---

Checking the spread of fake news and misinformation is crucial to ensure trustworthy journalism and uphold democracy, observed journalists and fact checkers on Friday.

They said that misinformation was now being hugely spread by the social media as sources of misinformation included syndicates and personal interests.

The journalists and fact checkers discussed fake news, democracy, challenges of journalism in recent years in a dialogue titled ‘Confronting Misinformation in Bangladesh’ held at a hotel in Rajshahi.

Centre for Governance Studies, in collaboration with the US Department of State, organised the dialogue.

Rajshahi University’s department of Mass Communication and Journalism professor Pradip Kumar Panday said that generation gap was visible in journalism as the profession changed the way it used to use before. 

‘We live in an ocean of information, we have to be conscious about picking information whether it is misinformation or not,’ said professor Pradip.

He stressed that journalists should check the source of news not just once but more than that even if it took time to do so.

Fact checker Minhaj Aman, research head of Dismislab, said that they identified which mainstream media spread which type of misinformation and tried to find out different fake news.

He also pointed out that the subeditors should play an important role to mitigate this problem and sometimes the reporters too.

After the roundtable discussion, participants took part in a survey and a focus group discussion to provide more in-depth information and their perspectives on fake news.

The data collected during these dialogues will be used to enhance the capacity of journalists and will encourage social media influencers in Bangladesh to effectively counter misinformation, particularly during election periods, said a CGS press release.

The discussion was moderated by Zillur Rahman, the executive director of the CGS.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/196597/checking-fake-news-crucial-for-democracy-dialogue