Journalists from the Northcentral region of Nigeria have gathered in Lokoja, Kogi state capital for three days of training on Investigative, data journalism, and mobile journalism by the Daily Trust Foundation.
Speaking at the training, a member of the board of Daily Trust Foundation, Mr. Ishaq Ajibola, urged journalists to use the skills acquired to reverse the perception about the media.
“You can change minds if you deliberately and responsibly use the skills to distinguish your media, whether legacy or emerging, in a manner that whatever is published on your platform is reliable and credible”, he noted.
The training sponsor by MacArthur Foundation brought together journalists from the North Central part of the country.
Chief Ajibola said it is esential to deepen knowledge on digital skills at a time when the media is experiencing trust deficit as a result of the advent of social media.
He explained that whatever was published by the media before the advent of social media was considered as truth that consumers can rely on, adding that the coming of social media has changed all that.
He, therefore, expressed appreciation to the MacArthur Foundation for supporting the training and urged participants to make good use of the opportunity.
“The organisation provided the funding for this training, and the only way we can ensure that the investment is not wasted is by paying attention to the facilitators, and putting into practice what you will learn in these three days,” Ajibola added
Also speaking, a facilitator, Dr. Theophilus Abbah charged Journalists to investigate data-driven stories and avoid misinformation.
He further urged them to upgrade their skills and work on human-angle stories that will interest the public.
Hauwa Abu