Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication

Preparing for the Future of Media Development in the 4th Industrial Revolution

Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC    UN WSIS Prize Winner & Champions

Project Completion Report

Building Media Professionalism for Road Safety through Constructive Journalism in Bangladesh

Submitted by: Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication

(BNNRC)

1. Introduction

Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) represents the community radio broadcasting sector to Government, Industry, Regulatory Bodies, Media and Development Partners from 2000.

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 Bangladesh including community radio

development giving voices to the voiceless.

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, 2021 and 2023 for media development. http://www.bnnrc.net

2. Background of the project

Road traffic crashes have now become a great social concern in Bangladesh and the situation is deteriorating. The annual economic wastage occasioned by road crashes is estimated to be in the order of 1.5 to 2 percent of the GDP. There are at least 3,000 fatalities and 3,000 grievous and simple injuries from around 3,500 police-reported crashes on Bangladesh roads each year. Other sources estimated the fatalities as high as 12,000 to 20,000 per year. Thus, the safety problem is very severe by international standards with some 60 to 150 fatalities per 10,000 motor vehicles in Bangladesh.

High fatality and injury rates on Bangladesh’s roads are undermining the remarkable progress that the country has made in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty. Road traffic injuries have emerged as a worrying public health problem in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey 2016, two-thirds of all road traffic fatalities die on the way to the hospital and three-fourths do not receive any form of pre-hospital care which may create challenges in achieving SDGs in 2030 and LDC graduation in 2026.

Despite great progress in international traffic safety works, road crashes still cause a large and increasing number of fatalities and severe injuries, particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. Sustained declining trends of road fatalities in developed countries have been attributed to concerted efforts in many sectors including effective coordination, community involvement, well-researched road safety initiatives, road safety good practices, and improved targeting of resources.

For in-depth reporting and building the capacity for reporting doing advocacy and other interventions to draw the attention of the policymakers and find out challenges and ways forward for the achievement of SDG 3:6 and 11:2 for utilizing the media all domains. Considering the issues BNNRC has been implementing the Building Media

Professionalism for Road Safety

3. Objectives, outcomes

Objective: To increase media interest in and understanding road safety as a critical health and development issue

Outcome 1: Improved the quality of reporting on road safety, particularly in the areas of data visualization, knowledge and constructive journalism.

Outcome 2: Improved in-depth road safety reporting fellowships engagements aimed at building technical capacities as well as specific journalistic skills.

Outcome 3: Deepen Communications officers’ knowledge, skills and expand their access to the different public domains for raising interactive dialogue around critical

–road safety issues.

4. Intervention strategy Output-1

Mainstream journalists from print, electronic and online media improve their capacity to produce reports on the Road Safety issue

Output 2.

Fellows improve their capacity to inspire and encourage more reporting in the media on road safety tools, facts and new skills so that they can write and visualize confidently about the problem and its solutions.

Output:3

Communications officers’ and their institutions are engaged in reducing the number of road safety to contribute to efforts to save lives on the roads in line with context-sensitive and knowledge-driven.

Activities

1.1 Training 25 journalists for covering road safety reporting in two batches. (Prime media, print, online and electronic)

1.2 Media Fellowship on Road Safety Journalism for 10 Journalists with 3 Mentors. Each journalist will have published at least 4 in-depth investigative and constructive reports on road safety during the fellowship. (Prime media, print, online and electronic)

1.3 Building capacity of the 10 Communications officers for getting new skills so that they can write confidently about the challenges and its solutions.

Activity-1: Capacity Building Training held on Road Safety in Bangladesh for Journalists through Constructive Journalism in Bangladesh project.

Under this project, a two-day long capacity-building training for journalists on Road Safety in Bangladesh was organized by Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio & Communication (BNNRC) supported by Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP). The training was held on 11-12 September in Cox’s Bazar.

Objectives:

The objective of the training was to share the burden of road crash in Bangladesh and reporting challenges with the journalist (focusing safe system approach), inform and sensitize journalists on the importance of preventing road crashes (evidence-based approach) and share road crash reporting scenarios and policy implications.

A total of 28 senior journalists from the Daily Newspaper, Public and Private TV channels, Online News Portals, and News Agencies including representatives from the National Institute of Mass Communication (NIMC) and Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB) participated in the training.

