Deputy Director, Digital Media at Voice of Nigeria (VON) who bagged his PhD in Communication and Media Studies from Babcock University,Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State, Dr Qasim Akinreti shares his journey to obtaining his doctorate and other career and academic issues.
Why did you decide to get the highest academic qualification, PhD, as a practising journalist?
I did a Ph.D programme in Journalism to actualise the term “Town to the Gown”. Contributing my immense professional experience to the classroom which can better be appreciated as a prerequisite requirement for teaching in the Nigerian University.
To fulfil a lifelong ambition to become an academic up to a professorial level in the media industry specifically in Broadcasting.
To set a standard for my children to aim higher in their academic and professional pursuits.
How were you able to combine working and studying for the course?
I was able to combine work and studies through formal requests for study leave with pay after 10 years in the public service in line with the public service rules. I know that it will be very tough to combine the two in the private media sector.
What advice do you have for journalists who want to acquire similar qualifications?
My advice is to show and demonstrate determination and plan very well due to the cost implications. It took me 13 years intervals from dust Degree to Masters and Ph D. I had to obtain a loan from the office Cooperative and a bank. I hope to complete the repayments by the end of this year.
What impact will having a PhD have on your practice and overall career development?
It brought widened knowledge in media research and respect from professional, and academic colleagues as well as family members. I am the first PhD graduate in my family for three generations. My first daughter is a Ph D student in Marketing Communications at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. I have been a source of encouragement to my colleagues in the Voice of Nigeria too. Four Reporters and producers took after me. Three have graduated. One of them got immediate employment in the UK and relocated with her family.
In Voice of Nigeria, there are four PhD holders and three more set to graduate any moment from now.
How can more journalists having a PhD enhance the town-and-gown relationship between the newsroom and the classroom?
We need more professionals with PhD to teach in Journalism and Mass Communication departments across the country. The combination of practice and academics is awesome and more beneficial to the media industry in Nigeria. It will also deepen research and development initiatives.
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