Mastery of digital skills is necessary to help student journalists and other professionals meet up with the growing trends in their profession.
The Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Walter Ihejirika stated this at a training by Step-Up for Women In Journalism Initiative, (SWIJ), in partnership with the institution on digital skills, techniques for Investigative reporting and and Pitching.
The training was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ ) and funded by the Gates Foundation.
In his opening remarks, Professor Ihejirika described the training as timely, noting that, the media industry is evolving daily.
“After the classroom, the students can integrate very well into the newsroom and when we talk about the newsroom, we talk about all including the electronic, print and even the new media,” he said.
Being an entrepreneurial University, the Dean said the school is not only interested in certificates for the students, but also interested in ensuring that they convert the certificates to tangible realities that will make them earn a living, feed themselves and family, and more importantly, help to develop our country.
“We are not only focusing on theoretical and class room learning, we are also interested on the field work , this is a synergy between the ‘gown and the town’ ,the gown is University, while the town are those professionals who are already in the field and have immersed in the nitty gritty of media work, so it is a good marriage”.
The Dean thanked the organisers for choosing the University to implement the project and urged the selected students to make good use of the opportunity which he noted may open up more future opportunities for them in becoming core professionals media personnel.
He commended SWIJ for its efforts on the initiative aimed at helping students in the Faculty to become more equipped and well positioned to integrate into the newsroom after the classroom trainings.
He also thanked the University’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Owunari Georgewill and the management and council for approving the collaboration with SWIJ to help students who are in the media and communication Faculty to be empowered with relevant skills.
The Head of Department, Journalism and Media Studies, Professor Christie Omego, lauded the initiative and charged the students to utilize the lessons learnt to improve their skills with a resonated passion for journalism, assuring that they will excel in the industry if the remain focused and steadfast.
Team lead of SWIJ, Ann Godwin, said the training which is supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism under its Report Women Newsroom Engagement Champion Building project is in line with their commitment to building next generation of journalists.
She said it’s important for future journalists to acquire necessary skills, especially tech skills considering the evolving nature of the media landscape to enable them stay atop and have successful career.
According to her, many Nigerian journalists are struggling to meet up with the growing demands in the industry because in the past, tech skills and values were not given prime attention and stressed the need for professionals to scale up digital skills .
During the training, Paul Chimodo, spoke on Embracing Digital Journalism: The Future of News and Information , Techniques on Investigative Journalism, Collaboration was addressed by, Godwin while Udoma Mkpo spoke on News Development, Mapping, Publishing and Pitching.
The students at the end of the workshop shared lessons learnt and thanked SWIJ and the sponsors.
The SWIJ delegation included the Secretary Annie Dick, Dr Ijeoma Tubosia, Dr Ngozi Anosike , Dorris Morrison, Daba Benibo and Gift Inmo
