Daily Trust Foundation Trains 700 Journalists Overseas
...As It Holds 3-Day Workshop For Journalists In South South
The Daily Trust Foundation has trained 700 Nigerian journalists overseas to broaden their knowledge of emerging areas of media and journalism.
This was disclosed by a board member of the Daily Trust Foundation and former Rector at the Kaduna State Polytechnic, Dr. Nuru Yakubu, at the opening of a three-day workshop on broadcast investigation for South-South Journalists held at the Watbridge Hotel and Suites in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Wednesday, April 5, 2024.
Speaking on behalf of the Chairman of the Daily Trust Foundation, Malam Bilya Bala, and other board members, Dr. Nuru Yakubu said the Foundation is passionate about driving valuable contributions among journalists across the country through training them in workshops.
“Since 2017, the Daily Trust Foundation has actively been involved in training journalists in emerging areas of media and journalism, especially the genre called investigative reporting.
“With support from MacArthur Foundation, Daily Trust Foundation has trained over 700 journalists across Nigeria.”
He noted that the non-profit organisation is also engaged in several humanitarian schemes, which involve “scholarships for female medical and nursing students; boreholes for communities that lack water; capacity building for women; support for orphanages; assistance to inmates in correctional centres by paying fines for those who have no prison terms to serve; remodelling of Primary Healthcare Clinic; and, of course, capacity building for journalists.”
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Regarding the three-day workshop on broadcast investigation for South-South Journalists, the board member said the event aims to enhance journalists with new skills, enabling them to carry out their ethical duties of holding the government accountable to the people.
“We conduct these workshops because we believe that journalists must learn new skills if they are to carry out the onerous responsibility the Constitution heaps upon them.
“Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution states clearly that journalists must hold the government accountable to the people. An ignorant reporter or editor cannot hold the government accountable. Journalists must be good at their game if they must rightly carry out their responsibilities,” he said
In addition, Yakubu hinted that journalists are also trained in broadcast investigation because radio, television and live streams on social media platforms travel further than print publications do.
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Information, Hon. Ini Ememobong, applauded the Daily Trust Foundation for their commitment to investing in the future of media practitioners across the 36 states in the country. He, however, admonished the participants to use the training to domesticate issues for the benefit of their states.
The three-day training, which started on Wednesday, April 5 and ended on Friday, April 7, 2024, had facilitators such as Mr Fidelis Mbah, an investigative Journalist in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Aljazeera and China Global Television Network (CGTN); Mr Ibanga Isine, an investigative reporter and winner of the CNN and Wole Soyinka Awards for investigative journalism; Dr. Theophilus Abba, Programme Director, Daily Trust Foundation, and Oto-Abasi Tom, Executive Director of Tito Television Studios.
Daily Trust Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Media Trust Group, owners of Daily Trust, Trust TV, Digital Trust, Trust Radio, Aminiya, and other specialised publications.
