Untold stories seen through the Prism of youth: child journalists in Bangladesh

Arju Mony Dristy is among more than 100 young people recruited as volunteers for a video news service, Prism, in a partnership between Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency, and the online news agency BDnews24.com.

Focusing on social issues, such as the lives of street children, Dristy, 17, hopes her work as a student video journalist will attract the attention of authorities and policymakers.

In Bangladesh, where about 40% of the population is under 18, the initiative seeks to create a space for young people to raise their concerns, share their aspirations and – by suggesting solutions – contribute to decisions that affect their lives, says Edouard Beigbeder, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh.

The young journalists are reporting on a range of issues including environment culture, tourism and development. Within a fortnight, Prism, the first video news agency in Bangladesh, expects to sign formal agreements with five national television stations allowing them to use its material for free, says AM Sakil Faizullah, Prism’s project manager.

One of Dristy’s reports highlights how the martyr’s monument in Narayanganj, a city south of Dhaka, has become a meeting and leisure spot for local people in the absence of other venues for entertainment.

“All my work so far reflects Narayanganj and its identity. I want to address social issues. What is beautiful is already beautiful but I want to put my effort in those issues that are not as beautiful and make them one,” Dristy says.

In Gazipur district, in the north of the capital, Dhaka, industrial waste is ruining the Turag river, where the water was once beautiful and fish plentiful, reports Prism journalist Mohammed Jahid Hasan Sumon, 17. Sumon reports on the economic and environmental implications of the drying river, the dwindling of which means fishing communities are losing their livelihoods.

“Through my work I want to tell people problems in my area and the stories of my friends and neighbours,” says Sumon, a student at Bhawal Mirzapur college.

Sumon, who writes the reports himself, says he received training from Prism that included camera handling and news presenting.

“We are used to seeing polished presentation but these videos, produced by children, are raw, which brings an additional sweetness,” says Faizullah.

Compiling the reports also enables critical thinking among the young people, which will make them better professionals if they pursue a career in journalism, says Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor in chief of BDnews24.com. “The boys and girls are learning how to raise questions,” he says.

Yet journalists and voices outside the mainstream media have come under attack from authorities and religious fundamentalists in Bangladesh. The safety of the young reporters is therefore a concern. Fundamentalists have killed bloggers and Xulhaz Mannan, the founder of the country’s first LGBT magazine. Journalists have also been imprisoned.

Unicef and BDnews24 maintain that the young people are looked after when they report for Prism. “These children are guided by responsible people and trained professionals,” says Khalidi, who adds: “Let’s face it, journalists are not very respected people in our country. These children are proving that they are better than us.”

District coordinators of Prism, as well as editors at BDnews24, assess the reports produced by the young journalists before they are published online. In addition to ensuring that the reporting complies with the UN convention on the rights of the child, crime investigations or overtly political stories are off-limits to prevent any kind of threat or risk, says Faizullah.

The children received three months of training on filming and reporting, says Faizullah, adding: “Without affecting their education, these children are able to engage themselves in this creative media as an extracurricular activity.”

Launched on 10 April, Prism has been piloted in seven districts of Bangladesh, with 15 volunteer reporters in each district. The $50,000 (£34,000) one-year project, funded by Unicef, aspires to produce a video clip every day.

Unicef has ventured into video news following the success of its online children’s news service Hello, which has become a self-sustaining venture with commercial investment to continue the project.

“A core justification of doing this project is to incorporate this in mainstream TV stations,” says Faizullah, adding that corporate sponsorship would enable Prism to carry on its work.