PORT- HARCOURT -The Executive Director, International Press Centre IPC, Mr Lanre Arogundade, has said that for the media to serve as catalysts of credible elections, certain deliberate actions must be taken.
Mr Arogundade said this while addressing female journalists drawn from both print and electronic media from the South-South, South-East, and South West during a workshop organised by the IPC in partnership with NAWOJ with the European Union Support for Media under the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU SDGNll) Project held in Port Harcourt Rivers state recently
He said the workshop is designed to further enhance the skills of the participants on professional, impactful, inclusive and public interest reporting of the Electoral processes and the 2023 elections.
He further noted that strengthening the media for fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of electoral processes will consolidate democracy.
He therefore tasked female journalists to make use of the skills acquired in the two days training to combat fake news, provide civic and voter education and inspire other forms of engagement with the media that encourage the people, particularly the under represented groups like women, youths, and persons with disabilities to vote and be voted for.
He further urged participants to at the end of the workshop interrogate issues such as the next step after the training.
The IPC boss stated, ” The investment of the EU-SDG Nll and the efforts of the IPC in putting together this workshop would only be deemed productive if in the aftermath we are able to identify the impact of your work on the Electoral processes and the 2023 elections in visible and significant ways.”
In her remarks, Comrade Ladi Bala, President, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) appreciated the efforts of IPC in building the capacity of female Journalists and the EU for bringing effective development partnerships to Nigeria.
She noted that the media is an integral part of society and with strategic roles to play in the electoral process and hoped that the training will help expose Journalists to the dynamics of the electoral process as well as strengthen their skills in churning out balanced and objective reports during the elections.
The NAWOJ President stated, “The long walk of commitment and the concerted efforts we all made together have yielded results. Let us put our minds to this training and join all other well meaning people as agents of change in promoting good governance, to see a paradigm shift in the Electoral process and Governance in Nigeria. ”
Facilitators at the training, included Mrs Moji Makanjuola, CEO, International Society of Media in Public Health, David Ajikobi, Nigeria Editor, Africa Check and Taiwo Obe, Founder, Journalism Clinic.
They took participants through an intensive training on Fact-Checking, how to fact check political claims, and various media and online tools to be deployed in accurate fact checking, Electoral Processes and the 2023 Elections, according priority on women and other underrepresented, Reporting in the Public Interest , Conflict Sensitivity and Safety in Election Reporting and Conceptual Clarifications in Electoral Processes, among others.
The Project is targeted at building the capacity of 140 female journalists across the nation on election reporting, and participants will be required to pitch stories around the elections and get editorial mentorship and assistance while doing so.