Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 8

Bangladesh [2]. Justice Sultan Hossain Khan, a former head of the Bangladesh Press Council, expressed his opinion that in compared to the country's economic situation, the number of daily newspapers issued is enormous. In addition the statement emphasized that the publication of a newspaper should be seen as a commercial endeavor. The People who are financially well-off should step forward and take the initiative to build a newspaper publication system industry. Furthermore, in order to protect press freedom, the minimal financial soundness of the publication must be maintained. Journalists should be given first priority [3]. However, it is a source of regret that journalists are frequently subjected to this. In Bangladesh, not receiving a salary for months on end is not uncommon [4]. The working conditions of journalists in rural and remote places are not suitable. A significant percentage of the local journalists who work for the newspapers are not properly compensated. In Bangladesh context Journalism, a prestigious job and those who are involved in this noble profession play vital role in different sectors like political, economic, social, science and technology, sports, entertainment and other sectors of this country. As a profession journalism is a very important one but no qualification is specified for becoming journalist likely politician. However, this situation has been slightly changed in last few years. A graduate can join the media organization, but in some cases university degree in journalism is prerequisite condition of the recruitment. The condition of journalists working at local areas is not satisfactory. A good number of the dailies do not provide salary properly to their local journalists. Most of the pressmen of the different dailies published from divisional and district level are drawing less than Taka one thousand per month that is even less than a day labor [1]. According to a study in 1995 on Dhaka city newspapers, about 69% journalists are getting salary as per 4 th wage board but they are not enjoying other facilities or incentives stated in 4 th wageboard. Journalists are blaming the owners’ commercial attitude for this sort of deprivation. For this reason most of the journalists are not satisfied with their present jobs. In a study regarding journalism found that 50 percent journalists are not satisfied to their salary and other facilities. That study was based on the interview of Journalists of 67 dailies published from six divisions including Dhaka. That study showed 68% pressmen felt disappointed being connected with journalism profession [5]. Consequently, the researcher has designed this present study. The aim of this study was to explore a survey in the northern divisions of Bangladesh to know the prospects and challenges of Journalism in northern Bangladesh. Research Questions: What are the prospects and challenges of journalism in the northern divisions in Bangladesh? Objective • To determine the prospects and challenges of the journalists in the northern divisions of Bangladesh. II. M ethodology This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the northern divisions of Bangladesh during June 2021 to June 2022. The ethical clearance of this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Shikkabarta.com. The purpose and benefits of the study was disclosed to the respondents in local language and written informed consent was taken from the respondents of the study. Purposive sampling method as per inclusion criteria was applied for the study. Samples were selected conveniently according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and availability of cases and a total of 167 male and female journalists aged above 18 years from Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions were enrolled in this study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were applied to find out best possible outcome. A pre structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents through face-to-face interview. The collected data were edited, cleaned, entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0. Descriptive analysis such as frequencies and mean were used for this study. The result of this study was presented by using tables graphs and pie charts. The inclusion and exclusion criteria of this study were as follows: Inclusion criteria a. Age >18 years b. Male and Female Journalist c. Physically or mentally able to participate in this study Exclusion criteria a. Age <18 years b. Unwilling to participate in this study c. Physically or mentally unable to participate in this study Volume XXII Issue VIII Version I 44 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A Prospects and Challenges of Journalism in Northern Divisions of Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study