Bangladesh’s largest digital newsroom’s editor-in-chief dies at 59
The voice behind one of Bangladesh’s most consequential journeys into digital journalism has fallen silent. Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, has died at the age of 59.
He was taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London on Thursday night after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Doctors pronounced him dead at 2:23pm local time on Friday, reports bdnews24.com.
Khalidi had been in London on a private visit, his family said, when he suddenly fell ill.
His death came just three weeks before bdnews24.com was due to celebrate its 20th anniversary on Oct 23 — an occasion he had been actively planning.
“We were preparing to celebrate our 20th anniversary on Oct 23. Toufique bhai himself was planning everything. Overall, he was incredibly energised and enthusiastic. But everything ended three weeks before that. This is an irreparable loss for us,” a bdnews24.com spokesperson said.
The date for bringing Khalidi’s body back to Bangladesh has not yet been decided. His family will announce the time and place of the funeral prayers and burial once arrangements have been finalised.
President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed deep sorrow over Khalidi’s death, describing him as a pioneer in the development of online and digital journalism in Bangladesh.
“Toufique Imrose Khalidi was a pioneer in the development of online and digital journalism in the country. With his death, the country has lost an experienced, gracious and distinguished media personality. His contribution to journalism and the media will be remembered for a long time,” he said in a condolence message.
Recalling his personal memories of Khalidi with deep respect, the president added, “Toufique Imrose Khalidi’s death is extremely painful for me.”
‘Only Journalism, Always’
Khalidi’s name is woven into many of the firsts that mark the history of modern news services in Bangladesh. Under his leadership, a new chapter was written two decades ago.
The story began in the first half of 2005. At the time, BDNEWS operated as a news agency, supplying reports to news organisations. While other agencies across the country still relied on teleprinters to distribute their copy, BDNEWS took its news online.
Then came 2006, and with it a change in ownership and management that transformed the organisation from the ground up. In July that year, under Khalidi, the new management turned it into Bangladesh’s first online news company.
On Oct 23, bdnews24.com began its 24-hour journey in a new form. It was the moment Bangladesh’s digital news era began.
Khalidi remained at the helm as bdnews24.com’s editor-in-chief and managing director until his death. He was also a director and shareholder of Bangladesh News 24 Hours Ltd, the company that owns the news organisation.
Born on Jun 14, 1967, Khalidi began his journalism career in 1989. After completing a Master’s degree in English literature at Dhaka University, he joined the Sunday Express.
He later received specialised training in international journalism as a fellow of the Journalists in Europe Foundation in Paris and the Japan Foreign Press Center.
Over a distinguished career, Khalidi made his mark in newsrooms at home and on the international stage. From February 2000 to June 2005, he worked at the BBC World Service in London.
There, he produced and presented news and current affairs programmes and hosted the widely followed Debate programme.
Before joining the BBC, he held a series of senior positions at Bangladesh’s leading English-language newspapers, The Daily Star and The Financial Express.
At The Daily Star, he served as joint news editor and news editor of the Weekend Edition from 1998 to 2000. Earlier, he was the paper’s business editor from 1997 to 1998 and diplomatic correspondent from 1991 to 1993.
At The Financial Express, where he worked as an assistant editor and senior correspondent, he produced investigative reports on diplomacy, business, politics and corruption.
His influence was also felt beyond Bangladesh in the rapidly evolving world of digital media.
In 2014, at the South-to-South Media Dialogue in South Africa, he was recognised as one of 14 leading digital media innovators from Asia-Pacific, Latin America and West Asia.
In December 2017, on National Information and Communication Technology Day, the Bangladesh government gave Khalidi, then editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, a special honour.
He chaired UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day programme in 2016 and attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 as an observer.
He took part in the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany, in 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2018, he was a panellist at the Bangladesh Rising conference at Harvard University in the United States.
Journalism was only one part of his public life. Khalidi also contributed to several national policy initiatives, serving on committees formed in 2012 and 2015 to formulate and review policies for online media.
In 2008, he served on a committee tasked with formulating policies for news agencies. A year earlier, he was a member of a national task force formed to protect Dhaka’s rivers.