By Elizabeth Ikegima
In a one-day intensive virtual training organized by the African Foundation for Young Media Professionals, a Non-governmental Organization, experts in the field of journalism have exposed attendees to secrets of News, Feature, and Op-ed writing, emphasizing greatly, professionalism in Journalism.
The program, titled ‘News, Features, and Op-ed writing ‘, which was held on Thursday, 4th June 2022, had in attendance, young campus Journalists from different campuses in Nigeria, and media practitioners from within and outside the country.
In an interview by ACJ UNIBEN, Abraham Ike, who was one of the participants said, “The webinar was insightful and wonderful, it helped me to have a better understanding of the media landscape and what makes news. It helped me to know what makes a great story. I also learnt about News Write Verb Formula.“
Mr. Oluseyi Soremekun of the United Nations Information Centre, Abuja, in his lecture as the first speaker, centred his presentation on Feature Writing and News Writing, explaining how it differs from the former. He also provided tips on producing great Features. Here, he outlined seven things that make a great Feature. He said that in writing a great feature, one needs to find a topic, plan, engage real people, get facts, and statistics; not conjectures, get experts’ views and then view the big picture. All these will spice up your work and make it professional, he explained.
He concluded his session by introducing ‘Sustainable Journalism’. He made participants understand that ‘Sustainable Development’ is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability stands on these three pillars; environmental, economic, and social. These three pillars cannot be isolated as they are interlinked, he explained.
“The training was very impactful. I got to know about sustainable journalism and how it aids the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Deborah Ogunmola, a participant at the training.
Mrs Chioma Ezenwafor, the head of Wazobia FM Port Harcourt, disclosed to students what she calls; ‘G.F.W.S.U.V.E’. This acronym, she emphasised, is the 7 things one should do to master news writing. She expatiated, making participants understand that as Journalist that will make headway in their career, they must;
Gather information, Find their angle, ‘Write’ about the information, ‘Structure’ the information, ‘Use quotes,’ ‘Verify’ Sources, and finally go ahead to ‘Edit,’ after crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.
In her concluding note, she urged participants to always think simple, write simple and start with the strongest form, assuring them of getting the best when these 7 principles are applied in their news write-ups.
Another participant, Helen Okechukwu shared with ACJ UNIBEN part of what she learned during the training. Helen said “The training was a life-changing experience because it exposed me to the things I didn’t know even though I am a student of Communication.
It made me know that for a potential journalist to be called or to be a journalist, your foundation needs to be well structured, from sourcing your information to transcribing your findings after getting your desired pieces of information. You need to have various skills which will aid or serve as a watchdog for you as a journalist. Any report you need to put into your work needs to be factual which requires one to think deeply, observe and do more research work, avoiding being biased in our writing. Certainly, as a potential journalist, you will be grieved with fear but overcome your fears. You are writing to give voice to the voiceless that is why you need to stretch beyond your limit. Meanwhile, no news story is worthy of your life that’s why you need to be diplomatic while making your findings.”
Dr Waweru, a Journalist and lecturer from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, urged participants to be professional in their approach as journalists, even as they try to keep things simple, short, and get collaboration.
Lois Ugbede as the final speaker took participants in a special session by introducing to them, the fundamentals of ‘exclusive reporting. Madam Lois identified ‘exclusive reports’ as ‘scoops’. She also explained how sources could be protected, stating further that not every source should be protected to give credibility to a report.
“The training program by AFYMP was a huge success. In my perspective, it is something commendable because I get to learn a lot. I got exposed in the few minutes that each speaker spoke. In two hours I learned a lot of things that would have taken a long time in a normal curriculum. On this aspect of improvement, the only serious problem we encountered was network issues, aside that everything was perfectly okay, even more than expected,” Ese Richard, another participant said.
In the closing remark, the Director of AFYMP, Mr Yinka Olaito expressed his gratitude to the participants and the facilitators as well, thanking them for making out time to attend the virtual training. He advised participants to engage the information they have acquired and never to relent in their quest for excellence. Participants, in turn also expressed gratitude to AFYMP for hosting them in such very informative sessions.
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