Media urged not to sensationalise reports on migration
Mass communication and migration experts at a workshop for media personnel yesterday said the media should refrain from sensationalising reports on labour migration and human trafficking.
Being a country with over seven million of its population working abroad, Bangladesh heavily depends on their remittance and any reporting on them must be done with utmost responsibility, they said.
The workshop was organised by International Organization for Migration (IOM) at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
In Global Trafficking in Persons report of 2010, the United States government ranked Bangladesh at Tier-2 Watch list. This means the country is under close watch and if the current condition of human trafficking prevails for several years, the US would impose economic sanctions, said Rabab Fatima, IOM regional representative for South Asia.
At the closing session of the two-day workshop, she said media the plays a big role in shaping public opinion.
Whenever reporting on human trafficking or labour migration, journalists are morally obliged to repeatedly verify information to keep foreign nations from portraying a negative image about Bangladesh's labour force, she said.
Referring to a newspaper report that stated hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked from Bangladesh, Fatima said such gross statements have dire consequences for Bangladesh.
Information Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon said job migration helps build a strong pillar for the country's economy and therefore journalists, being the conscience of the nation, have a huge responsibility to help flourish the sector.
"We do not interfere with the media. Our media enjoys full freedom. So you have more responsibility," he said, speaking as the chief guest.
Earlier, Dhaka University Prof Dr Golam Rahman said negative reporting dominates the media despite the fact that there are many good practices in the migration sector. "This trend needs to be reversed."
Advocate Bithika Hassan of Bangladesh Women Lawyers' Association said some media sensationalise events of rape and sexual harassment to increase their circulation, which must stop.
Associated Press Bureau Chief in Dhaka Farid Hossain; Press Institute of Bangladesh Director General Dulal Chandra Biswas; National Institute of Mass Communication Director General Makbul Ahmed; Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta; and IOM Programme Officer Asif Munier also spoke.
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