Refrain from negative reporting during emergencies: Shahriar
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam today said media professionals must refrain from negative reporting during the time of emergencies and humanitarian crises and uphold professionalism in performing their duties.
"We should be mindful that reporting on an emergency response is not like an ordinary reporting," he said while addressing at the inaugural session of the Asia Media Conference in a city hotel.
Shahriar said humanitarian issues have received special attention in recently adopted global architectures, including 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Paris Climate Agreement, Addis Ababa Agenda on Financing for Development, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the first ever UN Humanitarian Summit.
"Media would remain as one of the key actors in achieving these forward-looking global initiatives," he added.
The state minister said a crisis situation creates specific challenges for the media professionals and situation change quickly.
"Time for planning and thoughts is short. Dangerous rumours often circulate. Communities often have less access to media," he added.
A number of courageous foreign media personalities followed unfolding events of 1971 and reported on massive violations of human rights and humanitarian principles, he said.
"The massacre of innocent people by the Pakistani military would not have reached global audience if they did not do the right job at that challenging time. It was due to their reporting, and editorial comments, attention of international community could be drawn to the untold sufferings on our people."
Shahriar said humanitarian organisations and agencies around the world responded to the appeal for emergency humanitarian need in Bangladesh.
When populations are struggling with humanitarian crisis, media can play key role through providing information, said the state minister.
"Timely information and communication can save lives and reduce sufferings. It can help the humanitarian organisations mobilise assistance to disaster-affected people," he added.
He said the relationship between aid organisations and media is sometimes characterised by mistrust, miscommunication and misunderstanding. "To improve the situation, media professionals and humanitarian workers should understand each other's work and establish appropriate channels through which they can communicate."
He mentioned that emergency responses often involve large international and national aid organisations and government agencies with their own operational and communication systems with which local media often become unfamiliar.
"A strong collaborative approach involving both the parties would be a right solution in this regard."
Shahriar hoped that the conference would help the journalists and media professionals grow knowledge and expertise to find the ways in addressing these challenges.
Ikhtiyar Aslanov, ICRC Head of Delegation in Bangladesh, Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, Chairman, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, ICRC Regional Public Relations Advisor Graziella Piccoli and Angur Nahar Monty, President, Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh (DCAB) also spoke.
ICRC delegation in Bangladesh and DCAB are hosting the two-day conference titled, 'Reporting Humanitarian Crises and Emergencies'.
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