The participants were- Mr. Sohrab Hasan, Joint Editor, Daily Prothom Alo, Mr. Abu Rushd Md. Ruhul Amin, Senior News Editor Bangla Vision  TV,  Ms.  Shahnaz Munni, Chief News Editor, News24, Mr. Kanai Chakraborty Deputy Chief Reporter, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), Mr. Mainul Alam, Diplomatic Correspondent, Daily Ittefaq and Joint Secretary, National Press Club, Ms. Shahnaz Sharmeen, Chief Reporter, Nagorik TV and Joint Secretary DRU, Mr. Iqbal Karim Nissan, Chief News Editor, GTV, Ms. Jannatul Bakiya Keka, Special Correspondent, Channel I-TV, Mr. Rashed Rabbi, Senior Reporter, Daily Amader Shomoy, Mr. Jabel Ahmed, Senior Reporter, Daily Jugantor, Ms. Joysree Bhadury, Staff Reporter, Daily Bangladesh Pratidin, Mr. Zahidur Rahman, Staff Correspondent Daily Samakal, Mr. Saikat Bhowmik Senior, Correspondent Sarabangla, Ms. Labony Guha  Roy,  Staff Reporter, Boishakhi TV, Mr. ASM Atiqur Rahman, Senior Correspondent, NTV, Mr. Hasan Misbah Senior Reporter Independent, Mr. Fazlur Rahman, Staff Reporter, Daily Janakantha, Ms. Afrin JahanSenior Reporter, Bangladesh Television, Mr. Shafikul Islam, Senior Correspondent United News of Bangladesh, Mr. Ibrahim Khalil Senior ReporterJamuna Television, Ms. Sebika Debnath, Senior Reporter, Daily Bhorer Kagoj, Md. Maksud-un-Nabi, Senior Reporter, Channel 24, Mr. Mohammad Jamil Khan, Senior Correspondent, The Daily Star, Ms. Tawsia Tajmim, Staff Correspondent, The Business Standard, Mr. Shubhra Dev, Senior Reporter, Daily Manobjamin, Mr. Rezwan Biswas, Senior Reporter, Daily Kalerkantho, Mr. Nazrul Islam, Director Training National Institute of Mass Communication (NIMC), Mr. Pankag Karmakar, Assistant Professor, Press Institute Bangladesh, (PIB).

The 2-day long training was designed by the sessions like- Road Safety: Global Perspectives (Burden and Risk Factors), Global Initiatives for Addressing Road Traffic Crashes (UN Resolutions, The decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, SDGs and Road Safety), Road Safety Overview in Bangladesh- Scale of Road Safety Problems, Road safety challenges, Data Collection and Reporting Challenges in

Bangladesh, Legislative Pathway: Road Transport Act 2018 and Road Safety Stakeholders in Bangladesh, Crash Investigation and Reporting and What to See in the Crash, Improving Road Safety Reporting/Reporting Ideas (include reporting exercise/activity), Advocacy for Road Safety-Road Safety Coalition, Bangladesh, Constructive Journalism on Road safety, Fact-checking and Verification Tools and Resources for Journalists for Reporting on Road Safety, Road Crash from a Different Angle, Media Monitoring, reporting in other countries (example and exercise).

The Sessions were facilitated by Ms. Ariana Childs-Graham, Director (Program), Ms. Mena El-Turky, Associate Director, of the Global Road Safety Program of GHAI, Mr. Taifur Rahman, Manager, Global Road Safety program, and Dr. Shariful Alam, In-Country Coordinator, Bangladesh of GHAI, Kazi Shifun Newaz, Assistant Professor, ARI, BUET, Dr. Salim Mahmud Chowdhury, CIRPB, Mr. Ahmed Najmul Hussain, Director BRAC, and Mr. Ilias Kanchan,

Chairman, Nirapad Sarak Chai (NISCHA).

In the opening session Dr. Shariful Alam , GHAI, Mr. AHM Bazlur Rahman, CEO, BNNRC and Mr. Abu Rushd Md. Ruhul Amin welcome the participants and facilitated by introduction session, where participants shared their exist exercises and expectations from the training.

Mr. Sohrab Hasan and Ms. Shahnaz Munni moderated the open discussion session when Mr. Mainul Alam, Mr. Iqbal Karim Nissan, Mr. Kanai Chakraborty, and Mr. Abu Rushd Md. Ruhul Amin discussed and shared their experiences.

