Nigerian media professionals have been advised to leverage the data from their news stories in innovative ways by transforming story data into guidebooks, archival material, issue analyses, position papers, recommendations, puzzles, questions and answers, and even inspiration for full-length books.
The founder of The Journalism Clinic, Mr Taiwo Obe, speaking recently at a seminar organised by Polaris Bank Limited for journalists, said, “The purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.”
He encouraged them to explore and utilize a variety of free digital applications available on the Google Play Store, noting that by embracing these tools, journalists can go beyond traditional text-based reporting and incorporate audio, video, and interactive graphics to tell more compelling stories.
Mr Obe also highlighted the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in Nigerian newsrooms, stressing that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being used for tasks such as copy editing, content illustration, content strategy, and advertising targeting, which opens new avenues for efficiency and creativity in journalism.
According to him, journalism has evolved, especially with the emergence of mobile journalism (Mojo), which allows practitioners to capture, produce, and share news content in real-time.
Another speaker, Mr Meanwhile, Mr. Abayomi Adisa, a senior journalist with the BBC, urged participants to harness the magic of making their audiences stop, engage, and share their posts.
He outlined key strategies for crafting effective posts and teasers, ensuring that the content is personal, relevant to the audience, engaging, shareable, and concise.
Mr Adisa acknowledged that social media is an environment characterized by distraction and noise, so content must be both influential and personally resonant to capture attention.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Head of Brand Management and Corporate Communications at Polaris Bank, Mr Rasheed Bolarinwa, highlighted the bank’s longstanding tradition in media education, pointing out that the company has been investing in such initiatives for the past 12 years and confidently stated that it had been in the vanguard in digital capacity building for the Nigerian media.
In her closing remarks, the Group Head of Customer Experience and Value Management at Polaris Bank, Mrs Bukola Oluyadi, emphasized the bank’s commitment to supporting the media industry, disclosed that the lender was dedicated to sustaining this initiative annually.
Business Post reports that hybrid capacity-building seminar was attended by about 500 journalists from Nigeria and outside. The programme was themed Empowering Journalists in the Digital Age: Storytelling, Tools and Transformation, and it was to equip media professionals with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive in today’s rapidly changing journalism landscape.