As the 2019 general election in Nigeria approaches, the country’s army of Online Publishers and Bloggers have been admonished to abide by the tenets guiding the practice of Journalism.
This admonision was handed out to the online practitioners by resource persons on the first day of a two-day workshop organised by the International Press Center (IPC) through the European Union support (EU) under Component 4b: Support to the Media of the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) project.
The well attended workshop, being held at the prestigious Continental Suites, Ibara, Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State is being attended by 30 selected online publishers and bloggers from Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Lagos and the host state.
In his welcome address, the IPC’s Director, Mr Lanre Arogundade said entries to qualify for being at the workshop were received from over 200 bloggers and Publishers before only 30 were carefully selected.
He revealed that the workshop was put together to underscore the importance of online publishers and bloggers in Nigeria adding that “online publishing now occupies a very important space in journalism.
“We are mindful of the fact that practitioners need to be trained and retrained especially now that the 2019 general elections in Nigeria are here.
“It is also our hope that after this workshop, the narrative on the use of social media to spread hate speeches in the country will change. We are equally hopeful that there will be improved professionalism after this training.”
In his welcome address, Comrade Wole Shokunbi, the Chairman of Ogun State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists commended IPC and others who collaborated to host the workshop.
His words “Gentlemen, please permit me to appeal to all participants here today to abide by the tenets of journalism. It is becoming very worrisome to NUJ that most online stories we read are not factual.
“I therefore urge all participants to use the experience gained here to improve on what you do. Take note of the knowledge you will gain from the resource persons.”
On Day One, four presentations were made by Dr Dan Jibo of the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, Professor Nosa Owens-Ibie, Dean, College of Social and Management Sciences (COSOMAS), Caleb University, Imota, Nigeria and Dr Qasim Akinreti, Assitant News Editor, Voice of Nigeria (VON).
Packaged by Olayinka Agboola
