Multi-media journalist, Rouna J. Meyer has resumed as Manager, Africa Initiative at the Solution Journalism Network.
Her appointment has been widely hailed as well deserved considering her accomplishments in the profession and support for media professionals.
Expectations are high with many organisations and individuals indicating their interests in learning more and adopting Solution journalism in their reporting of many problems that require solutions in the continent.
The initiative according to Meyer is to bring formalised training and practice of Solutions Journalism to more newsrooms and journalists; its end-goal is to sustainably contribute to a reversal of the dominant, problem-focused news agenda, which does not reflect the full reality of Africa.
She explained in a Tweet thread announcing her resumption that Solutions journalism is journalism that is collaborative in its production and publication, rather than combative, adding that it is journalism that is only achieved by evidence-based sourcing, assessment and dissemination of information, to give audiences wholesome news they can use.
“Solutions journalism is journalism that empirically compares standards across/within countries to enable best practices, rather than curates failures for sensationalism,” she stated.
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As Africa Initiative Manager at @soljourno, Meyer said “ I’m simply here to work with you all to create journalism that achieves all of this, whilst prioritising the multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multimedia needs of our diverse African audiences.”
Meyer noted that Solution journalism is not new as proven by the organisation’s implementing partners @nighealthwatch, @ScienceAfrica5 and various media organs across Africa.
“With our partners @nighealthwatch and @ScienceAfrica, we are bringing you the techniques, learning resources and access to a network that has already trained over 18K journalists, supported 300 newsrooms on in-house “SoJo” projects & showcased over 11K SoJo stories, worldwide.
“We are committed to meaningful, sustainable impact: @soljourno will be working with a cohort of 60 newsrooms over three years, and we will do so in three batches. We, therefore, look forward to hearing from you, to co-create wholesome journalism.”
Media organisations or a network of journalists covering health, science/development stories, based in Nigeria and Kenya that want to get tailored training and support in the special art of Solutions Journalism should fill this form to express their interest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1cUsxK0LmW5bcg9x-IeaWFbD3-qNaMmMIe_Z-_lcEx5k/viewform?edit_requested=true
Meyer, 2019 Emmy Nominee is a multi-media journalist with 17 years’ experience in print, radio, wire agency and digital outlets across Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK. She was a pioneer staff of the BBC’s Pidgin service and has worked for Reuters South Africa, Financial Times of London, ThisDay and Next Newspapers in Nigeria.
She holds a first degree in Microbiology from the University of Lagos, a post-graduate degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Wits University in South Africa and Masters in broadcast journalism from the University of Westminster in the UK. She lives in Germany and is currently a PhD scholar, whilst freelancing as a reporter and editor for media outlets in Nigeria, Germany and the Netherlands.
