Taking Away the Pen

Troubling news from Bangladesh.

RSF recently said that politicians from both sides accuse the media of trying to destabilize the country through their reporting. Over the past few years, the government has been particularly critical of both domestic and foreign reporting about signs of Islamic extremists operating in the country. In reality journalists like Tipu Sultan and Hasan Imam were threatend and attacked physically for writing against lawmakers of both the recent regimes, Awami League and now the ruling BNP-Jamaat qualition [sic].

It's going to get worse.

Now Drishtipat reports that the government is thinking of taking more strict measures against journalists.

It appears to me that many Bangladeshi journalists are repeatedly showcasing the incompetence of their government and thus hurting its public support. The government is responding by muzzling the journalists.

In a free press, untrue news, intentionally or not, will always make the airwaves. The proper response should be to calmly set the record straight -- not bring down the iron fist.