Report children's issues more judiciously

Good judgment and reasoning should be applied to a greater extent in reporting on children, when they are either the subject of the news or readers or the target audience, speakers told the launch of a "guideline on reporting children's affairs" yesterday.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said the guideline, developed by the Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) with assistance from Unicef Bangladesh, would give journalists directions about reporting on children.

He said a "broadcasting act" would be formulated, no matter what. "Did any newspaper get badly affected after we formulated the Broadcast Policy?" he said, adding that when countries including the United States and the United Kingdom had broadcasting laws why could Bangladesh not have one?

An open discussion on child related news, which followed the launch, was held at Brac Centre Inn in the capital.

Moderating the discussion, Farid Hossain, CEO of INFOCUS, an organisation for training journalists, pointed out that journalists should individually have an understanding of right and wrong.

Hasibur Rahman, executive director of MRDI, said, "This guideline would help resolve many of the everyday dilemmas about the use of words and pictures that journalists face in newsrooms."

He said the guideline was developed through opinion sharing meetings held in six divisions.

Besides defining children as per the Children Act 2013, the 22-page guideline notes that children cannot be ignored in news and harmed as a result of reporting. It also talks about keeping child readers in mind while reporting crime, socially unacceptable behaviour and suicide.

Associate Editor at Prothom Alo Abdul Quaiyyum urged MRDI to open a cell to answer daily queries about dilemmas on reporting.

Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), said other institutions also needed to be sensitised about children and their rights along with media to bring about a change in attitudes. 

"The condition (of following the code of conduct about reporting) is horrific in rural newspapers," said Editors' Council President and Samakal Editor Golam Sarwar.

National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman cautioned journalists against going only by books in all matters.

Giving the instance of the injured child from the blast at the capital's Hossaini Dalan on Saturday, whom he visited, Rahman said one picture of that wounded child would speak volume about the cruelty of terrorism, and its publication would not jeopardise the right of the child but rather ensure greater benefits to society.