[Reader-list] May 3 Dhaka Webcast: Press Freedom (Under Democracy & Military)

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

Please join us for this Dhaka webcast w/ simultaneous translation.  I set
this up w/ help from the folks @ Okno.be (and DEAF) this week, but we are
dependent on unstable Dhaka bandwidth, so there is always chance of
transmission punking out @ zero hour. But let's see, fingers
crossed....<http://www.drik.net/webcast/>

World Press Freedom Day: The Bangladesh Experience
[Under Democracy & Military Rule]
Live Webcast (Bengali)+Simultaneous Text Translation (English)
May 3, 4:30-6:30 pm (GMT+6), DRIK Gallery


Live Webcast
http://okno.be/

Simultaneous Translation
http://www.drik.net/webcast/

Press Freedom Day: Daily Star Special
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/05/03/d7050315.htm

Presentations by
Khaled Muhiuddin, BDNews24.com
Munni Saha, ATN Bangla
Tipu Sultan, Prothom Alo
Probir Sikdar, Samakal
Mainul Islam Khan, Reporters San Frontieres
Afsan Chowdhury, author "Media In Times Of Crisis"

Moderator: Shahidul Alam, DRIK
Simultaneous Translation: Naeem Mohaiemen

Streaming Support: Givan Bela/Okno.be

Technical Support: Azizur Rahim Peu, A S M Rezaur Rahman, Abdullah Al Rajib,
Md Kamal, Abul Kashem, Shefali
Akter Shetu, Naeem Mohaiemen. Thanks also to Nat Muller, Dutch Electronic
Arts Festival

Presenter Bios

Khaled Muhiuddin started his journalism at Prothom Alo. In 1998, he gave the
civil service exam and left journalism to become magistrate in Narshingdi,
but returned after 100 days to rejoin Prothom Alo. He joined bdnews24.com in
2006. His work includes investigations into Barrister Moudud Ahmed's work on
behalf of Canadian gas company Niko (cause of the infamous gas field
blowout), fake medical certifi cates to bomb blast victims at Ramna Batamool
to clear the accused, and medical visit irregularities in cases of Col.
Farook and Rashid, principal accused in Sheikh Mujib murder case.

Munni Saha started as a sub-editor at Ajker Kagoj and rose to become a
reporter at Bhorer Kagoj and ultimately a prominent TV reporter & presenter
on Ekushey TV and now ATN. She used to host a TV talk show "Lead News". Her
reporting focus is often on politics and migration. She did investigative
reporting of Bangladesh Embassy's incompetence with regards to thousands of
migrant laborers in Malaysia, and Bangladeshi activists based in US. She did
one of the fi rst on-air interviews with Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami,
where he dismissed JMB leader and accused mastermind of nationwide bomb
blasts, Bangla Bhai, as a "media creation."

Tipu Sultan first came to national prominence when he was writing a series
of investigative reports on Joinal Hazari, alleged godfather patronized by
the then ruling Awami League. Men believed to be associated with Hazari
smashed both of Sultan's arms, in retaliation against his reports. An
international outcry led to a global fundraiser in which diaspora Bengalis
raised over 27 lakh Taka for his treatment. The Tipu Sultan case was also
the impetus for the founding of the diaspora human rights group
Drishtipat.org. Tipu is currently a reporter for Prothom Alo, where he has
written extensively about militant islamist movements, including JMB and
Hizbut Tahrir.

Probir Sikdar was formerly the Faridpur correspondent for Janakantha. After
writing a series of investigations on alleged 1971 war criminals (in the
"Shei Rajakar" series), Sikdar came under brutal attack by people named in
his column. He was eventually fl own to Singapore for two rounds of
operations. During the last government, he wrote extensively about Islamic
Oikkya Jote, which led to threats to declare him "an enemy of the state" and
eventual court action where he was represented by Dr. Kamal Hossain. Since
then, he was forced to leave Faridpur and is currently with Samakal in Dhaka.


Mainul Islam Khan is Bangladesh correspondent for Reporters Sans Frontieres
(RSF) and a Joint Director of Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism
and Communication (BCDJC). He researched and co-authored the 2005 and 2006
report on "State of Press Freedom in Bangladesh", which is used as a
resource and research tools by groups such as Committee to Protect
Journalists, International Federation of Journalists and European Union. He
was a Knight Fellow of the John S. Knight Journalism fellowships at the
Stanford University in California, USA.

Afsan Chowdhury has been active in multi-disciplinary research, media
relations, journalism, and program development for two decades, and is one
of the editors of an authoritative work on Bangladesh's War of Independence,
as well as the just published 4- volume history of the 1971 war. In 1995 he
developed a fifteen-part sex education series for the BBC entitled
"Sexwise." The fi rst broadcasting of such a program in Asia, the series
reached ten million listeners and became the most successful radio series in
Bangladesh. He is the author of several books, including "Media in Times of
Crisis".
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