Usama
Rafid

• Journalism Studies: Investigating newsroom dynamics, reporting precarity, editorial independence, and press autonomy in Bangladeshi and South Asian media environments.
• Digital Journalism: Studying how platforms, AI tools, and online publishing reshape news production, newsroom practices, and journalistic work in Bangladesh.
• News and Audience: Examining how audiences find, consume, trust, and pay for news in digital environments across Bangladesh.

• Media Research
• Data Driven Reporting
• AI and Journalism

• Courses taught: Journalism and Society, Digital Audience, News Sourcing and Gathering, Environmental Communication, History of Bangladeshi Media.
• Faculty advisor, The ULABian (campus newspaper).
• Mentor, Ctrl+Alt+Story: Research and Storytelling in Journalism, a fellowship run with Drik. Mentored three fellow projects.

• Designed and carried out research on media related issues in Bangladesh.
• Analysed media content with OSINT techniques to detect information disorder.

• Completed the Young Researchers' Fellowship Program 2024 in the Qualitative Research Stream, with hands on training in mixed method research and qualitative methodologies.

• Planned and proposed the project, secured funding from the US Department of State, built a network of coastal community journalists reporting on climate change, and organised a reporting bootcamp.

• Planned and wrote features for the Panorama section through interviews, background research and multimedia integration.
• Copy edited and verified daily news copy, and designed graphic cards for digital distribution.
• Wrote and translated more than 40 articles for the weekly magazine Easel.

• Wrote more than 110 long form explanatory articles and edited scripts for more than 50 videos.
• Managed social media strategy and content, and coordinated with the editorial, digital and design teams.

• Result: CGPA 3.79 out of 4.00.
• Thesis: Challenges to Climate Journalism in Bangladesh.
• Ali Riaz Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2026) for the Best Thesis Proposal.

• Result: CGPA 3.85 out of 4.00.
• Tofazzol Hossain Memorial Scholarship for the highest CGPA in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
• Professor Sitara Parvin Prize for outstanding results in the BSS examination.

Examining Audiences' Willingness to Pay for Online News in Bangladesh: Towards A Subscription Model

Islam, M.A., Tabassum, M., Rafid, U., Kabil Khan, M.A., Imshiyat, S.I. and Hossain, M.I. Journal article, World of Media.

Willingness vs. Ability: AI Adoption, Resource Constraints, and Journalistic Practices in Bangladesh's National and Local Newsrooms

Al-Zaman, M.S., Khanam, M., Hasan, M.Z. and Rafid, U. Journal article, Journalism Practice.

Newsfluencer: The Intersection of Online Content Production and Platform Based Journalism

Bangla translation and adaptation of Edward Hurcombe's "Conceptualising the Newsfluencer". Nirikkha, Issue 254, Press Institute Bangladesh.

Ali Riaz Postgraduate Research Scholarship

Best Thesis Proposal, University of Dhaka.

Small Grant Winner ($5000)

US Department of State, for the project Coastal Voices.

Digital Sherlocks, Fall 2024

Four month online workshop by the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab). OSINT, digital forensics, social media analysis, fact checking and verification.

Fundamentals of Survey Design: Building Strong Research Tools

Three day workshop by BIGD. Survey design and quantitative research methods.

TechCamp Bangladesh

Four day workshop by the US Department of State. Project planning, media innovation and technology, media literacy.

Research Methodology: Basic to Advanced

Three month online workshop by Research Help Bangladesh. Qualitative and quantitative methods, academic writing.