No doubt the pandemic compelled us to a ‘ New Normal life’ but it also enriched our professional experience in different ways.
If I take the case of Bangladesh, more than one dozens journalists lost their lives during performing their duties in Pandemic time, more than 200 infected and some of them are still fighting to survive in hospital. That is not the end of the story. More than 600 journalists lost their job and almost same number survive in job with a huge salary cut. I understand most of the countries facing the same experience.
We all know this is not the only danger but the world facing a different experience too. These are racist rumors, discrimination and spreading fake news, fake stigmatization.
So this is not only a fight for personal survival but also a fight and save good journalism, fraternity among nations, solidarity for move forward. We need to raise our voices and make stronger our network. We need to share our experiences and fix our common goal for development. We need to strengthen our relationship with our friends and fight our common enemies together.
I consider Belt and Road Journalists Network as our family. The spirit of the family is openness, co-operations and mutual benefit and this should be uphold high at any cost. This is the demand of time.
(Speech by Ahsan Bulbul, President of Media Watch Bangladesh, from the 2020 Belt & Road Journalists Forum themed Journalism Exchange and Cooperation in the Post Covid-19 Era)