Matiur Rahman (journalist)

For other uses, see Matiur Rahman (journalist) (disambiguation).

Matiur Rahman
Born	1946
Occupation	Journalism
Known for	Daily Prothom Alo
Spouse	Maleka Begum
Children	1 son & 1 daughter
Website
Prothom Alo

Matiur Rahman (Bengali: মতিউর রহমান) is the editor of Daily Prothom Alo, the largest circulated Bangla language daily in Bangladesh. He is the recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.

Early life

Rahman was born in 1940 and grew up in the era of decolonization and fervent nationalism that gave birth to East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. He went on to earn his post graduate degree in Statistics from University of Dhaka in 1967. He became a Marxist and for twenty-one years edited Dhaka’s socialist weekly Ekota. When communism’s failures gave him second thought, he withdrew from leftist politics to concentrate on journalism.

Journalism career

In 1998 he founded Prothom Alo, or First Light, a daily newspaper. Rahman established Prothom Alo’s credibility by exposing the missteps of both the government and its foes and by aggressively covering corruption, terrorism and human rights violations. The newspaper’s constructive advocacy and Rahman’s own unsparing editorials attracted legions of readers. Today it reaches five million of them.^{[citation needed]}

Prothom Alo naturally covered the alarming rise of acid throwing in Bangladesh. But in 2000 a heartrending case involving a fifteen-year-old girl riveted Rahman’s attention. He determined to harness the resources of his newspaper to fight the scourge.

In prominent daily appeals, Rahman now declared war on acid throwers and called upon his readers to contribute to the Prothom Alo Aid Fund for acid victims. With scarred women at his side, he solicited donations at rallies and press conferences and called upon celebrities and volunteers to carry the appeal throughout the country. People from all walks of life and even Bangladeshis abroad became donors. Rahman acknowledged each small gift in the newspaper and steered help directly to the victims: money for burn treatments, plastic surgery, legal fees, and living expenses plus new dwellings for some and income-generating assets such as milking cows, sewing machines, cultivable lands, and shops for others. At the same time, Prothom Alo pressured the government to strengthen laws against acid attacks and the reckless sale of dangerous chemicals.^{[citation needed]}

The response to Rahman’s appeal reassured him that "the society is not sleeping." By June 2005, some 8.2 million taka had been coursed to over one hundred victims. Moreover, in 2002 the country’s Acid Crimes Prevention Act and Acid Control Act stiffened penalties for acid throwers and tightened licensing requirements for acid sales.

In electing Matiur Rahman to receive the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, the board of trustees recognizes his wielding the power of the press to crusade against acid throwing and to stir Bangladeshis to help its many victims.

See also

• Ramon Magsaysay Award

External links

• Web page for Daily Prothom-Alo
• "When Media Takes a Stand for Social Change," Magsaysay Award Speech

Persondata
Name	Rahman, Matiur
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Date of birth	1944
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