Are you a journalist?
: Yes.
: Who do you work for?
: Bangla Tribune
: Ok, you are from Banglavision.
: No, no… It’s not Banglavision. I am from Bangla Tribune.

: Bangla Tribune! What’s that?

: It is neither a newspaper nor a Television Channel. It is an online news portal.

: Ok, now I get it. You have to say that first. 

This is not real conversation and I hope nobody from Bangla Tribune had this kind of experience. But you can’t blame, if it happens.

When the National Press Club do not feel to make online media journalists their member, then the people cannot be blamed. The online news media has been neglected for their own fault.

In the today’s situation, online news media is the most promising sector in publishing the news among mass media. The future of the media points to the online news portals after the era of printed newspapers, radio and television.

Not just in Bangladesh, it’s reality around the world. I am not among them who thinks that newspapers will lose its appeal, but readers are now more on more depending on online to get news.

All newspapers and TVs have an online version.

And nowadays, I notice a lot of people do not read the newspaper or watch the television channels rather they check online news websites.

Newspapers are losing the game to online media when it comes to news as it happens.

For an instance, newspapers shocked the nation on Friday, when several national dailies ran the ‘successful launch of Bangabandhu Satellite’.  But in reality, the launch from US was aborted last minute due to technical issues.

The whole nation was following it live on tv or the internet and was well aware what happened. But the newspaper headlines in the morning were initially shocking and later turned out be the joke of the day.

It is hard to believe that the newspapers had done such a blunder.

It doesn’t matter you are literate or not, you can be a radio listener. To be a television audience, you have to have eyesight with the hearing capability and you have the education enough to read a newspaper where you have to reach the news through reading word by word.

But, to be an online news reader, one must have the affordability to access to the internet along with your technical education.

So, online news readers are part of the most advanced citizens in the society. So, it can be expected that the journalism will touch the pick of excellence through the advanced part of the society.

Sad but true that’s not the case and hence the imaginary conversation at the beginning is enough to paint a picture and the online media’s malpractices is to blame.

How many online news portals people view as credible? Ok, let’s make the question easier. How many online news portals do you know?

May be it is five, or maximum ten. But there are thousands actually and nobody knows the real number.

The media’s job is to provide accurate news. But now, journalism and yellow journalism are walking side by side.

Journalists in Bangladesh are often accused of extortion by threatened to taint images by news reports and the truth is it has been practiced by print journalist and now followed by online journalist.

A report is produced first and then it’s circulated on the social media, may be boost to reach more people and ultimately reach the target.

Newspaper circulation and TRP of TVs are based on sales and audience-viewing but the case online media is clicks. The more clicks the more popular.

Clickbait headline is the trend and in several cases, the news content has no relation with the headline. Readers now have the daunting task to differentiate between fake and real news.

Opening up the shop for an online news outlet is easy. Just develop a website with a name and add '24.com'. It’s done.

Amid this scenario, it’s tough for the journalist of professional online media to carry out their job.

It has been more than a decade of online media in Bangladesh, but it boomed in the last five years and Bangla Tribune came then, but has distanced itself from the rat race for more clicks.

It chose the harder path to provide accurate news and is now one of the credible media outlets in the country.

As a regular columnist of it, I know they have always thrived for accuracy to popularity. They have proved to be a credible online media.

In its four years, Bangla Tribune has set its goal and now they need to be steady to achieve it.

I will end this piece with a story that I heard from my father. A cigarette company in Cumilla sponsored a religious sermon every year.

The problem was when a speaker started to speak against smoking saying it was injurious to health. But he handled it by saying that his audience will not stop it despite his calls, so if they have to they should smoke the sponsor’s brand.

That’s what exactly I did on Bangla Tribune’s anniversary, but still you will browse online for news and I can assure you that Bangla Tribune is credible.

 Probhash Amin is the Head of News of ATN News