Anam is the youngest son of Abul Mansur Ahmed, a lawyer, writer and politician who worked for the emancipation of Bengali Muslims.

[9] As a student, Anam attended political rallies, including the 7th March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The two-year advance presence of Ali Bhai coupled with my frequent visits from Bangkok, sometimes once every month, gave us the chance to finalise investments (with Mahmud Bhai [A S Mahmud], our founding managing director, acting as the catalyst), finalise our plans for the paper, wrap up major recruitments, rent the premises, and most importantly, get the 'declaration'—the official permission to start a newspaper".

It was launched as Bangladesh returned to parliamentary democracy a quarter of a century ago, and has always had a reputation for journalistic integrity and liberal and progressive views – a kind of Bangladeshi New York Times".

Anam worked closely with Syed Fahim Munaim, who was the newspaper's Managing Editor and responsible for revenue matters.

Anam became a fierce critic of both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia on issues like parliament boycotts, corruption and human rights abuses.

[21] During the 1990s, Anam interviewed key political figures, including erstwhile Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina.

[23] During the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis, Anam openly criticized the army chief despite restrictions on press freedom under a state of emergency.

In order to deprive the Pakistanis of exercising their right to elect a government Zia said 'I cannot accept democracy where sovereignty belongs to the people.

[24] Indian columnist Kuldip Nayar referred to Anam's piece in Outlook regarding Ayub Khan's views on the "genius of the people".

Anam's article was written amid fears of a direct military takeover in Bangladesh; the army chief later ruled out any possibility of grabbing power.

[25] One of Anam's most influential articles was "This is no way to strengthen democracy",[26] which he wrote in response to Sheikh Hasina's detention by the military-backed caretaker government in 2007.

During Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian premiership from 2009 to 2024 , Anam faced as many as 83 lawsuits, including 68 counts of criminal defamation and claims worth millions of dollars; as well as 16 sedition cases.

[34] Anam described his newspaper's policy in resisting Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian drift, stating: We always supported democracy and free and fair election.

We strongly opposed the abolition of the caretaker government system and wrote editorials and post-editorials criticising the move.

We demanded judicial inquiries and criticised the impunity enjoyed by RAB and "encounter deaths" that were associated with its activities.

This newspaper took active part in organising the protests by the Sampadak Parishad and conducted constant campaigns for press freedom.

[36] In 2021, Anam took a neutral stand over the controversy surrounding the Al Jazeera documentary All the Prime Minister's Men.

[38] Despite earlier libertarian views, Anam appeared to cautiously welcome the Fall of Kabul in 2021 and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Anam's newspaper suffered a 40% drop in revenue due to the Hasina administration withholding adverts from government departments.

[46] In 2016, Anam recalled that "many Awami League ministers and leaders publicly "walked out" of The Daily Star's 25th anniversary programme, because Prof Yunus was present there as the chief guest.

They accused this paper and its editor of trying to "resurrect" an "enemy of Bangladesh", and also trying to "launch" the Nobel laureate into the public sphere again".

[47] Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed called Anam "completely unethical" and "a liar".

[48] David Bergman, who worked at The Daily Star, is also critical of Anam for his views on the Padma Bridge graft scandal.

[49] In 2016, speaking at a panel discussion on ATN News, Anam conceded that reports published in The Daily Star in 2007 alleging corruption by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina were based on uncorroborated leaks fed by the military's Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.

[50][51] According Sheikh Hasina's son, "the publication of false news reports by Mahfuz Anam, the editor of The Daily Star, led to the arrest of my mother, and she had to spend 11 months in jail.

[34] Anam's newspaper has also been criticized for potential defamation of Khaleda Zia's son and BNP leader Tarique Rahman who was accused, convicted and acquitted in the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack case.