Staff Correspondent

ournalists and media personalities at a training workshop here today underscored the need for maintaining objectivity, ethics, principles, accuracy and professionalism in journalism to keep intact the glory of this noble profession.

Gazipur District Administration and World Vision Bangladesh jointly organized the daylong workshop titled "Basic Journalism and Ethical Reporting" at the DC office here. 

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Managing Director and Chief Editor Kamal Uddin Shabuj, Principal Information Officer (PIO) Syed Abdal Ahmed, Jatiya Press Club (JPC) President and poet Hasan Hafiz, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Secretary General Kader Gani Chowdhury and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) President Md Shahidul Islam spoke at the workshop.

Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Md. Nurul Karim Bhuiyan chaired the event while JPC General Secretary Ayub Bhuiyan conducted the ceremony.

Kamal Uddin Shabuj said journalism is a difficult profession, and adhering to ethics and moral principles is equally challenging. The media must always stand for the truth and the public interest, without yielding to political or commercial pressures, he added.

He also emphasized the sensitive role journalists play in protecting children's rights and raising social awareness. 

He said the media must speak out against social menaces such as child labour and child marriage. If journalism compromises with any malicious force, it ultimately causes great harm to the country, he observed.

Even in the face of adversity, journalists must uphold truth and ethical principles in their reporting, he said.

Syed Abdal Ahmed said presenting accurate and objective information is one of the greatest challenges of the present time, amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media.

"In this era of AI, we see all kinds of information being circulated on social media. Determining which information is true, false, or misleading has become a major challenge. Therefore, journalists must verify their sources repeatedly before publishing any news," he said. 

Ahmed said journalism is not merely a profession but also a social responsibility. Journalists have a significant obligation toward society, he added.
 
Urging journalists to prepare and edit news stories in accordance with the fundamental "Five Ws and One H" principle (What, Why, Where, When, Who, and How), he emphasized that accuracy and objectivity remain the greatest strengths of professional journalism.

Highlighting the limitations of social media as a source of information, he said social media has no editorial policy. 

Professional journalists, however, must adhere to strict standards of accountability and objectivity, he said. 
Hasan Hafiz said journalism is a profession that carries both immense risk and great responsibility. 
He said nowadays fake news and rumours spread rapidly through social media. People are often misled because they fail to verify information or conduct proper fact-checking, he added. 

In this era, the foremost responsibility of journalists is to provide truthful and objective reporting, said Hafiz.

He also urged journalists to refrain from publishing one-sided reports without obtaining the views of the accused or all relevant parties.

Kader Gani Chowdhury said one of the fundamental responsibilities of journalism is to question the state and those in positions of power and hold them accountable. 

This practice strengthens democracy, protects citizens' rights, and promotes transparency and justice in society, he observed.

Chowdhury said the courage to speak the truth is the guiding principle of journalism. The media needs honest, truthful, and unbiased journalism, he added.
The unfortunate reality is that Bangladesh is witnessing a serious shortage of these values, he mentioned.

Commenting that unethical journalism and yellow journalism are eroding the dignity of the profession, the BFUJ Secretary General said that there can be no compromise when it comes to objective journalism. 
Unfortunately, objective journalism has increasingly been overtaken by interest-driven reporting, he said.

He said an ideal media organization is not accountable to any political party, interest group, government, foreign state, or agency rather its only accountability is to the people of the country.

 The defeat of the media is the defeat of the people, and the defeat of the people is the defeat of the state, he said, adding that therefore, “we must never allow the media to be defeated”.

In his speech, Shahidul Islam recalled the history of repression and persecution faced by journalists during the fascist era. 

He said that the media must stay above all political and personal interests to serve as the true voice of the people.
 
He also stressed the need to ensure a safe working environment and greater social security for journalists, particularly at the local level.

At the outset, Gazipur DC was presented with an honorary associate membership certificate of the JPC.
Around 80 representatives from print, electronic, and online media outlets working in Gazipur participated in the day-long workshop.
 
The sessions covered topics including news writing techniques, fact-checking, child protection, and the social responsibility of the media.

Three short documentary films highlighting three selfless social and humanitarian initiatives in Gazipur were screened on the occasion.