Swapon calls for facts-based journalism

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon said on Saturday that journalism must be grounded in objective, data-driven information, stressing that opinions, assumptions and activism have no place in professional news reporting.
Speaking at a panel discussion titled “Does South Asian Media Face the Same Threats in Different Forms?” during the Bengal Delta Conference-2026, organised by the Dacca Institute of Research and Analytics (DAIRA) in the capital, the minister said journalists must prioritise truth over personal beliefs.
“Journalists portray the course of events through their own eyes and writing. However, ensuring objectivity is the most important thing to maintain professionalism,” he said.
Swapon said media organisations across Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan face broadly similar challenges. While freedom of expression dominated past debates, he said the rise of technology and mobile journalism has shifted the media's foremost responsibility to combating fake news and misinformation. He said differing public opinions were natural, but responsible journalists must rise above emotion and ideology to establish the truth.
“Journalists should not be activists. Without data or specific information, no idea can be news. It is very important to maintain an environment of objective journalism to understand and portray society correctly,” he added.
The discussion, moderated by Netra News Executive Editor Nazmul Ahsan, also featured Kanak Mani Dixit, founding editor of Himal Southasian; former chief adviser's press secretary Shafiqul Alam, now editor of Waadaa; and The Hindu's Diplomatic Editor Suhasini Haider.
Shafiqul Alam said digital media had made society and newsrooms more polarised, with journalists increasingly facing pressure through incentives rather than censorship. He added that video platforms were gradually replacing text-based journalism.
Suhasini Haider said journalists should neither act as government spokespersons nor activists, stressing that journalism's role is to analyse facts, inform the public and raise awareness, not entertain.