The government has formed an 11-member media reform commission with veteran journalist Kamal Ahmed as its chief.
The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification in this regard on Sunday.
Other members of the commission are Dr Gitiara Nasreen, a teacher in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University; Shamsul Huq Zahid, editor of The Financial Express; Akhter Hossain Khan, secretary of the News Paper Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB); a representative from the Association of Television Channel Owners; Syed Abdal Ahmed, former secretary of the Jatiya Press Club; Fahim Ahmed, chief executive officer of Jamuna Television and a trustee of Broadcast Journalism Centre; Jimi Amir, journalist and convener of the Media Support Network; Mostafa Sabuj, the Bogra correspondent of The Daily Star; Titu Datta Gupta, deputy editor of The Business Standard; and Abdullah Al Mamun, a student representative.
The commission will start its work soon and after taking opinions from all stakeholders concerned, it will submit its report to Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus within 90 days, the notification said.
The chief and the members of the commission will get status and salary and enjoy benefits to be determined by the government. But if any one of them wants to work voluntarily, without taking benefits, he or she must take permission from the chief adviser.
On October 17, the government announced the formation of new reform commissions on health, mass media, workers' rights and women's affairs.