The training was concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. AHM Bazlur Rahman, CEO, BNNRC, Ms. Ariana Childs-Graham, Ms. Mena El-Turky, Mr. Taifur Rahman, and Dr. Shariful Alam.

It is expected that after the training the journalists are aware and sensitized about the importance of preventing road crashes and they also encourage to publish and produce more reports on Road safety issues following the evidence-based approach.

Activity-2: Capacity Building Training for Communication Officers

High fatality and injury rates on Bangladesh’s roads are undermining the remarkable progress that the country has made in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty. Road traffic injuries have emerged as a worrying public health problem in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey 2016, two-thirds of all road traffic fatalities die on the way to the hospital and three-fourths do not receive any form of pre-hospital care which may create challenges in achieving SDGs in 2030 and LDC graduation in 2026.

Despite great progress in international traffic safety works, road crashes still cause a large and increasing number of fatalities and severe injuries, particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. Sustained declining trends of road fatalities in developed countries have been attributed to concerted efforts in many sectors including effective coordination, community involvement, well-researched road safety initiatives, road safety good practices, and improved targeting of resources.

For in-depth reporting and building the capacity for reporting doing advocacy and other interventions to draw the attention of the policymakers and find out challenges and ways forward for the achievement of SDG 3:6 and 11:2 for utilizing the media in all domains. Considering the issues BNNRC has been implementing the Building Media Professionalism for Road Safety through Constructive Journalism in Bangladesh project.

Under this project, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio & Communication (BNNRC) organized a two-day long capacity-building training for Grantee and Communication Officers of Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) on 13-14 September in Cox’s Bazar.

The objective of the Activity

The main objectives of the training were to understand the differences between the different types of media and how each contributes to media advocacy goals, learn

how to effectively structure and maintain a media advocacy program including messaging and understand the strategic value of grassroots mobilization and how to develop a successful mobilization strategy.

The training was organized with the support of the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI) and Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP).

A total of 25 Managers and Communication officers from 10 Partners organization of GRSP including BNNRC were joined in the training.

The participant’s Managers and Communication officers were Mr. Kazi Md. Shifun Newaz, Assistant Professor,         Mr.         Shahnewaz Hasanat-e-Rabbi, Assistant Professor, Accident Research Institute (ARI), Mr. Mahmudul Hasan, Deputy Director, Communication Mr. Sharafath Alam, Project Officer, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) Mr. M. Khalid Mahmood Program Manager and Ms. Tamanna Mizan, Senior Communication Officer, BRAC, Mr.

Kazi Burhan Uddin, Awareness, Communication and Education (ACE) Manager, Ms. Nahid Dipa, Communication Manager, Center for Injury Prevention and Research of Bangladesh (CIPRB), Ms. Sharmeen Rahman, Project Coordinator and Ms. Tarikul Islam Advocacy Officer (Communication) Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Mr. Kh. Hashibuzzaman, Managing, Mr. Kh. Shohag Uddin, Supervisor Director, Impressive Communications Ltd., Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuyan, Program Director, Md. Wali Noman, Program Manager, Md. Mahamudul Hasan, Communications Officer, National Heart Foundation

Bangladesh (NHFB), Mr. Ilias Kanchan, Chairman, Mr.  Syed Ehsan ul Haque  Kamal, Vice-Chairman, Mr. SM Azad Hossain, Organizing Secretary, Mr. Liton Arshad, Joint Secretary General of Nirapad Sarak Chai (NISCHA).

The training included the sessions- Definition, Difference between paid, earned and owned media, Building a Media Advocacy Plan- focusing on message crafting with pertinent data, Define what media advocacy is, Understanding the differences between the different types of media and how each contributes to media advocacy goals Learn how to effectively structure and maintain a media advocacy program including messaging, Fundamentals of Media Advocacy Different Phases of media advocacy, Building a media advocacy pyramid, Engaging with Grassroots and grasstops, Establish comms objectives based on public awareness and public action framework, Understand the difference between grassroots and grass tops tactics. Advocacy objectives related to the five risk factors. Participants should draw on earlier presentations. Understand the strategic value of grassroots mobilization and how to develop a successful mobilization strategy. Using the learning from the morning

sessions, discuss possible grassroots actions in response to prompts, and think through which tactics.

