203 reporters improve skills on investigative journalism

A release by the centre’s  Coordinator , Motunrayo  Alaka said the initiative, which held from Monday 19 to Friday 30 January 2015, took advocacy for investigative reporting from one media house in Nigeria to the other. It provided capacity support for the creation and or improvement of investigative reporting desks in eight selected media houses […]

A release by the centre’s  Coordinator , Motunrayo  Alaka said the initiative, which held from Monday 19 to Friday 30 January 2015, took advocacy for investigative reporting from one media house in Nigeria to the other. It provided capacity support for the creation and or improvement of investigative reporting desks in eight selected media houses in Lagos and Abuja.
The media houses trained are: The New Telegraph, Media Trust, The Leadership, The Nation, The Guardian, The Premium Times, The News and Television Continental. The Wole Soyinka Centre staff alongside its faculty comprising veteran investigative journalism professionals visited seven media houses to conduct the training for members of staff and followed up with workshops for representatives of the eight media houses.
The faculty for the capacity development programme included: Prof Lai Oso, Dean of the School of Communication of the Lagos State University (LASU); Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, WSCIJ Founder; Mr Theophilus  Abbah, Sunday Editor, Media Trust; Mr Solomon Adebayo, Senior Correspondent, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria; and Mr Musikilu Mojeed, Editor, Premium Times. The experience of the Wole Soyinka Centre proves that there is a need for continuous training and retraining of media professionals to ensure the revival of the culture of investigative reporting.
At the end of the maiden House-to-House project, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and its partner, the British High Commission directly reached journalists from all cadres of the media with the advocacy for investigative journalism. It said the Centre is convinced that the intervention will contribute to improved thoroughness of news reporting and better position the Nigerian media to effectively perform its role in shaping the polity.
The Pro-Engage Series was first introduced in 2011 with the aim of expanding knowledge in investigative journalism and increasing the level of mentoring and discourses around the subject for student and beginner journalists. It was aimed at creating opportunity for budding investigative
journalists to learn from respected professionals and discuss issues peculiar to their cadre in media learning and practice.