Media, the fourth column, can impact significantly the other three columns of a state. Media can promote good governance, democracy and equal opportunities for the citizens by exposing wrongdoing and upholding good practices. It can influence individuals and the society as a whole through news reports, analysis of reports and post editorial comments on issues that affect the needs, draw attention and pinpoint the interest of people. For creating such impact in the society, media, be it print, TV or online outlet and the journalists has to have the capabilities to produce reports with deeper analysis of authentic data. But a recent study says, Bangladesh media is generally better suited to spot news stories. In-depth reports are also produced, mostly from leaked sources with minimum component of research and analysis. Dearth of focused investigation to dig out the truth is a challenge for Bangladesh journalism.
Keeping this scenario in view, MRDI partnered with Fojo Media Institute of Linnaeus University, Sweden for a five year project with the objective of improving capacity of the targeted media houses and news providers as well as strengthening the entire media sector to promote and support investigative journalism. This initiative has unveiled a new dimension of opportunity for MRDI to get closer to the Bangladeshi media houses through direct operational partnership and get connected with media networks around the globe. Such relations and networks will hopefully enable MRDI to contribute more to the improvement of the standard of Bangladesh media in terms of reporting quality, ethical practice and depth of content analysis.
