This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information.(December 2025) |
| Breaking News. Breaking Barriers. | |
| | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | 2A Media Limited, Gemcon Group |
| Publisher | Kazi Anis Ahmed |
| Editor | Reaz Ahmed |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | FR Tower, 8/C Panthpath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. |
| Website | www |
The Dhaka Tribune is a Bangladeshi English-language daily newspaper based in Dhaka, the country's capital and largest city. [1] It also operates an online Bengali-language site known as the Bangla Tribune . The newspaper publishes op-ed content, with contributions from Bangladeshi, other South Asian, and international columnists.[ citation needed ]
The newspaper began publication on 19 April 2013. [2] It started out as a broadsheet before going compact on 1 March 2015. [3] Since 1 May 2019, it has reverted to broadsheet editions, as is common among Bangladeshi newspapers. [4] Since 2015, it has been the media partner of the Dhaka Literary Festival. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Dhaka Tribune won the Most Innovative Special Supplement award at the Bangladesh Media Innovation Awards 2022 held in September 2022. [10]
Gemcon Group is the largest shareholder in the Dhaka Tribune, and is also the owner of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).[ citation needed ]
The newspaper's publisher is Kazi Anis Ahmed, an author of Bangladeshi writing in English and a commentator on Bangladesh in international media. Ahmed's articles have been published in The New York Times , [11] Time , [12] The Guardian , [13] The Daily Beast , Wall Street Journal , [14] Nikkei Asian Review , [15] and Politico . [16] Abu Sayeed Asiful Islam is the paper's associate editor. [17] Its bureau chief in London is solicitor Niaz Alam. [18] The founding and chief editor is Zafar Sobhan, a 2005 Young Global Leader and 2008 Yale World Fellow. [19] [20] Sobhan previously worked at The Daily Star for seven years and was the editor of Forum magazine for four years; he formerly worked at The Independent , Dhaka Courier, and Shokaler Khobor. [21] Sobhan became Bangladesh's first internationally syndicated columnist with articles published in newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian , The Sunday Guardian , Time , and Outlook, among others. [21] [20] The business editor at Dhaka Tribune is Esha Aurora, who writes about feminism and discrimination. [22] [23] [24]
The paper's columnists include American economist Forrest Cookson, [25] British economist Tim Worstall, [26] Bangladeshi lawyer and historian Umran Chowdhury, Bangladeshi writer Syed Badrul Ahsan, [27] Jordan's Prince Hassan bin Talal, [28] [29] [30] and Bangladeshi climate scientist Saleemul Huq. [31] [32]
The Dhaka Tribune is known for covering Bangladesh-India relations, Bangladesh-United States relations, Bangladesh-China relations, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights. It is one of several publications in Bangladesh to allow articles calling for the decriminalization of LGBTQ rights. [33] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the newspaper interviewed Ukrainian foreign policy adviser Svitlana Zalishchuk; [34] leading to the Russian ambassador in Dhaka later accusing the Bangladeshi media of being biased. [35]
The newspaper has content sharing agreements with Project Syndicate, The Conversation, and Scroll.in. [36]
In 2014, Myanmar summoned Bangladesh's ambassador over an article in the Dhaka Tribune calling for a referendum in Rakhine State. [37] The article sparked protests by Buddhist nationalists in Yangon. [38] During the 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar against the Rohingya, the newspaper was part of the English-language media reporting directly from the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. [39] [40] [41] The newspaper has a history of publishing news and commentary concerning Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. [42]
The newspaper regularly publishes articles on human rights issues in Bangladesh, including repealing Section 377, [43] [44] [45] inheritance under Hindu law, [46] and press freedom. [47] [48] [49] On women's issues, the newspaper has reported that 97% of sex offenses in Bangladesh go unreported. [50]
In 2019, a Dhaka Tribune journalist was arrested and sued under the Digital Security Act for reporting voting irregularities in a by-election. [51] [52] The paper has cited Bangladesh's defamation laws as an obstacle to reporting about corruption in the country's security forces. [53] Its editorial in response to a documentary about corruption in the country's army was cited by journalist Tim Sebastian during an interview with then Bangladesh government advisor Gowher Rizvi on DW. [53] [54]