Executive Director of AFYMP
The Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals (AFYMP), has conducted a two-day intensive workshop for journalists from various newsrooms across Nigeria for its 2023 media entrepreneurship fellowship, focusing on ‘idea, creativity, and innovation for media industry success’.
The workshop which took place in Abuja on July 17, 2023, was aimed at empowering next-generation, early-career journalists, who are more adaptable to the rapidly changing media landscape in Africa.
Speaking during the training, Executive Director of AFYMP, Mr. Yinka Olaito, said, “We have seen the importance of money within the media landscape, so people need to know exactly what they need to do. Media viability and sustainability are crucial aspects for the success and impact of any media organization because there’s no business without money.”
Yinka said the essence of the media entrepreneurship training was to help participants build the necessary media business skills, and develop their capacity to become a better and a formidable media organization.
The editor-in-chief of Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, represented by Idris Akinbajo, at his training encouraged participants to uphold the professional ethics of journalism and remain competent in order to overcome the challenges of content generation, distribution, and sustainability.
Another facilitator, Aro Leonard, who made a presentation titled ‘Content Strategy, Revenue Generation, and the Business of News’, urged participants to focus on content-led marketing to generate income. A former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, took the participants on news gathering, ethics, and professionalism.
On his part, Managing Director of Dataphyte, Mr. Joshua Olufemi, represented by Seyi Olufemi, encouraged participants to combat fake news by using data as he made a presentation titled ‘Data Utilization and Fact Checking’.
One of the participants, Mr. Jairus Awo, a freelance journalist, and founder of the MiddleBelt reporters described the fellowship as a shift. Jairus said: “I went into media entrepreneurship with some basic knowledge, but this particular fellowship has helped me a lot. It made me overhaul my vision because I discovered that what I was doing before, there were some things I could have done if I had this knowledge. Being part of the AFYMP fellowship, especially the media entrepreneurship fellowship, is really a shift. This particular fellowship has helped me a lot.”
The training was carried out under 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. The three-year project is being implemented with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and is funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
