Around 60.31 percent newspapers in local level are now closed due to ongoing Corona (Covid-19) crisis.
Bangladesh Independent Journalism Network (BIJN) revealed this information in a virtual press conference on Saturday. Amir Khasru, the chief coordinator of the organization, read the statement.
In his written statement, he said a survey was recently conducted on 456 local newspapers in 34 districts of the country. It shows that 60.31 percent of the country’s or 275 local newspapers have been shut down. Of those 35.75 per cent of the magazines are running regularly and 3.95 per cent are running irregularly. However, after Corona was identified at the end of March, all the papers were closed for a few days.
Amir Khasru said the main reason for the closure of newspapers was the economic crisis.
That’s why a lot of information at the local level is not coming up anymore. Most local news do not get a place in the national newspaper. As a result, this information flows through local newspapers.
He added that the freedom of the press had diminished during the Corona period and there was a shortage of information due to the closure of local newspapers.
According to the survey, during the Corona period, the life of the people of Bangladesh has become critical in many ways. Corona’s fear, uncertainty and, above all, the economic crisis have posed a new threat to mankind, uncertainty. In this changed new context, the newspapers of Bangladesh are facing serious economic losses and risks. The struggle for existence is the big challenge in front of them now. National level newspapers of course, the crisis of local level newspapers outside the capital Dhaka has intensified.