Press Release/22 July 2023

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The journey of Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM) begins

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(Bengali translation below:)

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Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM), a unity of Bangladeshi journalists working from home and abroad for reputed global media outlets, has officially debuted today on July 22, 2023. The initial journey of the organisation started a year ago on this date but it is formally launching from today.

BJIM has three primary objectives – 1. To establish it as one of the key mouthpieces of media freedom in Bangladesh and South Asia; 2. Organising training workshops, seminars, etc. for the professional development of journalists in Bangladesh; and 3. Ensuring medical welfare, insurance, and distress funds for journalists in Bangladesh and South Asia.

Also, to mark the one-year anniversary of its inception and official debut, BJIM is holding a week-long photo exhibition titled 'Third Eye: Witnessing Our Time.' from July 22, 2023, at the Zoom Gallerie of Alliance Francaise Dhanmondi, Dhaka (AFD). During the inauguration ceremony on July 22, 2023, at 6 pm at the garden of AFD, a souvenir magazine called 'Third Eye' has also been published which contains writings and pictures of different personnel including politicians, activists, and journalists about journalism.

The event was inaugurated by Nurun Nahar Khatun, the wife and the children of the slain journalist Abdul Hakim Shimul, a Samakal journalist who was killed during a political clash in 2017.

Nurun Nahar expressed her grief in the event of not getting justice in the case of her husband yet. Mentioning the liabilities of the journalists towards the society she said, “I request you all not to stop writing.”

Also on July 25, 27, 28, and 29, there will be four panel discussions on contemporary issues where human rights activist Noor Khan Liton, senior journalist Munni Saha, journalist Al Masum Molla, Detective Branch Police Chief Harunur Rashid, Barrister Rumeen Farhana, Saimum Reza Talukder, Editor Nurul Kabir, Senior Journalist Ayesha Kabir, BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem, Professor Shahab Enam Khan, TBS Deputy Editor Sajjadur Rahman, and some other guests will chair the panels.

BJIM has already been able to arrange a fellowship for 40 journalists through the Edward M. Kennedy (EMK) Center's personal-level Small Grants Fund on the Seven Essential Modules of Journalism, which is currently ongoing successfully.

Sam Jahan, a Reuters correspondent, is the founding Convener of BJIM, and Al Jazeera journalist Faisal Mahmud is serving as its member secretary. The executive members of the outfit’s ad-hoc committee are Muktadir Rashid of Irrawaddy newspaper, Monirul Alam of EPA photo agency, Redwan Ahmed of the Guardian newspaper, and Mohammad Ali Mazed of AFP.

Other members of this unity are Al-Jazeera journalist Tanveer Chowdhury, AFP Bureau Chief Shafiqul Alam, New York Times journalist Saif Hasnat, AFP Fact-Check editor Qadaruddin Shishir, Al Jazeera producer Sulayman Hossain Shaon, Benar News journalist Sharif Khiyam, AFP photojournalist Munir Uz Zaman, Deutsche Welle Akademie trainer Maksuda Aziz, Anadolu Agency journalist Najmus Sakib Rafsan, TRT World reporter Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Arab News reporter Shehab Sumon, China Daily Online deputy editor Shamim Ashraf, Matrix Image photojournalist Abir Abdullah, SOPA Image photojournalist Sazzad Hossain, Third Poll journalist Rafiqul Islam Montu, Bloomberg journalist Nazmul Ahsan, Juma Press photojournalist KM Asad, and AFP journalist Shamsuddin Illius.

Reporters Without Border (RSF)'s Asia chief Daniel Bastard, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)'s regional coordinator Beh Lih Yi, Reuters news agency's Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni and BBC South Asia's former bureau chief and veteran journalist David Loyn congratulated BJIM on its anniversary.

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For contact:

Mohammad Ali Mazed

Media Coordinator

BJIM

01727-241209

Email: contact@bjim.org