Hasnain Imtiaz joined a newspaper five years after the most recent wage board for newspaper journalists was announced more than a decade ago. Over the past eight years, the cost of supporting his family has more than doubled. Yet his salary has increased by only around 15 per cent through annual increments.
What is even more frustrating for Imtiaz is that the ninth wage board, announced in 2019, provided for an increase of around 80 per cent in salaries. However, it has still not been implemented after seven years because its enforcement has been held up by writ petitions filed by newspaper owners.
“The real value of our income has actually fallen because of inflation. And because the new pay structure has not been implemented, journalists now earn less than those in many comparable professions,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, only employees of the print newspaper industry are covered by an officially declared wage structure. But because of writ petitions and legal proceedings initiated by newspaper owners, the announced pay structure has remained unenforced for seven years.
Journalists say such a situation would be unthinkable in any other profession. While journalists regularly speak out in defence of the rights of others, they ask who will protect their own rights.
A trainee reporter at a national daily, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “I joined this profession out of passion. But I no longer enjoy it. The salary that has been fixed barely covers my daily commute. There have even been days when I could not afford lunch.”
Television and online news organisations have expanded rapidly over the past decade, yet employees in those sectors have no defined salary structure at all. It is common for a senior employee in the same organisation to earn less than someone in a junior position.
The issue of journalists’ deprivation has also been highlighted in a joint report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNESCO.
The report, An Assessment of Bangladesh’s Media Landscape: Free, Independent and Pluralistic Media, published in 2025, says poor working conditions, insecure employment and the lack of fair wages and benefits are among the main obstacles to independent and quality journalism in Bangladesh.
The two UN agencies also say that freedom and accountability in the media cannot be ensured without guaranteeing fair remuneration, safe working conditions and stronger professional protection for journalists.
What happened
On 5 August 2019, the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab) filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the process through which the recommendations of the ninth wage board for journalists had been finalised. After hearing the petition, the High Court ordered a two-month status quo on the publication of the final gazette.
Despite that, the government published the gazette on 12 September, increasing salaries and allowances by 80 to 85 per cent. In a statement issued on 16 September, Noab claimed that the ninth wage board award was not implementable.
Later, on 23 November 2020, Mahbubuzzaman, general secretary of the Employees’ Union of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), filed another writ petition challenging the recommendations of the Cabinet Committee relating to income tax and gratuity under the ninth wage board. The wage board stipulated that journalists would pay their own income tax, although that responsibility had previously rested with employers.
Following a preliminary hearing, the High Court issued a rule asking why the Cabinet Committee’s recommendations on income tax and gratuity should not be declared beyond legal authority and unlawful. The cabinet secretary, information secretary and labour secretary were asked to respond.
On 6 November last year, a High Court bench declared the Cabinet Committee’s recommendations unlawful. As a result, employers must once again pay journalists’ income tax, while journalists and employees are entitled to two annual gratuity payments equivalent to one month’s basic salary each.
At present, only journalists employed by BSS receive salaries and benefits under the ninth wage board.
Frustration and anger among journalists
Abu Saleh Akon, president of the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), expressed his disappointment. “There is no precedent in any other sector for an officially announced pay structure remaining unimplemented for such a long period. Yet this has happened only in the case of journalists,” he said.
Shahidul Islam, president of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), said the union had raised the wage board issue with the information adviser of the interim government, which had given assurances. They have also held two rounds of discussions with the BNP government after the election, but there has so far been no visible progress.
In his view, the effective period of the ninth wage board expired long ago, and the time for forming the tenth wage board has also already passed.
Information Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon has spoken on several occasions about forming the tenth wage board, but no initiative has yet been taken.
National Press Club President Hasan Hafiz declined to comment directly on the issue. He said matters relating to the wage board and journalists’ trade unions should be addressed by the leadership of the journalists’ unions.
Sam Jahan, founding convener of Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM), told TIMES, “In our country, young and grassroots journalists are the victims of the reluctance and indifference of newspaper owners, publishers, editors and senior newsroom executives. Far from providing benefits, many are unwilling even to pay salaries that meet basic standards.”
Newspaper owners unwilling to comment
The writ petition filed on behalf of Noab against the journalists’ wage board in the High Court was submitted by Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo.
When contacted through his personal assistant to seek an interview on the matter, the assistant said: “He (Matiur Rahman) is not interested in commenting on this issue.”
Current Noab President Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, editor of Manab Zamin, also declined to comment after hearing the subject.
TIMES was also unable to obtain comments from Noab executive committee members Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, and Dewan Hanif Mahmud, editor and publisher of Bonik Barta. They, too, were unwilling to comment on the issue.
