Supporting Media Voices 

Media Fellowship on Health Journalism  

 

Promoting Health Governance 

Media Fellowship is an initiative of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), in partnership with The Asia Foundation. This Fellowship Program aims to encourage the Fellows to write detailed investigative reports with sharp insight on health-related issues or problems faced by the common people which will have an important contribution and positive impact on the development of the health sector as well as ensuring quality health services for all. The fellowship will provide incentives and support for the journalists to produce credible reports on health-connected problems, issues, inconsistencies, etc., which they observe and notice in their communities. It will therefore cover and reflect these issues in their reporting with a more insightful, comprehensive, comprehensive, and thus more influential approach. The fellowship program is being conducted as a part of the project: “Promoting Health Governance through Capacity Building of Journalists and Involving Multi-level Stakeholders”. With the support of The Asia Foundation (TAF), the project’s overall goal is – A strengthened health governance system in Bangladesh.

Looking for diverse talent?

With the aim to contribute to the development of health-services, BNNRC has offered a Media Fellowship program on health journalism to Bangladeshi young journalists (3 months fellowship for a total of 50 journalists from print, electronic and online media including journalists from the regional level) with special focus on the increasing awareness on “Promoting Health Services for All: Present Status, Challenges, and Way Forward”. Responding to the “Call’’ for Media Fellowship on Health Journalism, BNNRC received a number of applications from the journalists involved in different media throughout the country.

These rigorous journalists from diverse media and geographical locations are dedicated to working on the health-related problems and issues which should come into the focus point in the health-service debate and will be beneficial to the public interest as well as develop their own skills as media-person.

Cases

Laboni Guha Roy is the fellow of the 1^st batch under the Media Fellowship on Health Journalism. She is working as a Senior Reporter at Boishakhi Television. While she was talking about her experience of preparing the fellowship reports; she said that she had a mixed feeling, “On-demand interviews are not always available when working in the field. This is a big problem. Again, the organization / media house does not always give importance to the subject I selected. So, on-airing of the news is often delayed. Still, each task results in some new experience, which is helpful for the next task.  There is an opportunity to learn more in detail about any subject. I have learnt something new, which is very good experience.”

She can utilize this experience later because after preparing a report on a subject, one can be bold about it. The same communication is easy to practice later. About bringing positive changes in the society as a result of her report, she says that this is reflected directly and indirectly. If the content of the report has to be changed immediately, the results are readily available. And if there are awareness matters, then the positive success become slow in the context of that report. The same subject needs to be preached again and again.

Though she is not fully satisfied of her own works and her expectations were not met; yet, she feels that her professional quality and growth has certainly been achieved. The collection of her own works has been increased. She thinks that there were scopes to make more informative reports and it would be better if the selected subject was chosen considering the public interest. And the assigned mentor should be more involved. She also says that there are various issues to work on in future keeping in view the contemporary public interest.

Shoybal Acharjee, the Staff Reporter (District Correspondent, Chattogram) of The Daily Samakal, is the fellow of the 2^nd batch under the Media Fellowship on Health Journalism. He says that he has gained very good experience which will be much more useful later; during working in the field and collecting all the data. He feels that, the experience during reporting as a fellow has given him pleasure and honor which will motivate him much and will keep him doing something good in future.

His reports have raised awareness among many. Many people have also received information on many unknown topics. There are patients who have been suffering from dermatitis for many years. They have taken medicines but the disease is not getting better.

After publishing of his report titled ‘Oshudheo sarchhe na charmorog Daad’ (Skin disease Shingles is not healing even with medicine), many people contacted him personally over the phone and wanted to know the latest situation and the way out of the problem. Mr. Shoybal added, “I have found a few people who have been suffering from the disease for a long time but did not know that it was herpes. Then, after getting a lot of necessary and unknown information by reading the report, now they know about it anew. Some people thanked me and expressed their gratitude for making such a health-awareness report.”

However, though no editorial has been published in the newspaper based on the information he provided in his report, Shoybal believes that a great professional change has taken place for this fellowship program, and the experience plays a big role in fulfilling the day-to-day responsibilities of his professional life.

He hopes that he will work again with BNNRC and would like to express his gratitude to all those involved in the fellowship program.