The Head of Newsroom at the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Yekeen Akinwale, has urged Journalists and media practitioners to begin to effectively use digital tools for newsgathering.
He stated this during an online conference organized by the Digital Literacy Advocacy Club and the Centre for Information Technology and Development.
According to him, with the current trend in the media, there is a shift in the manner of reportage.
“We now have a mixture of old and new journalists in the newsroom. The challenge this is posing to us now is that of respect for ethics and professionalism. For instance, many persons easily think because they have Social media accounts they are journalists, but that is not the case” he noted
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He, however, said despite this challenge posed by digitalization, it has become important for journalists to leverage on platforms provided by social media, websites and other digital tools for newsgathering.
“Gone are the days when you will say there is no news for a day, you can visit websites of relevant agencies and get news on the go now. You can also get news by following relevant handles on Twitter for instance” Yekeen noted.
While acknowledging the problem of authenticating news sourced from social media, he emphasized that a 21st-century journalist must be digitally inclined.
“It’s no longer only about writing. You should know about video-editing even as a writer, should know about data-analysis and other digital skills because journalism has changed from what it used to be,” he stated.
Mr Yekeen also said the need to train Journalists on media ethics has also become very important especially with the challenges posed by new media.
Earlier during the event, the representative of the Centre for Information Technology and Development, Ali Sabo, who is the Communications and Campaign Officer of the organization, said the need to fight Fake news has become very important and training journalists on effective utilization of Digital tools should be a major priority in the current media age.
Mr Sabo said the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) will continue to champion the course for a better-informed media society especially with proper use of Digital tools.
The Digital Literacy Advocacy Club is an initiative of TechMirror Magazine aimed at ensuring development in the African continent through Digital Literacy.
The Club organizes sensitization, advocacies, trainings and outreaches.
