BHRF is delighted to announce the first cohort of its Rural Health Reporting Fellowship — a six-month programme designed to put district-level reporters on extended assignment in their own communities, with editorial mentorship from senior BHRF members.
Eleven journalists were selected from 89 applications, drawn from district outlets across seven of the country's eight divisions. Each fellow will produce four long-form pieces over the fellowship period, focused on a beat negotiated with their mentor — including, in this cohort, reproductive health in the Hill Tracts, kidney disease in Manikganj, and silicosis among stone-crusher workers in Sylhet.
"District journalists know things that the Dhaka beat can never know — they live in the communities they report on, they speak the local dialects, they recognise the families involved," said Vice President Rehana Parvin in announcing the cohort. "Our job in this fellowship is not to teach them how to report. It is to make sure their reporting reaches readers, and that they have the time to do it justice."
The fellowship is supported by the Fojo Media Institute and the BHRF endowment. Reporting from the cohort will be cross-published on the BHRF longread shelf and on each fellow's home outlet.
A second cohort is planned for early 2027.
