Above: Sahid SK
A digital content creator and media professional, Sekh Mahammad Abu Sahid (popularly known as Sahid SK) has co-founded Protibadi Awaz, which is a Bengali digital media company in 2018. He also works with Marketing Mind, a platform which offers content pertaining to business, marketing and advertising and reaches out to millions. Sahid has been in the field for 5 years now and has gained a lot of experience when it comes to social and digital media content curation and optimisation.
Which is why, he is of the firm opinion that social media journalists shouldn’t be neglected by the government but be provided with proper registration certificates and Identity Cards, legitimising the work that they do. Today, social media has become a source of gaining information and updates from around the world and teams work extremely hard to put out verified news to cater to an audience which runs in millions. It isn’t just their own follower count which they cater to but to everyone who lands up on their page.
Which is why, it is very crucial for the country to identify these journalists who work as hard as mainstream media journalists in putting out news and updates from around the world. Today, the boundaries of journalism have been blurred across countries. There isn’t any particular channel that one individual working in the field caters to and there isn’t just one region that he caters too as well. Social media journalists have gotten a far wider reach than mainstream news channels today. Moreover, they are subjected to a lot more scepticism as well from third parties because of the nature of their work, just like conventional media journalists.
To a common eye, the world of social media journalism may not seem one which requires a lot of due diligence. Since one doesn’t see the network and behind the scenes that go into putting up any piece of content on a social media handle, it’s easy to not give in credit where it is due.
It’s time that the government acknowledge social media journalists who in current times, owing to the pandemic have been a true source of providing verified information to the citizens of our country. The pandemic, particularly proved to be a testing time for all and everyone turned to social media to not just gain information but also network with people who went through tough times and find solace. Social media journalists have been at the brink of this trying period and it’s time that the government take measures and not neglect them anymore.
