World Press Freedom Day today

World Press Freedom Day is being observed in the country on Wednesday as elsewhere across the globe, reports BSS.

The theme of this year`s World Press Freedom Day is "Critical minds for critical times: Media`s role in advancing peaceful, just and participatory society."

On the eve of the day, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu in a message today said that World Press Freedom Day has immense significance to Bangladesh as the country was going through an unprecedented period when the mass media was flourishing and free.

It included three thousand publications annually, private television channels, FM radios and the voice of the voiceless-community radios, he said.

The number of online portal was also about two thousand, he added.

The information minister said that it was not only the government`s responsibility but also that of the media workers, entrepreneurs and researchers to build on this exceptional boom.

Their opinion, he said, regarding the media would help the government to make the trend sustainable and instutionalize the government`s effort further.