Dhaka, Oct. 11 -- When Toufique Imrose Khalidi began journalism as a 22-year-old English literature student, it was little more than a hobby. His family and friends expected him to move on to another profession after completing his studies. Instead, apart from brief breaks and detours, he remained in journalism for nearly four decades.

He worked at leading Bangladeshi newspapers, joined the BBC World Service in London and returned home to help establish bdnews24.com as a digital news organisation. As its editor-in-chief and managing director, he spent two decades building a newsroom around accuracy, transparent sourcing and editorial independence.

His views on journalism were shaped by a conviction that reporting must withstand pressure...