The ‘Kal?m’ Centre of Trusting Societies hosts the Trust Fellowship Programme, a platform for journalists focusing on trust as one of the fundamental building blocks of human agency and wellbeing. In 2019, the AGAHI team introduced the concept of “Kalam” at the Global Foresight Summit in 2020. AGAHI with the support from the French Embassy in Pakistan, celebrated the successful completion of the Trust Fellowship Programme by the Trust Fellows 2021 – 22, Sidra Dar and Aiman Mahmood.
In a three-month fellowship programme aimed to encourage information hygiene by improving the state of factual reporting practices in the country with the mission to cultivate trust in the society. The Fellows were provided with extensive training courses and mentorship sessions to improve their understanding of the factors that drive trust in journalism, including an advance understanding on misinformation, disinformation and malinformation practices.
Sidra Dar and Aiman Mahmood had won the AGAHI Awards 2021 in the categories of Human Rights and Democracy. The two journalists were selected for the Trust Fellowship Programme. On March 24, Sidra Dar and Aiman Mahmood both presented research work during an online discussion. The focus of Mahmood’s research was the fishermen community of Ibrahim Hayderi documenting the narrative through a democracy lens whereas Dar’s was on the identity challenges of the Bengali community oriented more towards human rights. The Fellows discussed their research work produced as a result of the Trust Fellowship Programme with His Excellency Nicolas Galey Ambassador of France to Pakistan in the ceremony hosted at his residence in Islamabad.
‘The research work produced by the Trust Fellows shows a promising future for the quality of journalism and media freedom in the country, which France is happy to support and celebrate’, said His Excellency Nicolas Galey, Ambassador of France to Pakistan.
The Trust Fellows 2021 – 22 were honored with gold medals and certificates to commemorate the successful completion of the programme. Eight modules were included for their training course, these modules were Declining Public Trust in Journalism: Possible Indicators to Regain Trust – Misinformation, Disinformation, And Malinformation: Understanding the Base of Information Disorder – Information Disorder: Strategies to Combat Information Disorder – Dwindling Journalism in Pakistan: Conundrum of Finances and Journalism Practices – Debunking Misinformation: What the Fact-Checkers are doing? – Information Verification in the Digital Age: Dilemmas of Verifying Online Content – Digital Safety of Journalists in Pakistan: Combatting Online Threats, Abuse, Harassment – Qualitative Research Methodology and Technique.
‘While there has been a rapid decline in Pakistan’s ranking on the Press Freedom Index it is becoming ever more important to design and develop programmes that can effectively improve the professional competence of the young journalists; the hard-work and dedication that Aiman and Sidra put into their research demands recognition for their efforts and as we collaborate with partners to enhance the quality of the Trust Fellowship Programme we would like the to thank the French Embassy in Pakistan for their support’ said Puruesh Chaudhary Founder and President AGAHI; Lead, Kal?m Centre for Trusting Societies.
AGAHI is an award-winning organization as a leading innovator of information and knowledge sharing platforms and for its communication strategies. It encourages and advises individuals and institutions in pursuing and supporting initiatives to improve the state of development in Pakistan designing initiatives on creating and facilitating research-oriented development frameworks contributing towards policy thinking that better decision making. AGAHI is at the forefront of devising futures research and development building on techniques and methodologies used to advance strategic interests. The team works with highly motivated and qualified professionals who have substantial experience in learning and leadership development.
