In this year’s GIJN’s Editor’s Pick series, Bangla editor Miraj Chowdhury writes that, despite many free speech and coronavirus-related challenges, there are numerous examples of important journalistic investigations taking place in the region. Here are some of the stories that mattered the most in 2020 for the 215 million Bangla speakers around the world.
It is difficult to fathom how far the novel virus might spread, and what the ultimate consequences will be. With all the uncertainties, journalists around the world are faced with the many challenges of covering the epidemic — including combating misinformation and health risks to reporters in the field — while not fueling panic.
In a very difficult year for journalism, newsrooms around the Bangla-speaking region have produced significant investigations to reveal and expose modern day slavery, corruption, abuse of public funds, and more.
Reporters at a regional newspaper in Bangladesh, Gramer Kagoj, heard from local villagers that a maternity allowance scheme for poor mothers was being abused by women who weren’t pregnant. With guidance from an expert, they applied statistical survey methods to interview 400 beneficiaries, and their investigation took a different turn — revealing a deeper, systemic problem.
