'Take the fight forward,' Toufique Khalidi tells child journalists at launch of new Hello website

Toufique Imrose Khalidi, the editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, has asked “fearless” child journalists to take forward the fight waged by their seniors to expose the wrongdoings and injustice in society.

In his word, the advancement of technology has made life easier, but the opposite has happened in some cases. “There was a time when people used to read, listen and work on an issue after something was published. But this is not always the case now.”

“People don’t pay heed when we keep writing. The fight is on and it will continue. Please take the fight forward,” he said at the launch of a new website of Hello, bdnews24.com’s platform for child journalists.

Former and current child journalists from Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh gathered at bdnews24.com offices to celebrate the moment on Tuesday. After launching the website with the makeover, Khalidi cut a cake and advised them to engage more in writing and social activities alongside their study.

He said children do better in journalism in many cases because they are more sincere and fearless than adults. “People do not feel fear up to a certain time. When they began understanding things, they start feeling fear as well. It’s a good thing in one sense to be fearless.”

Launched on Mar 31, 2013, the Hello (https://hello.bdnews24.com/) involves children and adolescent journalists in content development, starting from newsgathering to presentation on the website.

bdnews24.com, the first internet newspaper of the country, is administering the news website for children in partnership with UNICEF.

Those below 18 years old and willing to become a voice for children through writing are eligible to join the team of child journalists.

In the nine years of Hello’s existence, thousands of child journalists have been trained. Hello also published a book on easy lessons of journalism.

“We’ve also tried to teach ethics, about the great decay in society, in political institutions, at different levels of state, and in many cases, in the family,” Khalidi said.

“It is a difficult job to learn and do journalism following ethics and the grammar of journalism. And yet, many of you do it with great enthusiasm.”

Khalidi noted how Hello’s works help change the world around them. “You’ve done a great job. In some cases, I envy you because many times people do not listen to us but even ministers moved after reports were published in Hello.”

“Wrongdoers who won against many powerful opponents were defeated by reports published in Hello. Hello has such a strange power. Hello means you, the child journalists.”

Some of the former child journalists of Hello have taken journalism as their career.

Others have chosen other professions. “They are doing well because not all the people have the knowledge to separate the truth from lies, and glean useful information from a lot of data,” Khalidi said.

He said bdnews24.com is thinking about having a separate section or a website for the former Hello journalists who want to continue writing.

He wished all the members of Hello the best. “Nothing is better than childhood. Not everyone has the simplicity, sincerity, workability, liveliness and enthusiasm of a child.”