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The journalists and fact-checkers discussed fake news, democracy, and challenges of journalism in recent years in a dialogue titled ‘Confronting Misinformation in Bangladesh’ held at a hotel in Rajshahi on March 12. 2023.Centre for Governance Studies, in collaboration with the US Department of State, organized the dialogue.

The discussion was moderated by Zillur Rahman, the executive director of the CGS.

Rajshahi University’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism professor Pradip Kumar Panday said that the generation gap was visible in journalism as the profession changed the way it used to use before.  ‘We live in an ocean of information; we have to be conscious about picking information, whether it is misinformation or not,’ said Professor Pradip.He stressed that journalists should check the source of news not just once but more than that, even if it took time to do so.

Fact checker Minhaj Aman, research head of Dismislab, said that they identified which mainstream media spread which type of misinformation and tried to find out different types of fake news.He also pointed out that the subeditors should play an important role in mitigating this problem, and sometimes the reporters, too.

After the roundtable discussion, participants took part in a survey and a focus group discussion to provide more in-depth information and their perspectives on fake news. 

The data collected during these dialogues was used to enhance the capacity of journalists and encourage social media influencers in Bangladesh to effectively counter misinformation, particularly during election periods, said a CGS press release.