Bangladeshi media academic votes in Anadolu photo contest

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Academics emphasized documentation of conflict zones like the Gaza Strip to help ensure justice for those being persecuted by devil powers as Anadolu’s Photos of the Year contest will be presented in April.

The contest will be awarded for the 10th time by Türkiye’s international news wire service.

Jamil Khan, a journalism teacher at Daffodil International University in Dhaka and global MoJo (mobile journalism) trainer told Anadolu of the need to document issues, certainly in conflict zones.

In the News category, Khan picked the "Hope and fear" photo which shows coast guard teams affiliated with the Tunisian National Guard capturing dozens of irregular immigrants last August trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea illegally to Europe.

“People need to know what is truly happening in conflict zones like Gaza outside the Western media's normative hegemony. We see the Western media trying to tone down the brutality committed by the Israeli occupying force.

“But some bold photographs worked as a tool to expose the true colors of hypocrisy and racism of Israel and their Western allies,” said Khan.

Recently, South Africa submitted photo evidence captured by Anadolu to show that Israel committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip as it brought its genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice.

Khan lauded the move and the images captured of photographers risking their lives while discharging professional duties in places like Gaza. “They are actually serving humanity,” he believed.

Talking about photojournalism in scribing facts, he brought up the issue of the drowned Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, whose photograph made global media headlines in 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea as his body washed up on Turkish shores.

‘It brought the refugee issue to the world anew,” he said.

In Environment News, the academic picked the "Mountain of Fire" photo which shows people visiting the eruption site after the Fagradalsfjall Volcano erupted near Reykjavik, Iceland last July.

Khan selected "Dumpster footballers" in the Sports category which shows children playing with a ball next to a pile of garbage near a Guinea beach in Conakry, Guinea last September.

He also noted the Rohingya crisis in August 2017, saying the ground for opening the Bangladesh border for about 1 million Rohingya, who fled in the face of a Myanmar military crackdown in August 2017, was established through heart-touching photographs

“Now, we can use those photographs to help ensure justice for the persecuted communities,” he said.

There are, however, challenges that lie in the time of advanced technology and AI.

The academic suggested having legal documents before covering conflict zones, taking safety equipment, primary research, including scribe entry and exit paths of the zone or an area assigned to cover during an emergency.

“In the area of AI and deep fake, we should also develop the right skills to identify fake propaganda through photographs using advanced tools. And young people who want to join the race should be bold enough and have passion,” said Khan.