Women Radio Centre, MacArthur Foundation train 20 female journalists across Nigeria
By Mariya Shuaibu Suleiman
Women Radio Centre (WRC) with support from the MacArthur Foundation has trained 20 female journalists selected across Nigeria on Investigative Reporting.
The training which held at the Women Radio Centre in Arepo, Ogun State, held for three consecutive days from Monday to Wednesday.
According to the Managing Director of the Centre, Mrs. Toun Okewale Sonaiya, this marks the third year they have been training young female journalists from across Nigeria on ‘Female Investigative Reporting from the Woman Angle’.
She added that the training aimed to equipped young female journalists with the right knowledge, skills and tools to carry out indepth stories in their various communities.
“The Centre selected and equipped 20 female journalists every year with the skills to carry out indepth stories from the women angle and paired them with qualified coaches to guide in under taking their projects”.
The supervising lead/mentor of the program, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, encouraged the selected participants to work hard and come up with compelling and impactful stories.
Oloronmi stated that, the media needs more women in the investigative reporting field.
“The media needs more women in the field that will understand and report their fellow women issues”.
This participants undergone different sessions on how to go about investigative reporting, fact-checking, data journalism, pitching to mention a few by media experts in the media in the field, including Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, the Publisher of Premium Times, Dr Suleiman Yar’adua, the Director of BUK TV and Radio and a lecturer at Bayero University Kano, Mr. Idris Mohammed, the Managing Editor of Premium Times, Mrs. Bisola Jibola from Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) among others.
Ramatu, a Journalist and one of the 2023 Female Invesgative Reporting fellows that conducted an outstanding investigative report and a documentary of the ‘5000 Thousand Naira illegal abortion in Jos’, charged the new fellows to work hard and come up with impactful stories that not just uncovers the truth but also impact the lives of women and change the narratives.
Ramatu also shared her investigative reporting journey with the participants during her experience-sharing presentation.
The Journalist also shared some factors to be putting into cognizance in carrying out investigative reporting.
Some of the participants includes Angel Nduka from Abia State and Jennifer Okonkwo expressed their gratitudes to the Women Radio Centre and the MacArthur Foundation for giving the opportunity to be part of the 2024 selected fellows.
However, this year’s participants were paired with Mr. Amzat Ajibola and Pinado Adama Waba to serve as their coaches.
The Women Radio Centre in collaboration with Bayero University Kano also issued Certificates of Participation to the fellows.
