Bangladesh NGO’s Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) is organized a two-day-long workshop at the Meeting Room, ‘of a local NGO, Pirojpur on Fact-Checking and Verification Techniques on Health Journalism for an in-depth reporting on important and complex health issues to enhance the professional skills of journalists with the support of The Asia Foundation on 4 -5 April.

The purpose of the workshop is to enhance the capacity of journalists working in creating and publishing objective, insightful and influential news on health management; Encourage journalists to acquire knowledge and skills in modern techniques in data verification and presentation in creating neutral and balanced health reports. A total of 25 journalists of Barishal Division working with national dailies, online news portals and television channels are participating in the workshop.

At the beginning of the workshop, Mr. AHM Bazlur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of BNNRC outlined the aims, objectives and topics of the workshop. He highlights the challenges of fast-changing realities, the speed and flexibility of its multifaceted impact and the opportunities it offers, as well as the importance of building one's capacity on new topics.

Special Guest Mr. Alhaj Md. Habibur Rahman Malek, Mayor of Pirojpur Municipality mentioned that we have been able to deal with Covid-19 very well and our country's health system is much better than before. You have to highlight these through your reports and everyone has to work from their place for the development of the country.

Mr. Mohammad Jahedur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Pirojpur was present as the Chief Guest of the workshop, and in his speech, he said that journalists work as the mirror of society. Everyone has to work from a place of responsibility and accountability. We should all work together, we should all work impartially and not in retaliation. Any work that has its pros and cons needs to be assessed. Then, according to the promise of the Hon'ble Prime Minister, we will be able to achieve SDG by 2030 and become a developed country by 2041.

The inaugural session was presided over by Dr. Md. Hasnat Yousuf Zaki, Civil surgeon of Pirojpur. He said in his speech, that we all need to do more work on countering misinformation and disinformation. A rumor and false information can disgrace all our achievements so it is very important to verify the authenticity of the information while reporting. We would love to hear from you about the success of good deeds also.

Mr. Abu Rushd Md. Ruhul Amin, Senior News Editor, Banglavision, is facilitating the training program.

The training workshop focuses on health journalism in the current context; reliable sources of information in health journalism; information verification techniques and media monitoring techniques for misinformation, disinformation and mal-information in health reporting published through social media; and, promoting health governance in Bangladesh. 

It is hoped that the workshop will enable journalists to be more diligent and sensitive in verifying information to produce impartial and balanced health reports. Besides, the journalists will be encouraged to use various modern techniques in presenting the data collected for the report.

BNNRC is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accredited with World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), SDGs Media Compact of the United Nations, and UN WSIS prize winner 2016, Champion 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021. BNNRC's approach to media development is both knowledge-driven and context-sensitive, and it takes into account the challenges and opportunities created by the rapidly changing media environment in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.