The Financial Express (FE), Bangladesh's first and oldest business daily, completes its 32 years of existence today. On this momentous occasion, we express our deep gratitude to our valued readers, advertisers, shareholders of the FE's owning company, the International Publications Limited, staff and well-wishers. We are particularly thankful to our readers for their unalloyed support and loyalty.
When The FE came into being in 1993, its core mission was to disseminate objective and reliable news and views. For over three decades now, sticking to that mission religiously the newspaper has upheld the cause of the people in general and the private sector in particular. From our early days down to the ongoing digital age, our commitment to the delivery of fair, unbiased and objective news has been unwavering.
The financial daily hit the newsstand when the country's economy just started opening up under a democratic regime. However, the journey began in uncharted waters. Many soothsayers in the media industry predicted the publication's premature demise. It, however, proved them all wrong, weathered many storms, celebrated quite many triumphs and prospered. Its success encouraged more publications, both in Bangla and English, of same nature to come out.
Everybody is aware of the fact that the print media is in trouble globally because of the invasion by social media. The onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation even worse. Despite being a very credible source of information, readers and advertisers are now increasingly attracted to digital media and online version of newspapers. The FE, in keeping with this trend, has been putting in all possible efforts to strengthen its online version and digital presence.
There is no denying that the recent tech-driven changes in the media world have created some negative financial impact on the print version of newspapers. Support from the government-a major source of revenue for the print media-has been long overdue to help offset the impact. But the government has not been supportive. Hopefully, the interim government would soon raise its advertisement rates and, at the same time, create a separate category for English-language newspapers in this respect. The move, if taken, would be in line with recommendations made by the Media Reform Commission in its report submitted to Chief Adviser of the post-uprising government Dr Muhammad Yunus in March this year.
As we look forward, we remain committed to innovative, trend-setting and objective journalism. The FE will continue to promote free-market economy and extend support to a private sector that believes in fair and competitive business environment.
In keeping with the past tradition, we are bringing out a special anniversary supplement in three instalments. The first instalment comes out today. We hope the readers will enjoy the content of the supplement that includes write-ups on a wide range of issues.
