Seminar on use of RTI Act in investigative journalism

Journalists might be covering news about the Right To Information (RTI) Act, but they, themselves, are not utilising the Act so much, and the culture of hiding information remains a big obstacle in making Bangladesh an information-rich society.

Chief information commissioner Prof. Md. Golam Rahman said this at a seminar titled 'Use of RTI act in investigative journalism', held on Wednesday at the Azimur Rahman Conference Hall of The Daily Star in Dhaka.

He also said, “Journalist have some social commitment and they can help general people through their job; RTI Act will help them in doing investigative journalism but they have to be more patient and should  increase the practice of using RTI Act.”

Adding that there are 25,000 people in different government offices who are working as information officers, he said if private colleges, universities, banks and hospitals were included under the RTI Act, it would have become more useful for the general public.

There were two keynote presenters at the seminar—Saikat Datta, the South Asia editor of Asia Times, and Manjurual Ahsan Bulbul, president, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and editor-in-chief of ETV.

According to Datta, the scenarios in Bangladesh and India are quite similar, as journalists in both the countries are not interested in using their respective RTI Acts to develop investigative reports, though the incidence of using the Act is increasing slowly.

In his speech, Bulbul said, “RTI Act helps journalists in several ways, including offering protection from legal challenges. and in maintaining the accuracy of information ratio of using the Act is not good as it takes times in getting information.”

He also recommended that journalist should get more time and financial support for doing investigative news from media houses and training is needed as many reporters are not aware of how to use the Act properly.

Agreeing that in-house training is indeed needed, Golam Sarwar, the president of the Editors’ Council and the editor of daily Samakal, said as a special guest, “Nowadays, journalists are not interested in investigative reporting, but we need to encourage them.”

Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Press Council, Mahfuz Anam, the editor of The Daily Star, Prof. Mofizur Rahman, chairman of mass communication and journalism department of Dhaka University, journalist Joy E. Mamun, Zayadul Ahsan Pintu, Rejwanul Haque Raja, and Tipu Sultan were present at the panel discussion, while Syed Ishtiaque Reza, the director of news and current affairs at Ekattor TV, was the moderator.

Speakers put emphasis on raising awareness about and encouraging the utilisation of the RTI Act to develop a society where information is free and there is healthy investigative journalism.

Seminar on use of RTI Act in investigative journalism

Journalists might be covering news about the Right To Information (RTI) Act, but they, themselves, are not utilising the Act so much, and the culture of hiding information remains a big obstacle in making Bangladesh an information-rich society. Chief information commissioner Prof. Md. Golam Rahman said this at a seminar titled Use of RTI act in investigative journalism, held on Wednesday at the Azimur Rahman Conference Hall of The Daily Star in Dhaka. He also said, Journalist have some social commitment and they can help general people through their job; RTI Act will help them in doing investigative journalism but they have to be more patient and should increase the practice of using RTI Act. Adding that there are 25,000 people in different government offices who are working as information officers, he said if private colleges, universities, banks and hospitals were included under the RTI Act, it would have become more useful for the general public. There were two keynote presenters at the seminarSaikat Datta, the South Asia editor of Asia Times, and Manjurual Ahsan Bulbul, president, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and editor-in-chief of ETV. According to Datta, the scenarios in Bangladesh and India are quite similar, as journalists in both the countries are not interested in using their respective RTI Acts to develop investigative reports, though the incidence of using the Act is increasing slowly. In his speech, Bulbul said, RTI Act helps journalists in several ways, including offering protection from legal challenges. and in maintaining the accuracy of information ratio of using the Act is not good as it takes times in getting information. He also recommended that journalist should get more time and financial support for doing investigative news from media houses and training is needed as many reporters are not aware of how to use the Act properly. Agreeing that in-house training is indeed needed, Golam Sarwar, the president of the Editors Council and the editor of daily Samakal, said as a special guest, Nowadays, journalists are not interested in investigative reporting, but we need to encourage them. Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Press Council, Mahfuz Anam, the editor of The Daily Star, Prof. Mofizur Rahman, chairman of mass communication and journalism department of Dhaka University, journalist Joy E. Mamun, Zayadul Ahsan Pintu, Rejwanul Haque Raja, and Tipu Sultan were present at the panel discussion, while Syed Ishtiaque Reza, the director of news and current affairs at Ekattor TV, was the moderator. Speakers put emphasis on raising awareness about and encouraging the utilisation of the RTI Act to develop a society where information is free and there is healthy investigative journalism.