Survey: 57% readers sceptical of media reports

More than half of news readers are unsure of the credibility of news reports in Bangladesh, according to a survey. The survey, jointly conducted by Management and Resources Development Initiatives (MRDI) and Unicef, was disclosed at a seminar titled “News literacy and readers perception,” organized by MRDI and the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) on Thursday. The report was originally published in September, 2016. In his welcome speech, MRDI Executive Director Hasibur Rahman said the survey found that only 14% of respondents believed media reports, with little trust for the credibility of sources and practices by journalists. According to the report, 43% of respondents were positive about media reports, while 57% of readers were unsure. Furthermore, all concerned parties were found to have been interviewed in only 8% of news reports, while 27% of the reports did not mention sources. In addition, 62% of respondents said journalists did not keep child rights in mind when reporting.Although speakers at the program stressed that the survey was conducted from a limited pool of respondents, UNB Executive Editor Riaz Ahmed said he believed increasing the number of respondents would not significantly alter the results.

Readers losing trust in media reports

According to speakers at the seminar, pressure from owners, low quality editing, limited freedom of expression, a lack of consciousness from reporters and the failure to maintain source creditability are the main causes of the mistrust for news reports. Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, former vice chancellor of University of Dhaka, said: “Editing is the soul of news, and this should be done properly. Besides, sometimes journalists need to exercise self-censorship, and this should be done cautiously.” However, Prothom Alo News Editor Abdul Kaiyum Mukul said overuse of self-censorship can also create mistrust among readers. Meanwhile, Syed Ishtiaque Reza, director of news and current affairs at Ekattor TV, said a trend of single source reporting was increasing in the country and creating confusion among readers. Furthermore, Joy E Mamun, chief news editor of ATN Bangla, said media outlets tend to publish reports in the interest of owners rather than that of the public. Chairman of National Human Rights Commission Kazi Reazul Haque, also special guest at the program, said media and human rights observers worked closely to bring quality reports on relevant issues, and news needed to be accurate and sources should be creditable. Chief guest at the program Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu urged journalists to work for the public interest, saying their approach should be such that people trust them and not fear them.