, the future beckons. 

The citizens are being flooded with news and views from the print media, its online version, electronic media and the multimedia digital platforms. Funnily but not disdainfully, every social media user is an instant journalist because he or she enters news or information into the cyber space for theoretically a wide spectrum audience. 

Amid the surfeit of media men and women and sources of information and comments, the numerous recipients are confused becoming per se selective and choosy sifting through the mass of information and value judgments to try and get to what finds resonance with them.

In other words, they are thirsty for authentic and genuine information based on fact-checking that only print media can provide and deliver a distilled version of. Then you look for the-story-behind-a-story, analysis and interpretation of what is on the news circuit. This can only be provided by print journalism and its online extension through updates. The appeal of the first and the original media i.e. the print media therefore remains undiminished. 

But if corruption should seep through a newspaper then it would be a different matter altogether. For, as Mike Royko, a Chicago newspaper columnist and winner of the 1972 Pulitzer Prize, picturesquely put it, "No self-respecting fish would be wrapped in a Murdoch newspaper".

The scandalous News of the World experience may be behind us but hardly forgotten. This triggered the debate on self-regulation within a media versus an externally operated regulatory mechanism. In the end, it is self-regulation that prevails in the British media. 

We make much about the media going high tech, emphasising the savvy side to journalism which may be good and dandy, but actually it is the man behind the machine or the instrument that makes all the difference between responsible and irresponsible applications. 

By this criterion, The Daily Star may feel redeemed in terms of integrity of journalists – the Editor often says he has not heard a negative word reflecting on the reputation of any staff. This factor is coupled with an unwritten and habit forming code of ethics that binds the organisation into a concert as it were. 

It has all been about leadership at the top and inspired team spirit at the various tiers of the organisation. Loosely-knit hierarchies have been maintained with ample delegation of authorities. This has led to setting of tenors and percolation of values down the line.

Here the Board of Directors enlightened and progressive outlook to let the newspaper be with full professional flourish and editorial independence merits a special mention in an owner-dominated newspaper world of Bangladesh. 

If one were to ask what is the single signature of The Daily Star's character; the answer would be its impersonality. A little philosophical that it might sound, it forms the bedrock of the paper's acceptability. The Star deals with issues on their merits. With robust common sense and the feeling of popular pulse, the paper is wedded to bring maximum good to maximum number of people. It is fiercely nonpartisan and unbiased, topped up by a handholding to the disadvantaged, weak, vulnerable and defenseless among the people. 

In the eye of The Daily Star, the ruling party having the governing and dispensing role attracts more space and with that criticism as well vis-à-vis the opposition. The opposition hasn't, however, been spared the flak for its injudicious, even harmful excesses from time to time. When the opposition fails to play its mandatory role of exercising oversight, the independent newspaper per se has to play a watchdog role.

This is what the Fourth Estate is all about.

'Free media has been one of the most significant gains of independent Bangladesh' and we must strive to keep it at that.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.