Fact-Checking and Verification Techniques on Health-Journalism 

Bangladesh NGO's Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) organized a two-day-long workshop at the Golden City Hotel at Sylhet 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 20-21 September 2021.

The purpose of the workshop was 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 (infographics, data analysis, data visualization) in data verification and presentation in creating neutral and balanced health reports. A total of 20 journalists from national dailies, online news portals, and television channels participated in the workshop.

Abu Rushd Md. Ruhul Amin, Senior News Editor, Banglavision, and Al Azad, CEO Sylhet tv, Sylhet discussed the issues. The workshop focuses on health journalism in the current context, reliable sources, sources in health journalism, information verification techniques and media, monitoring techniques for misinformation published through social media, and sensitivity to COVID-19 reporting. Participants were also provided with insights into the importance and strategies of misinformation, disinformation, mal-information prevention, and the use of infographics in reporting, as well as various means of enhancing national and international communication in health journalism.

In the concluding session Mr. A H M Bazlur Rahman, CEO, BNNRC stressed on data-driven journalism and using of infographics in the reports in the closing session and hoped that the participants will use the techniques of Fact-checking and verification in their reports.

Md. Zakaria, Senior Program Manager, The Aisa Foundation was present in the concluding session and in his brief remarks he expected that journalists will use the learnings in their future reports.

The training was ended after the distribution of the certificates to the participants. 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 other modern techniques including infographics in presenting the data of 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.