|
THERE have been long debates on positive or negative reporting. Many quarters criticised that the media is now dominated by negative reporting. They argue that the media does not balance stories by giving the information of the developments taking place at the same time. But those who support objective reporting, however, appreciate reports that carry information or statements of both the sides. Actually, judgment of a report whether it is negative or positive depends on the readers' views of the story, too. But we often read stories with headlines that do not support the information given in the text, which is not desirable.
A similar report was published recently in the FE, too. The report carried the information that Chittagong port might be dropped from the white list of International Maritime Organization (IMO) due to the country's failure to ensure security of the port as per IMO rules. The report carrying the relatively supportive information in this regard, however, ended with official statement that contradicted the headline. At the end, it was reported that there is no such possibility as the security works like setting up CCTV and so on are going on fast and would be completed by this year. It also hinted that the US coast guard that visited the port recently also expressed satisfaction over the security performance of the port. So the entire story ended with the information, which contradicted what the report had tried to establish. We know that official statement is important to make a story objective. But here it was needed to give more information to defend the official version so that main information of the report is not distorted. And this was important for the credibility of the report.
A reader
Motijheel
Dhaka
|