President of Media Career Services, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin has urged journalists to regularly update their skills and be more professional in the discharge of their duties.
He made the call at the February meeting of the Lagos Council of the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) held on February 4.
According to him, journalists need to be more acquitted with use of the new media as the traditional media experience is no longer sufficient for present day practice.
“We must find a way to get the skills needed to continue to be relevant in the industry. What many of us consider to be years of experience in the industry need to be complemented with knowledge of new media.
“For now many journalists are living in denial that knowledge of social media is not necessary for their career development, but the truth is that we must become professionally active on the various platforms,” he said.
Otufodunrin said journalists should have functional emails and social media accounts to promote their personal brand through what they publish on the platforms.
He said journalists should know what they are not good at and take necessary steps to improve on them.
He also advised that the running of the association should be in conformity with the standard required of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) to be able to attract local and international donor agencies.
