Participants at the IVLP Impact Award Digital Skills and Fact-Checking Training held in Lagos
An alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP), Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, has criticised the practice of having “very few female journalists occupying senior managerial positions in media organisations.”
Ms Belo-Osagie, an official of The Conversation Africa, a research-focused media organisation, spoke while addressing 20 female journalists who recently participated in a three-day digital training in Lagos.
The training, which was facilitated courtesy IVLP Impact Award project, was held at the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies, (CIAPS).
Ms Belo-Osagie, the organiser of the training, said the choice of women as beneficiaries of the training was informed by the perceived discrimination that women journalists face in the newsroom.
She said; “In many media houses in Nigeria, few women occupy senior management positions.
“By gaining specialised skills that help bridge the digital gap, participants will expand the army of professionals in the media, news and information space.
“They will also better fight fake news and produce much-needed quality content that supports societal development.”
She said during her time at the IVLP, she was exposed to the challenges of disinformation and saw the need for journalists to be equipped with relevant skills to check fake news.
She added; “The IVLP impact award provides an opportunity to share this knowledge on a practical level with practising women journalists whose roles include news and investigative reporting, producing programmes for radio, television and reaching online audiences across various platforms.
“The training aims to help 20 women journalists in various career stages bridge the digital divide and gain fact-checking skills to check misinformation and disinformation. A limit was applied to the number of participants to ensure adequate support and ample benefit from the hands-on training.”
She noted that some participants were nominated by the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), various media houses, Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN), and Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), among others.
The training focused on mobile journalism, digital skills, video production, social media, podcasting, and fact-checking.
On her part, the CEO of Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, WCIJ, Motunrayo Alaka, urged the participants to be responsible by taking up leadership roles wherever they find themselves.
Mrs Alaka told the participants that WSCIJ has a lot of grants and opportunities that they can benefit from.
Also speaking, the CEO of Women in Technology, W-TECH, Oreoluwa Lesi, told the participants about opportunities available for women in information technology.
Mrs Lesi applauded Ms Belo-Osagie for putting the training together and called on the participants to take what they have learnt to other women in their various places of work.
Facilitators at the training also included Media Innovator and Tech Trainer, Kenneth Kiunga, who trained on Google tools for journalists and fact-checking images and videos.
Titilope Fadare of PREMIUM TIMES trained the participants on Mobile Journalism.
Others are Usifo Omozokpae of The Conversation Africa who trained the participants on how to use social media for journalistic reports and analysis.
Ayomide Omoniyi and Tarabina Lesley of W-TECH trained the participants on simple video editing and designing fliers, infographics and simple graphics using mobile applications, while Oluseyi Awojulugbe of Africa Check trained the participants on how to write a fact-check report.
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All content is Copyrighted © 2022 The Premium Times, Nigeria