The Africa Centre for Development Journalism (ACDJ) on November 6 and 7, 2023, commenced its 2023 Inequalities Reporting Fellowship with a training workshop for the 12 journalists from print, broadcast and online media who were selected from among those who applied for the fellowship.
The entire fellowship entails the two-day training, mentorship and implementation of a special fellowship report on a range of inequality themes having received a reporting grant from the ACDJ.
The training provided the participating journalists with relevant skills and knowledge in various topics taught by an expert faculty that included Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA); Rita Okonoboh, former News Editor, TheCable and lecturer at the University of Ibadan; Dayo Aiyetan, Executive Director, International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR); Lekan Otufodunrin, Executive Director, Media Career Services; and Rotimi Sankore, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief, ACDJ.
The 12 journalists were selected after a careful review of 374 applicants who responded from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to a public call for applications. The selected journalists are from: Arise News, Nigerian Tribune, Daily Trust Newspaper, The Guardian Newspaper, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) – Radio One, The Eagleonline, ThisDay Newspaper, Forbes Africa, Ripples Nigeria, Punch Newspaper, Vanguard Newspaper, and Voice of Nigeria.
The Inequalities Reporting Fellowship is an activity under ACDJ’s Sub-national Development Data Accountability Reporting Project focused on inequality, underdevelopment, policy and governance. It will build the capacity of journalists to report on inequalities at sub-national levels.
The Fellowship commenced on the heels of the 2023 ACDJ World Development Information Day Lecture held on October 31 during which the keynote speaker, the UN Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, stated that “Storytelling is the media’s strength. By telling the stories behind the statistics, you can help mobilize support for solutions to development challenges, which are ultimately the challenges citizens have to overcome to live more fulfilling and dignified lives.”
He also underlined that “The Nigerian public must be well-informed about the objectives of the 2030 Global Goals Agenda, the role of the Federal and State Governments in achieving the goals, the benefits of pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the Nigerian people, the struggles at the halfway point, and the outcomes of the recent Un Global SDG Summit.” The Inequalities Reporting Fellowship is part of the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusion and Accountability (CMEDIA) Project, a multi-level intervention that supports media independence, improved transparency, accountability, and good governance in state and local governments with more public awareness on the need for accountability, and amplified marginalised voices. It is supported by the MacArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ)
