The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Mass media must play a role to address the human right issues in effective way. Students as well as the people need to be incorporated in raising awareness about human rights and use of power to influence the society. Mass media can help the people to enjoy access to information to being positive change in Bangladesh.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director and Chief Editor of BSS, said this as chief guest in the inaugural session of the Youth Journalism and Human Rights Camp at TARC of BRAC in Savar yesterday.

He said the camp would play an important role to raise awareness regarding journalism and human rights.

Relief International (RI), a US-based NGO, organised the three-day-long camp for marginalised and rural youth to make them aware of the power of the media to influence society and to make media accessible to them.

Its aim is to introduce journalism and human rights topics to the students of Class IX to XI from across Bangladesh. The camp also aims to develop the student's journalism and technology skills and explore journalism as a career or as a social worker. The camp is a part of an 18 months long project titled " Media Access and Education for Human Rights: Bangladesh" implemented by RI with funding support from the European Union.

The programme targets the rural and semi urban youths, local journalists, media professionals and the public at large and implements enabling technologies appropriate to the existing infrastructure.

Topics covered during the camp include journalism, basic issues of journalism, relationship between human rights and journalism, use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in promoting journalism, importance of photojournalism. The camp participants will get an opportunity to visit some renowned print and electronic media house.

The Youth Journalism and Human Rights camp is the first of a series of camps. A total of six camps will be held throughout the year and a total of 144 students will learn how to develop their journalism and technology skill through the camps.

Dr Nasser Rahman and RI country director Nazrul Islam also spoke during the opening session of the programme.