“Views Bangladesh will thrive with truth”

Chanting "truth, truth, truth," with the repetition of this truth, Views Bangladesh will forge ahead. With this aspiration, the inauguration of the country's first bilingual news portal took place. This groundbreaking initiative simultaneously uploads content in both Bengali and English, combining news coverage with in-depth analysis.

At the Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Thursday, a diverse group of individuals, including eminent educators, intellectuals, economists, journalists, poets, writers, and thinkers, gathered to welcome this innovative venture.

Dr. A A M S Arefin Siddique, former vice chancellor of Dhaka University, at the inaugural ceremony said, "Truth, truth, truth, keep chanting truth. I hope that with the repetition of truth, Views Bangladesh will move forward. The most significant aspect of journalism is the publication of truth. In the pursuit of truth, there should be no obstacle in front of a journalist."

He added that, "Now it is essential to describe the overall political, economic, social, and cultural conditions in the country. The tagline of Views Bangladesh is 'Promoting Positive Bangladesh.' While Bangladesh has numerous thought-provoking aspects, we aim to move forward by emphasizing retrospective issues."

Economist Kazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmad said, "This is a new type of news media. Here, opinions will be revealed alongside news. To me, the human aspect is crucial. Views Bangladesh is expected to capture the voices of all the people in the country."

Educationist Abul Khasem Fazlul Haque said, “Science should be given importance in the field of journalism. The question of whether science is a blessing or a curse first arose after the First World War. Rather than contributing to the discovery and development of science, Europe and America were leaning more towards its destructive side. He mentioned, 'Science is neither a blessing nor a curse; it depends on how humans use it.' He emphasized the need to focus on the positive aspects and shed light on them, as eliminating the negative aspects permanently may not be possible. Despite subsequent events like the Second World War and many other conflicts, he stressed the importance of maintaining a positive outlook."

Former Chairman of the National Board of Revenue, Mohammad Abdul Mazid, said there was a need for a bilingual web portal for the publication of opinions. He expressed confidence that Views Bangladesh would fulfill that expectation. He pointed out that in many cases the sources of news used by foreign citizens to learn about us often have biased perspectives.

He hoped that Views Bangladesh would fill that gap and provide a more balanced and objective view.
Shyamal Dutt, general secretary of the National Press Club, said, "We need to evaluate what the media landscape was like just 20 years ago and compare it to the present situation. The mainstream news media is now accompanied by social media, altering the fundamental trend."

“Social media does not have any editorial character. How do we describe an institution of this kind in terms of media? Media's main tasks are responsibility and truthfulness. Despite the increase in sensationalism, all social media focuses on social media. Nowadays, people no longer read newspapers for news; they read for analysis,” he added.

Omar Faruque, president of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), said that Views Bangladesh is a new initiative in the media landscape of the country. In journalism, news used to be confined to one place, and views were expressed elsewhere. Editorial opinions would be in the editorial section of a newspaper, and those who wrote them would have their opinions in the op-ed section. A few designated readers used to wait for these writings. In the newspapers, these subjects are now almost extinct. It is good to have change, and novelty is also good. However, not everything old is bad. We have lost many old things that we are still searching for. If through the initiative of Views, we can find some of those old things, then we will be grateful.

Syed Ishtiaq Reza, CEO of Global Television, said it is a bold initiative for a portal to launch a campaign with Views. He believes that those who are within the power structure are not questioned. He hopes that Views Bangladesh will ask questions and strive to ensure a place for responsive accountability.

Author and journalist Mohsin Habib said that Views Bangladesh has taken a challenging initiative, even publishing a bilingual site is challenging. In Bangladesh, there are over a thousand sites, and the challenge for Views Bangladesh will be to distinguish itself among these portals. I believe Views Bangladesh can take up this challenge and carve out its own identity from within this vast array of portals.

Dr. Mamun Al Mahtab Shapnil said that despite numerous news outlets in Bangladesh, there is a limited space for expressing opinions, especially in English. He expressed his expectation that Views Bangladesh will fulfill this demand.

Agricultural economist Dr. Jahangir Alam hoped that Views Bangladesh will publish news of different genres. He said that Views Bangladesh will coordinate reliable information effectively.

Rased Mehedi, editor of Views Bangladesh, at the inaugural ceremony said the journey of the Views Bangladesh begins with the dream of creating serious content outside the realm of clickbait. Whether it's about substance or increasing views, whatever is presented as news must inherently serve a purpose. They aspire to provide news that will be useful in people's lives. Their philosophy is to align their thoughts with responsibility. They don't believe in editors being responsible for opinions. Instead, they place trust in the responsibility of the readers. Anyone can express opinions on social media without any responsibility, but here at Views, they will publish opinions responsibly.
Ziauddin Ahmed, former managing director of Bangladesh Bank, welcomes Views Bangladesh as a new form of media that centers around people's interest. He expresses enthusiasm for the journey of Views Bangladesh.

Photographer Nasir Ali Mamun believes that Views Bangladesh is a platform for free-minded individuals who advocate for the mental freedom of people in the Liberation War. In many prominent newspapers, there is no editorial responsibility for opinions. However, it is essential to present opinions responsibly.

Poet Mohon Rayhan believes that expressing true opinions in the current context of Bangladesh is a formidable task. He expresses the view that if Views Bangladesh can genuinely publish opinions, Bangladesh will progress significantly.

Mahbub Aziz, deputy editor of Daily Samakal, welcomes the initiative of Views Bangladesh. He believes that Views Bangladesh will work for the people in the true sense.

Mushfiq Inam, chairman of Boishakhi Television, said that news media gather information like others, but the analysis of those news was something they were not expecting even after publication. Seeing the name Views Bangladesh, it feels to him that everyone will benefit from the expression of individuals through the flow of events of each citizen.
Journalist Madhusudan Mondal extends congratulations to the journey of Views Bangladesh and emphasizes the importance of actively publishing responsible news content.

Brigadier General (Retd.) Nasimul Gani, Executive Editor of Daily Amar Somoy Mainul Alam, E-commerce entrepreneur Waresa Khanam Preeti, Chief Regulatory Affairs Officer of Banglalink Taimur Rahman, President of ISPAB Imadadul Haque, Plexus Cloud's Management Director Mobarak Hossain, Head of External Communications at Nagad Jahidul Islam Sajal, Head of External Communications at Grameenphone Ankit Sureka, and Director of Fiber@Home Abbas Faruq, among others, were present.

Views Bangladesh is an initiative of Views Network Limited. As Sharifa Akhtar, chairman of Views Network, is currently abroad, Nilufer Dahlia, editor of Views Bangladesh, conveyed her best wishes for the event during the ceremony.

Girish Goiric, assistant editor of Views Bangladesh, delivered the welcome address at the event. Maria Salam, News Editor of Views Bangladesh, hosted the programme.