Media award to stamp out corruption in Bangladesh
A joint effort of MRDI, Thomson Media Foundation and the British High Commission award three reports on irregularities
Tackling corruption in any society is a constant struggle, where determined reporting shines a light on shady places, analysts said yesterday.
They spoke at a programme announcing the winners of a media award for writing reports on public finance and transparency issues, in the capital.
Thomson Media Foundation, alongside its Bangladesh partner Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) and with the support of the British High Commission in Dhaka, launched the 20122013 Inquirer awards.
The award aims to encourage high-profile reporting of public finance and transparency issues for the widest possible audience and supporting work by Bangladesh to tackle corruption, MRDI said in a statement.
A report on corruption in the health sector by Shishir Moral and Kamrul Hasan, special correspondents of top-selling Bangla-language newspaper Prothom Alo, won the first prize in print category.
The second winner in this category was Md Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, senior staff reporter of Daily Jugantor, for his report on corruption in public bank mortgage.
In television category, another report on irregularities and corruption in Bangladesh railway by Muhammad Saurav Rahman, staff correspondent of Massranga Television, was awarded.
All three winners will participate in a study tour of the UK. They will spend a week meeting with leading reporters on Southeast Asia, parliamentarians, diplomats and leading figures in the UK Bangladeshi community, according to the statement.
“I welcome the efforts made by all those who entered the competition to investigate issues that undermine public finance, business and overseas investment in Bangladesh. In doing so, they have the full interest and support of their readers and viewers,” said British High Commissioner Robert Gibson.
The winning reports show the scale of the challenge but also demonstrate a high level of journalism in Bangladesh, he said. “Revealing facts behind such stories and exposing those people involved in corruption will, I hope, serve as a real warning to others.”
“It has been encouraging to see that a good number of entries were made -- young professionals generated high quality investigative reports,” said Moazzem Hossain, editor of The Financial Express and one of the judges of the award.
“I hope this award will wide open the scope of the winners to work if they can continue upholding ethics, standards and norms of the profession.”
The award will help push the issues up the news agenda, said Hasibur Rahman, MRDI executive director.
“I believe, to ensure transparency and accountability, newsroom leaders should be more attentive on publishing investigative reports on public finance management more frequently. This initiative is just a tip of the iceberg.”
“This initiative has created a new wave of investigative reporting on public finance management both in print and broadcast media,” said Miraj Ahmed Chowdhury, in-charge of the business desk in Massranga Television and one of the judges of the award.
The other judges of the award were: Farid Hossain, bureau chief of AP Bangladesh; Sharier Khan, deputy editor of The Daily Star, and Shawkat Hossain Masum, news editor of Prothom Alo.
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