Ikenga Media and Cultural Awareness Initiative (IMCAI) Thursday trained journalists in Ebonyi state on reporting in a treacherous and insecure environment.
The training focused on the safety of journalists in news gathering, ethics issues, and fundamentals of news investigative reporting/fact-checking.
The programme was a one-day training organized by Ikenga Media with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and the John Macarthur Foundation at Geneza Hotels Abakaliki.
In separate lectures, former commissioners for information of the state, Chief Abia Onyeike and Dr. Chike Emmanuel Onwe called on journalists in the state to imbibe investigative journalism in their practices.
They noted that investigative journalism remains the only way journalists can survive the present citizen’s journalism era.
They lamented how journalism as a profession has mesmerized everybody in society following the advent of social media.
In his lecture on the topic “News Ethics and Social Responsibility in Nigeria Journalism: Reflections on Past and Present Realities”, Onyeike who was Deputy National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said, “In the case of contemporary Nigeria, it is clear to us all that the country is sick in all its ramifications. The nation is plagued by numerous problems, just the same way the states, local governments, and communities are overwhelmed by terrible developments.
“When last did we file stories on any of the numerous communal crises and their attendant killings and refugee problems associated with them? When last did you investigate the monumental looting of public resources taking place at the various levels of government within your area of coverage?
“ How many journalists in Ebonyi State have bothered to do a thorough investigative report on the Effium crises and the massacre going on there which has left a horrible scenario of internally Displaced persons (IDPs) scattered all over the place, with an estimated 5, 000 persons killed since early 2021 when the current wave of the crises started. And so on.
“Given the fact that investigative journalism requires resources to accomplish, one must be sympathetic to the journalists as they work under terrible conditions. They are handicapped and are often rendered vulnerable to those in power. Something has to be done by media employers to pay their workers handsomely to strengthen them in the discharge of their duties.
“My criticism of some Journalists is an in-house critique aimed at stimulating our efforts and commitment to the best ideals of this noble profession. It does not in any way detract from the great job you have been doing. We have to do more for this profession in particular and posterity in general”, he stated.
However, Dr. Chike Onwe in his lecture on investigative journalism said it was only investigative journalists that would satisfy the curiosity and the information needs of the public these days.
“I think this is a wake-up call and a challenge to journalists to answer this clarion call because you must improve on the job, you must be seen to be improving on the job. If you remain static where you are, last year, five years ago, you will get outdated, especially in the era of social media where everybody has become a journalist, trading on the same issue that we are trading on.
“We must show something different and the only thing that will give us that edge is our ability to go in-depth, our ability to scout for what is hidden, our ability to go beyond the ordinary. That is what gives us the advantage and that is what this program is making and I think we should take it up as a challenge and give ourselves a kind of notch to do what is needed in a time like this”, he stated.
Also, Uche Ugboaja, Editor-in-Chief of Ikenga Online said the training was to enable journalists to brace up to the challenges in their jobs as the watchdog of the society and improve on them.
“We try to retrain journalists, giving them more capacity to do their jobs. Luckily, we are supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism of the Macarthur Foundation”.
