Award-winning Indian journalist, Teresa Rehman and Amaka Okoye, a journalist with Arise News Nigeria, have shared insights on how journalists can report conflicts.
The duo spoke at a webinar tagged Women in Journalism: Insights from India and Nigeria, which was held on October 28 and organized by the ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum. The webinar was moderated by Paul Adepoju, ICFJ community manager.
Rehman also an author based in northeast India has worked for years to bring the region’s different facets, diversity and distinct ethos to mainstream media, while Okoye’s forte is conflict and crisis reporting with much of her coverage focusing on terrorism, banditry and abductions in northern Nigeria.
They stressed the need to prioritize mental welfare, due to gory events journalists got exposed to on the field and the risks involved.
Sharing her experience, Okoye revealed how she escaped death from members of the Boko Haram terrorist group in the northern region of Nigeria.
“We (my camera guy, the fixer and I) escaped an attack by Boko Haram terrorists in April on our way to Chibok. We had to run into another village to hide for 2 hours. 40 persons were killed including women and children in that attack,” she said.
“We were caught in a crossfire in Jangebe, Zamfara State when the Government Girls Secondary School students abducted by bandits were released. There are many others, but these two are etched in my memory.”
Okoye disclosed that she spends about Five Hundred Thousand Naira per annum on psychotherapy, which according to her were self-funded.
She urged government and conflict reporting media organizations to provide mental health care packages for journalists and give them the liberty to take a break from work and ‘breathe’.
On potential risk, Okoye said she does not think of danger when embarking on assignments, noting that they are enormous to cripple her.
“The idea is to get the work done”
Rehman in her contribution emphasized the usage of data in reporting conflicts and embracing digital conversations.
She also commented on the need for journalists to guard their mental health, which according to her inspired her to write a book titled: “Bulletproof”.
Rehman, also the editor of The Thumb Print, an e-zine, noted that a person can only be a good or bad journalist’. She said there was the need to take precautions, especially as a female in the industry.
Speaking on how conflict reporters cope on the job, Rehman said she has become a ‘Bullet-Proof’ due to the number of risks she gets exposed to.
She said her experience inspired the publication of her book “BULLET PROOF”, which is aimed at encouraging the Government /Media Organizations to make bulletproof provisions for conflict reporters.
