Published: 23 July 2025
In a classroom filled with university students, a question was asked- Do you know anything about the Minister Millions report? The question ignited the interest of the students. With immense enthusiasm, the students delved into explaining the explosive investigative story that revealed how former Bangladeshi land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury secretly acquired 500 million plus US dollars' worth of foreign properties. The story exposed corruption and cross-border money laundering. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) had already raised concerns about Saifuzzaman Chowdhury through its data-driven Know Your Candidate initiative, spotting suspicious overseas investments well before the international media report. Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, Director of Outreach & Communication of TIB, asked this thought provoking question to the students to explain how a journalist can use data to dig out corruption on a deeper level in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
TIB in association with Communication & Journalism department of Daffodil International University (DIU) organized a ‘Data Journalism Workshop’ for journalism students at the university campus on 23 July 2025. The workshop saw the active engagement of over forty communication & journalism students. The primary objective of the workshop was to instill interest in aspiring journalism students towards data journalism and equip them with the necessary tools to uphold transparency and accountability while combating irregularities or corruption.
Mohammad Tauhidul Islam, Director of Outreach and Communication at TIB, kicked off the first session with a creative Lego game to introduce the basics of data journalism in an engaging way. The activity demonstrated how small pieces of data like Lego blocks can come together to form a meaningful structure just like investigative stories.
Journalist Zyma Islam of the Daily Star, conducted a captivating session as well where students displayed genuine interest in pursuing a career in journalism and shared their ideas in response to thought-provoking questions. Each student expressed keenness to write stories on various topics using data. The highlight of the session was when the trainer demonstrated the practical use of data in published stories. As part of this, Ms. Zyma showed them her widely discussed investigative report 'Why Your Drugs Don't Work.' She explained how she accompanied magistrates during raids at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies and gathered data for an entire year. By organizing and analyzing the collected information, she exposed the large-scale use of expired drugs and diagnostic reagents in the healthcare system.
Therefore, TIB's Outreach and Communication Director had led another insightful session on the use of open data and the Right to Information Act to collect credible data. He demonstrated how these tools empower journalists to hold institutions accountable and ensure transparency.
Following this, K M Rafiqul Alam and Rifat Rahman, of the Outreach and Communication division of TIB, conducted hands-on sessions on data analysis and data visualization. These sessions offered students the opportunity to work directly with data sets and understand how raw information can be transformed into impactful stories and visual narratives.
Addressing the event, Mr. Aftab Hossain, Head of the Communication and Journalism Department of DIU, emphasized the critical role of data in journalism. He stressed the need for thorough data verification before publication to prevent misinformation, highlighting its significance as a transparency tool. He urged students to embrace data as a core element of investigative reporting and uphold it as a tool for truth and accountability. Professor Dr. Liza Sharmin, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science at DIU, underscored data journalism's role in building credibility in the media. She encouraged students to absorb the knowledge from the sessions and implement it in their future reporting careers.
The day-long workshop commenced at 10:00 am at Daffodil International University campus. The program concluded with a certificate handover ceremony. Each participating member received a certificate from TIB, closing a day full of learning, inspiration, and the hope that a new generation of journalists will use data to uncover the truth.
