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| IMC members |
The independent Media
Club, a new platform for journalists and media professionals, is holding a
roundtable discussion on 1st May at the upper house of the
Parliament, the House of Lords, to
celebrate the World Press Freedom Day 2019 which runs from 1-3 May.
The discussion aims
to enrich and connect people from many sectors of society. Media professionals
from across the UK, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other
Commonwealth countries will be sharing their experiences about press freedom,
digital media challenges and opportunities.
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| Lord Eames |
The event will be
hosted by Lord Eames, Crossbench Member of the House of Lords, an Anglican
bishop who served as Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh.
The event will also
have a panel of well-known former journalists: Senior Producer, BBC Bangla and
President, IMC, Masud Hasan Khan; Editor, BBC Bengali Service, Sabir Mustafa;
Channel 4 News freelance producer Becky Horsbrugh; TRT World Turkey journalist
Shamim Ara Chowdhury; Head of News, Ekattor TV journalist Shakil Ahmed;
Minister, Press, Bangladesh High Commission, London, journalist Ashequn Nabi
Chowdhury; BBC News Mahfuz Sadique; Weekly Janomot, editor-in-Chief, Syed Nahas
Pasha; Political advisor and consultant Rohema Miah; Senior Staff Correspondent,
Director News and Current Affairs ION TV, Bulbul Hasan; Channel-I Bangladesh
journalist, Mousror Alahe; Channel S, London, Current Affairs editor, Syed
Tanvir Ahmed. Some of the guests invited to attend the event are: Dr. April
Elisabeth Pierce (DPhil in English Literature from the University of Oxford),
Dr. David Lee Morgan (BBC Poetry Slam Champion), and Argentine-born, UK based
poet Gaby Sambuccetti (Director of events at OWH).
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| Masud H. Khan |
IMC President Masud H. Khan says, ‘Journalism has become more dangerous trade, and journalists all over the world are now facing unprecedented threats: fake news, cyber-attacks, censorship and physical violence. It is high time that we sit down and discuss how we uphold professional integrity as well as our freedom.’
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| Tanvir Ahmed |
Also, Independent
Media Club’s Press Freedom Day Celebration Project Coordinator, Journalist and
Columnist, Tanvir Ahmed has stated, ‘It is evident that we have entered into a
new era of digital media; it may give citizen journalists more freedom, but is
this emerging new media has become a threat to traditional media? If social
media has that platform for the users to have the freedom of expression. Then,
why the freedom of the press is still a topic of discussion in the world? We
want to listen to the journalists, academics, researchers who are coming from
the diverse community at the Palace of Westminster.’
The discussion
intends to address how to enhance new opportunities and threats digital media
has raised, how to promote access to and improve the quality of journalism
while showing and promote new voices and realities.
This article is also available in Spanish
