Media should give voice to the voiceless

Journalists from across Asia yesterday said media should give voice to the voiceless while reporting emergencies and crisis, instead of taking side of governments.

“Journalism is a vehicle for change… Our role is to give voice to the voiceless,” said Brian John Thomson, editor in chief of Australia's SBS World News, on the first day of the two-day Asia Media Conference titled “Reporting humanitarian emergencies and crisis”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) organised the conference in a hotel in the capital in partnership with the Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh (DCAB).

Journalists, from over 10 countries of Asia and Australia, shared their experiences of reporting -- of wars in Syria or Iraq, Jammu and Kashmir, earthquake in Nepal or migrant crisis in the Bay of Bengal.

Addressing a session on migration, Brian said people were on the move in more numbers today due to conflicts, persecutions or economic reasons, but governments of the destinations could behave in ways that might not be acceptable. But media should not take side of governments, but reflect the voice of the people in trouble, he said.

He cited an example that a human story of a Syrian refugee helped the Australian government decide to double refugees in that country.

Indian journalist Jyoti Malhotra said during the recent India-Pakistan tension, some Indian media, especially television channels, seemed to take the government's side, more strongly than the government itself.

“It seemed they are holding AK-47s, not the microphones,” she said, opposing the way of reporting that can actually trigger conflicts.

Jyoti Malhotra urged journalists to practice more people-centric reporting and become agents of change.

Lauding the role of international media during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said the massacre of innocent people by the Pakistani military would not have reached the global audience if the journalists did not do the right job at that challenging time.

“It was because of their reporting and editorial comments, that the attention of international community could be drawn to the untold suffering of our people,” he said at the inaugural session.

Shahriar Alam said when people were suffering from a humanitarian crisis, timely information could save lives and reduce sufferings and help humanitarian groups mobilise assistance to the affected people.

Thai journalist Nithinand Yorsaengrat observed that journalists needed to be careful, objective and truthful while reporting.

Sharing reporting experiences during the earthquake, Nepalese journalist Dewan Rai said social media was a great medium of communication and rescue operations.

As the influence of social media increased, journalists need to make more use of it, subject to verification of information, he added.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com; Ikhtiyar Aslanov, ICRC head of delegation in Bangladesh; Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, chairman of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society; Graziella Piccoli, adviser of ICRC Regional Public Relations, and Angur Nahar Monty, president of DCAB, also spoke.