Read about the six finalists for the 2023 Global Shining Light Award — the prize that honors watchdog journalism in developing or transitioning countries carried out under threat, or in perilous conditions — in the Small and Medium Outlets category.
Although watchdog reporting in Bangladesh faces a series of challenges, all of which make investigative journalism in the country increasingly difficult, reporters in 2022 continued to produce serious exposés on critical issues as corruption, environmental crime, and systemic injustice.
Over the last 12 months investigative journalists in Bangladesh uncovered cases of corruption, abuse of power, money laundering, and institutional negligence. The biggest topic last year, as in previous years, was corruption. But in picking the top stories of 2021, we also considered significance and novelty, the diversity of issues covered, impact, and a focus on the vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society as much as the depth and techniques used in any investigation.
A jury of 10 veteran journalists assembled by GIJN member DIG (Documentari Inchieste Giornalismi, Italian for Documentaries, Investigation, and Journalism) announced winners in seven categories this week. From betrayals by Western oil companies in Africa to hidden radiation poisoning and collusion between criminals and government spooks, the winning teams tackled tough topics with dogged patience and innovative approaches.
The pandemic has posed an additional threat to news media around the world, underscoring the need for legacy media to go digital. In a recent series of GIJN workshops on media transformation, experts spoke about their journey and the need for a shift in mindset across every area of the business.
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.
At least 462 journalists have died from COVID-19, from 56 countries — with Latin American countries accounting for more than half this grim tally and a recent surge striking India and Bangladesh. One NGO tracking these deaths told GIJN that most journalists who died in the pandemic since October 1 were under the age of 60.
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.
Investigative journalist Taha Siddiqui, who was forced to flee to France recently after a failed abduction attempt, talks about why he left Islamabad and his SAFE Newsrooms initiative which aims to highlight freedom of expression issues in newsrooms across South Asia.
