WUNRN
BANGLADESH - FIRST WOMEN'S
TELEVISION NEWS AGENCY
13
October 2009
Television
News Agency, the first news agency to be run by a corps of female broadcast
journalists will be launched in
Several
government officials and members of the diplomatic community will attend the
Oct. 19 launch in Dhaka of Bangladesh’s first-ever news agency run by women and
focusing on women’s issues.
TVNA will provide hands-on training in the fundamentals of
reporting/ Photo credit: India West.com
The Television
News Agency is a joint collaboration between the Washington, D.C.-based
TVNA, headed by
Knight International Journalism Fellow Kawser Mahmud, aims to train women as
reporters, who will then produce stories on women’s issues and their lives in
“We have very
less participation by women in media,” Mahmud, a veteran of both print and
broadcast journalism, told India-West in a telephone interview from
“But that is
changing. Women now are getting interested in reporting and producing, and as
we continue this project we will inspire women to enter the profession,” he
said.
Only 35 of the
520 members of the Bangladesh National Press Corps are women. And of the 2,000
journalists working in the country, less than 150 are women.
"The
country’s few journalism schools teach mainly theory rather than practical
skills"
Elisa Tinsley,
director of the Knight International Journalism Fellowships program, which is
administered by ICFJ, said that the vision for TVNA was developed at a
conference in
“They were very
interested in empowering female journalists. Our hope is to develop a core of
female broadcast journalists who will then train other women,” she said.
TVNA is the
first institution in
Many of TVNA’s
first batch of 40 trainees come from print media, and have some experience in
journalism. Under Mahmud’s guidance, they are learning how to translate their
stories to a visual format.
The trainees
have reported stories on child labour and children’s nutrition, the difficulty
of getting potable water, day care centres, nursing homes for seniors, and
female trekkers who have climbed the
Along the way,
Mahmud also gives his trainees the confidence needed to go out and report in a
primarily male-dominated environment.
“It’s difficult
for a woman to work in the middle of the night in a third world country,” he
said, adding that the institute provides training on just such challenges,
among others.
Mehrin Jahan,
one of Mahmud’s trainees, recently made the jump from print to broadcast journalism.
“It is an awesome experience. I never thought I’d be able to transport a
message this way,” Jahan, 20, told India-West by telephone from
“Visual
information is a much more attractive medium for reaching people and we can
reach so many more people who cannot read,” she said.
Jahan is
currently working on a story about eve-teasing, the harassment of women by men
in crowded places, such as a bus or public area.
“Our women are
very much a victim of this crime,” she said, adding that the issue is greatly
neglected and not often discussed in
Fifteen of the
first 40 trainees have gone on to work with mainstream television channels. The
rest are working on stories for TVNA.
The biggest
challenge now is selling the stories to television stations, said Mahmud,
adding that he is currently providing content free of charge, but intends to
make the agency self-sustaining. TVNA also aims to sell its stories to NGOs and
companies looking at corporate social responsibility.
Through the
Knight International Journalism Fellowships, reporters work in several countries
around the world to lead projects that have an impact on journalism and society
as a whole. The fellowships last at least one year, and are awarded to
reporters from throughout the world who have at least 10 years of experience in
journalism.
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