ISLAMABAD: As many as five digital media journalists were honored with awards for their best reporting on diversity and pluralism.
The awards were given to the journalists for their best reporting on religious minorities in Pakistan under the Diversity and Pluralism Project.
The “Diversity and Pluralism in Media Awards 2022” was jointly organised by the Institute of Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), the Digital Media Alliance of Pakistan (DigiMAP), and the Women Journalists Association of Pakistan (WJAP) on Friday in Islamabad. A cake-cutting ceremony was also arranged on the occasion of the second anniversary of DigiMAP.
During the project, IRADA, DigiMap and WJAP organised a series of workshops for women journalists on “Tackling Marginalisation through Women’s Visibility in Digital Journalism” to highlight the issues related to marginalised communities, including women, minorities, transgender persons, and others.
Speaking at the event, IRADA Executive Director Aftab Alam said that the purpose of the training was to highlight issues of marginalised communities in digital spaces, such as women from religious minority backgrounds, human rights, and people with disabilities; and how media persons can report on these issues.
Aftab Alam also briefed the participants on why the project focusing on religious minorities and other marginalised communities was launched.
Explaining the marginalisation or isolation of religious minorities, focusing on implicit and explicit biases as well as intra-sectional issues and the constitutional framework of fundamental human rights, he said the process should continue to highlight the issues of marginalised communities in Pakistan.
IMP Adnan Rehmat, while appreciating the role of digital media platforms in highlighting issues of public interest, particularly marginalised communities in Pakistan, stated,‘The digital media platforms under the banner of DigiMAP are doing the job that the mainstream media should do.”
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, a member Planning Commission of Pakistan, extended the commission’s full support for promoting public interest journalism and said this is the real form of journalism on which the media should focus.
The purpose of the session was to highlight how covering religious minorities in journalism is crucial for creating a peaceful, democratic and diverse Pakistan.
DigiMAP President Sabookh Syed informed the participants on the two-year journey of the DigiMAP.
During the sessions, the trainers also generated debates on the explicit bias which is woven into the political, economic and social systems, including the political, economic, social, and cultural exclusion of the marginalised communities.
