Fostering Impact Journalism for Public Interests in Bangladesh

A functioning democracy depends on journalism complemented with public interest affairs to expose anomalies and abuses of power. Grassroots correspondents play a crucial role in initiating these conversations and pushing stories to the forefront of public awareness, improving this vital pipeline at the national level.

In Bangladesh, editors’ lack of direction and encouragement hinders these conversations, preventing important stories from being investigated and published. Strengthening the partnership between grassroots journalists and local media can help ensure that public policy issues are properly represented to citizens. However, there is significant scope to improve these reporters’ abilities to produce factual investigative reports that support policy reform and improve public service delivery.

To address this need, our Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) under our Promoting Effective, Responsive, and Inclusive Governance in Bangladesh (PERI) Program organized a two-day training session on “Public Interest Journalism Training” in Savar, Dhaka from May 25-27. The training session aimed to bolster the investigative skills of 30 district journalists and enhance their ability to report on critical public interest issues. The initiative provided advanced training in investigative techniques, ethical journalism, and effective storytelling.

To further encourage the production of high-quality investigative reports on public interest issues, we paired the trainees with mentors renowned for investigative reporting. With support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, the PERI program aims to achieve key policy and institutional reforms in specific areas to overcome previously existing systemic constraints or bottlenecks in Bangladesh.