JOURNALISTS from broadcast, print and online media on Thursday 15th August were trained in Lagos on Sensitive and Conflict Reporting.
The training facilitated by MEDRIVE, a media hub focused on training African journalists, included practical and highly interactive sessions to ensure that knowledge is truly passed and retained
Speaking at the opening of the training, Wemimo Adewuni, Founder of MEDRIVE, said the organisation which was founded in 2018, has trained over 120 journalists from five states in Nigeria and mentored 40.
She disclosed that the trainings have included Story Crafting, Impact Journalism, Using Social Media for New Age Journalism, Elections Reporting, Grants Writing, and the latest centered on Conflict Reporting, targeting journalists reporting crime and conflict.
“At MEDRIVE, we believe that the media has an all important role to play in governance and development,” Adewuni said.
“The media is the Fourth estate of the Realm and holds a duty to hold government accountable on behalf of the people. We empower journalists with the accurate knowledge and skills needed to make impactful reports.
“The 88 applications received from 12 states namely Rivers, Oyo, Abuja, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto, Ogun, Enugu, Edo, Osun, Kogi, Ekiti, Kwara, Bayelsa, and Imo, for the Sensitive and Conflict Reporting reflects the dire need of journalists to be trained on this important subject and other development issues,” she added.
Adewuni, a multimedia journalist and presenter with 99.3 Nigeria Info FM took participants the concepts of Conflict Reporting.
She highlighted the need for risk assessment before going into a conflict zone, researching about the conflict, objectivity, and need to aim for resolution, not to escalate conflicts.
While emphasising on the important role the journalist plays in escalating or containing the effects of conflicts, Adewuni practically showed how to research a conflict, look beyond the surface, dig deep into multi-layer data to produce a factual, balanced, analytical and comprehensible story.
Human Rights and Constitutional lawyer, Evans Ufeli, taught the participants on the importance of challenging stereotypes in reporting by understanding the law.
He emphasized the constitutional role bestowed on journalists and enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. Going through Sections 2, 4 and 33, Ufeli challenged participants to understand the law to better appreciate human rights and report human rights abuses.
Niran Odufayo, a crime reporter with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), during his session, shared strategies of reporting crime and conflict.
Odufayo who has covered crime for FRCN for over 15 years played some of his reports, which were gathered under intense situations including murders, the clash between cultists in Lagos, protests, among others.
Adekunle Ajibulu, First Aid trainer and instructor in the Training Cadre of the Red Cross taught participants of the Conflict and Sensitive Reporting lifesaving and resuscitation skills needed during emergencies while reporting conflict.
He explained the difference between scars and burns, and how to manage fractures while waiting for medics to arrive at the scene.