The Media Council of Mongolia (MCM) organized the training "Sensitively Reporting on Human Rights in Business" for senior undergraduate journalism students. The training was conducted under the "Youth and Media for Responsible Business: Agents of Change" project, implemented by UNDP with funding from the European Union.

Since its establishment, the MCM has received and resolved more than 600 complaints concerning the ethics of journalistic content. Approximately 30 percent of these complaints have been submitted by business organizations. The complaints commonly allege that newsrooms failed to verify their sources, did not adequately fact-check the accuracy of information, denied the parties concerned an opportunity to respond, failed to ensure balanced reporting, disclosed employees' personal information, or damaged the reputation of individuals and organizations. Meanwhile, Principle 1 of the Media Ethics Principles stipulates that delivering truthful information, upholding humanity and human dignity, verifying information, and ensuring balanced reporting are the fundamental principles of responsible journalism. Principle 6 further emphasizes respect for privacy. In response, the MCM developed a training curriculum and supporting materials on respecting human rights in business and reporting on related issues with sensitivity, and held its inaugural pilot training on April 25.

A total of 34 students from the National University of Mongolia (NUM), the School of Cinema, Television and Media Arts of the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture (MNUAC), and University of the Humanities (HU) registered for the training, of whom 23 participated. The morning session, titled "Understanding the Issue," focused on introducing key concepts through topics such as "What Are Human Rights in Business? Current Situation, Consequences, and Positive and Negative Human Rights Impacts," and "Changing Stereotypes through Examples of Journalistic Works that Have Influenced Businesses to Respect Human Rights and Lessons Learned from Them." These sessions aimed to build participants' knowledge and challenge common misconceptions. The afternoon sessions focused on effective reporting and coverage of business and human rights issues, as well as developing participants' journalistic writing skills. A distinctive feature of the training was its combination of theoretical instruction with practical exercises and interactive games.

Participants noted that the participatory training methodology, rather than a traditional lecture-based format, made the program innovative, engaging, and effective. They also expressed their hope that similar training sessions would be organized regularly in the future. This was the first training conducted under the newly developed curriculum, and the next session is planned to target investigative journalists.

Following the training, participants will produce and disseminate short media content on business and human rights that adheres to ethical journalism standards.