Ms. Ariana Childs Graham, Program Director, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Ms. Mena Jenna EL-Turky, Associate Director, Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Mr. Luke Thomas Telander, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Mr. Asim M Khan, Associate Director-Communications Global Health Advocacy Incubator jointly conducted the sessions.

Dr. Shariful Alam, In Country Coordinator Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), Mr. Sharfuddin Ahmed Choudhury, Program Facilitator,  GHAI,   Mr.   Bazlur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, BNNRC Mr. Hiren Pandit Program  Coordinator, Mr. Rehan Uddin Ahmed Raju, Consultant, BNNRC, Mr. Md. Riasat Razi Ullah, Mr. Adnan Mahmood, Mr. Md. Nasir Uddin, Country Manager Vital Strategies, were present in the training.

Activity-3: Media Fellowship on Road-Safety Journalism

With the aim to contribute to increasing media interest in and understanding of road safety as a critical health and development issue, Bangladesh NGO's Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) conducted a Media Fellowship Program on Road-Safety. This Fellowship Program is for Bangladeshi rigorous journalists from diverse media (print, electronic and online) to work on the road-safety, rules and regulations for using roads, road accidents etc. which should come into the focus point in the road-service debate and will be beneficial to the public interest as well as will develop their own skills as media-person. Supported by The Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) and Global Health Advocacy Incubator, the fellowship program has been conducted as a part of the project: “Building Media Professionalism for Road Safety through Constructive Journalism in Bangladesh”.

This was a 4-month fellowship program for 10 fellows selected from the leading media houses in Bangladesh. Representing 10 media houses (including 5 print media, 4 electronic media/TV and 1 news agency of Bangladesh online) and a varied range of experiences, the Journalist Fellows — three women and seven men — are budding leaders in their fields, bringing a profound commitment to addressing Bangladesh’ complex human-made health crisis issues. 10 young journalists successfully completed the fellowship program under the guidance of three mentors. The Mentors were Mr. Sohrab Hassan, Joint Editor, Daily Prothom Alo; Ms. Shahnaz Munni, Chief News Editor, News 24; and, Ms. Shahnaz Sharmeen, Chief Reporter, Nagorik TV.

This four-month-long Fellowship program takes on a multi-layered approach to Road-Safety. The fellow-mentor discussion explores the Fellows’ leadership styles, helps to develop their stories and expands their innovative thinking. A total of 40 reports were published & broadcasted as part of this fellowship.

As a result, mainstream journalists from diverse media have improved their new technical capacity and specific journalistic skills to produce reports on Road Safety issues and Fellows have improved their capacity to write/make reports more efficiently in the media on road safety tools. Moreover, through this Media Fellowship Program, the quality of reporting on road safety, particularly in the areas of data visualization, knowledge and constructive journalism on Road-Safety has been Improved.

For in-depth reporting and building the capacity for reporting doing advocacy and other interventions to draw the attention of the policymakers and find out challenges and ways forward for the achievement of SDG 3:6 and 11:2 for utilizing the media in all domains. Considering the issues, BNNRC has implemented a project titled “Building Media Professionalism for Road Safety through Constructive Journalism in Bangladesh”.

The government of Bangladesh has been taking various measures and conducting activities for a long time to prevent road crashes. One of which is the formulation of the Road Transport Act 2018.

In light of the Road Transport Act 2018, the Government's efforts to strengthen road safety by updating the Road Transport Rules-2022 is a very important step and one commendable initiative. Through the interventions, the stakeholders of BNNRC will enrich their capacity which will contribute to the Global Initiatives for Addressing Road Traffic Crashes (UN Resolutions, The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, SDGs and Road Safety).

Outcomes/Results

• After the Capacity Building Training, the journalists are aware and sensitized about the importance of preventing road crashes and they are also encouraged to publish

and produce more reports on Road safety issues following the safe system approach.

• The Communications personnel and their institutions are engaged in reducing the number of road crashes to contribute to efforts to save lives on the roads in line with context-sensitive and knowledge-driven and learned how to develop effective communication messages for dissemination.

• The Fellowship program provided an opportunity for 10 journalists to improve their technical capacities as well as specific journalistic skills to produce investigative and in-depth reports on the importance of preventing road crashes related issues, problems faced to get quality data, and so on with the guidance of the assigned mentors (senior journalists) they learned how to produce the in-depth reports. The Fellows were also encouraged to produce more reports on Road safety issues following the safe system approach, particularly in the areas of data visualization, knowledge and constructive journalism.