40 journalists receive fellowship, ‘Necessary Workshops for a Better Press’ launched

BuildingAssets Journalism School (BJS), an educational and non-profit concern of Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM), is commencing a fellowship for mid-career journalists in the capital with the sponsorship of Dhaka’s Edward Murrow Kennedy (EMK) Center from Monday, said a press release.

The Fellowship titled ‘Necessary Workshops For A Better Press’ has awarded 40 mid-career journalists after a rigorous selection procedure. It is a mixed batch of reporters, photographers, and video journalists – an attempt to promote multi-expertise in each individual professional.

Being selected as one of the EMK Center’s Small Grant winners of 2022-23, BJS, in an honest attempt, is arranging the fellowship programme, for the first time ever in the country.

The attendees will learn and refresh their working skills in seven (07) modules – Mobilephone journalism, Storytelling techniques & sourcing, Multiplatform journalism, Ethics & working on Investigative storytelling, Long-form story writing, Basic Fake news & misinformation debunking, and Basic Hostile Environment Training.

The trainers, all seasoned journalists, of the fellowship have proven and successful track records in their own careers and in the dissemination of knowledge as well.

They are Shafiqul Alam, Bureau Chief, AFP Dhaka; Rozina Islam, Special Correspondent, Prothom Alo; Faisal Mahmud, Correspondent, Al-Jazeera; Qadaruddin Shishir, Editor, AFP Factcheck Dhaka; Maksuda Aziz, Reporter, Mongabay; Mohammad Ponir Hossain, Photographer, Reuters, Dhaka, and Sam Jahan, Video & Text Correspondent, Reuters, Dhaka.

After attending their classes spread out over the next ten weeks, the fellows will receive a recognition certificate and the top three fellows will also receive crests. The certificate-giving ceremony is likely to be held in the first week of September, TBA. All the classes will be held in Dhaka’s EMK Center-sponsored classrooms.

“Such intense fellowships and training programmes run by local top-range trainers are very rare. It will be a great opportunity for our fellows to hone their skills and become better journalists. We hope we can continue such endeavours in the future as well,” said Sam Jahan, Chief Instructor of BJS.

The fellows attending the programmes are Md Sahabir Miah, Mohammad Mostafizur Rahaman, Abdulah Al Jobair, Jhumur Saha, Marzia Hashmi Momo, Nasimul Ahmed Shuvo, Symun Mubin Pollob, Moniruzzaman Monir, Md Shabuj Mahmud, Farizaa Sabreen, Rafia Khanom Chowdhury, Fauzia Sultana, Shareefa Sultana, Iffat Jahan, Farhana Haque, Md. Hedaet Ullah, Md Arshad Ali, Md. Sazzad Hossain, Md Jahidul Islam, Golam Rabbani, Md Miraz Hossain, Shaikh Shahrukh Farhan, Md Minhazul Abdin Reaj Chowdhury, MM Hashmi Sarker, Nayem Shan, Md Tanjil Ahmed, Md Osman Gani, Md Tajnur Islam, Taslimul Alam Towhid, Shoeb Abdullah, Mahfuzur Rahman Manik, Stephan Rozario Uttom, Nur Mohammad, Amit Banik, Nazmus Sakib, Md Asaduz Zaman, Hasan Al Manzur, Md Mariful Hasan, Carey Ashirbad Biswas, and Yeasir Arafat.