The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

The Daily Star is the largest circulating daily English-language newspaper in Bangladesh.[1] Founded by Syed Mohammed Ali on 14 January 1991, as Bangladesh transitioned and restored parliamentary democracy, The Daily Star emerged as a leading and influential national newspaper of record.[2][3]

The Daily Star
Front page of the Friday edition of The Daily Star on 17 January 2008
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Transcom Group
Founder(s)Syed Mohammad Ali
EditorMahfuz Anam
FoundedJanuary 14, 1991 (1991-01-14)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters64–65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka-1215
Websitethedailystar.net

Its motto, "Committed to People's Right to Know", appears on the above the fold middle section of the front page. The newspaper is led by Mahfuz Anam, a member of Mukti Bahini,[4] and former United Nations official.[5] Its principal bureaus are located in Dhaka and Chittagong, with several representatives abroad. It is organized into sections: News, Opinion and Editorial, Star Business, Star Sports, Arts and Entertainment, National and Metropolitan. Its major supplements include The Star, Forum, Lifestyle, Star Literature, Law & Our Rights, Shout, Star Insight and Science and Life.

The Daily Star is owned by Mediaworld, in which a major share is held by Latifur Rahman's Transcom Group.[6] The Transcom Group also owns Prothom Alo, one of the most widely read Bengali newspapers in the world.[7]

Management

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, is also on its six-member board of directors, of which Rokeya Afzal Rahman is chairman. The board deals with financial matters.[8]

The general section of the newspaper is headed by Salehuddin Ahmed,[8] its managing editor, while the news team is led by Syed Ashfaqul Haque, chief news editor.[9] Ahmed Ali is in charge of the Metro. Other leaders are AFM Jamaluddin (establishment manager), Mizanur Rahman (accounts manager), Selim S.H. Chowdhury (production and events manager), and Sher Ali (advertising manager).[9]

Online version

The online version of The Daily Star as a leading English daily newspaper of Bangladesh is updating 24/7 with latest, breaking, politics, business, technology, world, entertainment, sports, lifestyle and crime news.

Pages, magazines and supplements
The Star Magazine

The Daily Star publishes a number of supplements along with its 24-page main publication.

  • The Star, a magazine-size weekly, is published every Friday.
  • Lifestyle, a weekly fashion and lifestyle tabloid, is published every Tuesday.
  • Star Showbiz, Weekly entertainment tabloid, focused on local international movie, music and TV.
  • Shout, a weekly tabloid-size supplement for teenagers, is published every week.
  • Bytes Technology page
  • Next Step
  • Shift
  • Law and Our Rights, a weekly supplement on legal issues, published every Saturday.

Previous publications
  • RisingStars, a weekly tabloid-size supplement for teenagers, was published every Thursday.
  • Star Campus was a university-based supplement of the paper. It was published every Sunday. Now publication closed. [defunct].
  • Forum, a monthly magazine, edited by Shah Husain Imam, is published with the newspaper on the first Monday of the month [defunct].
  • Star Insight, page 12, was published every Wednesday.

Controversy

In 2016, speaking at a panel discussion on ATN News, editor Mahfuz Anam admitted that The Daily Star ran stories fed to the newspaper by military intelligence outfit DGFI in 2007 and 2008. The stories accused eventual prime minister Sheikh Hasina of corruption.[10] This led to demands in parliament by several lawmakers calling for the trial of Mahfuz Anam and The Daily Star publisher Latifur Rahman.[11]

Website blocked

The online website was blocked on 1 June 2018 without any notice by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). It was unblocked after 18 hours. BTRC didn't explain why it took the action, but the media and public of Bangladesh thought that as the media ran a story regarding alleged killing of Teknaf municipal councillor Akramul Haque the authority had taken the steps.[12]

See also

References
  1. Newspaper Trends: Bangladesh, World Advertising Research Center. Retrieved 14 September 2007
  2. "Remembering Syed Mohammad Ali". The Daily Star. 17 October 2007.
  3. "SM Ali's World". Southbound.com.my. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  4. Lalwani, Nikita; Winter-Levy, Sam (20 October 2016). "A Daughter of Bangladeshi Revolutionaries Makes Sense of Life After War". The New Yorker. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  5. "Mahfuz Anam artist portrait". culturebase.net. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  6. Transcom Group. Retrieved 14 September 2007
  7. "The new generation of journalists has changed the face of the media". Probe News Magazine. 14 September 2006. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  8. "About Us". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 September 2007.
  9. English Daily: The Daily Star, Media Bangladesh; Retrieved: 2007-09-14
  10. "Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam admits to publishing DGFI-fed baseless stories". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  11. "Lawmakers demand trial of Daily Star editor Mahfuz, publisher Latifur". The Daily Observer. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  12. "Star blocked, unblocked". The Daily Star. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
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