Uniport, SWIJ- WSCIJ train journalism students on digital skills, others

The Step-up for Women In Journalism Initiative (SWIJ), in partnership with the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Port, has trained journalism students on digital skills, techniques for investigative reporting and collaborations as well as news mapping and pitching.

The training was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and funded by the Gates Foundation. The Dean of Faculty, Professor Walter Ihejirika, in his opening remarks, described the training as apt, noting that the media industry is evolving daily, hence; digital skills are very necessary to help professionals and student journalists advance with the growing trend.

Ihejirika, who received the SWIJ Team with warmth, commended their efforts on the initiative aimed at helping students in the faculty to become more equipped and well positioned for the newsroom after classroom trainings.

He also thanked the University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Owunari Georgewill, and the management and council of the institution for approving the collaborative endeavour with SWIJ to help students in the media and communication faculty to be empowered with relevant skills.

Ihejirika said, “this training is apt, so that after the classroom, the students can integrate very well into the newsroom and when we talk about the newsroom, we talk about all including the electronic, print and even the new media.

“The university is an entrepreneurial one, this means we are not only interested in certificates, we are not also interested in giving the students the paperwork, we are also interested in ensuring that they convert the papers to tangible realities that will make them earn a living, feed themselves and family, and more importantly, help to develop our country.

“We are not only focusing on theoretical and classroom learning, we are also interested on the field work, this is a synergy between the ‘town and the gown’, the gown is university while the town are those professionals who are already in the field and have immersed themselves in the nitty-gritty of media work, so it is a good marriage.”

The dean thanked organisers for choosing the University of Port Harcourt to implement the project. He also urged the selected students to make good use of the opportunity, which he note, may open up more future opportunities for them in becoming core professional media personnel.

Also, the Head of Department, Journalism and Media Studies, Prof. Christie Omego, lauded the initiative and charged the students to utilise the lessons learnt to improve their skills with a resonated passion for journalism, assuring that they will excel in the industry if they are focused and steadfast.

Team lead of SWIJ, Ann Godwin, said the training, which is supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism under its report women newsroom engagement champion building project, is in line with their commitment to building next generation of journalists.

She said, it is important for future journalists to acquire necessary skills especially, tech skills considering the evolving nature of the media landscape to enable them stay atop and have successful career.

According to her, the Nigeria media industry is struggling to meet up with the growing demands in the industry because in the past, tech skills and values were not giving prime attention. She stressed the need for professionals to scale up digital skills.

Resources persons at the workshop, Paul Chimodo, spoke on ‘Embracing Digital Journalism: The Future of News and Information; ‘Techniques on Investigative Journalism and Collaboration’ was handled by Godwin while ‘News Development, Mapping, Publishing and Pitching’ was handled by Udoma Mkpo.

The students at the end of the workshop shared values gained while expressing gratitude to SWIJ and the sponsors. The delegation of SWIJ include the Secretary Annie Dick, Dr Ijeoma Tubosia, Dr Ngozi Anosike, Dorris Morrison, Daba Benibo and Gift Inmo.