By Blessing Ogwara
Journalists have been tasked to delve into reportage that will result in societal development and solutions to problems.
This was part of discussions at a Mastermind Media Pro workshop organised by multi-award-winning journalist and author of ‘Distortion’, Lady Ejiro Umukoro, and put together by LightRay Media at the Aquire Centre in Effurun, Uvwie council area of Delta state.
Some issues discussed at the workshop included identifying the gaps in the media, why they exist, what can be done to address them and ways practitioners can collaborate to boost the profession and ensure its pride of place as the fourth estate of the realm.
The brainstorming session saw responses to posers, as well as the exchange of ideas among about 20 journalists drawn from Warri, Sapele and Ughelli areas of the state.
They identified insecurity, inadequate training, poor remuneration and welfare package, as well as disrespect and intimidation of practitioners, as challenges to practising journalism in Nigeria.
Speaking on the steps journalists can take to fill the gaps, a female journalist, Omamuzo Efidhere, opined that colleagues can team up to form questionnaires when one of them is opportune to interview a notable figure.
“That way, a wider scope of issues may be addressed and perhaps, for the betterment of the society,” she said.
Others suggested collaboration among colleagues, especially in the sharing of reports, honesty and brotherliness.
The organisers of the workshop LightRay Media explained that it was a give-back initiative in commemoration of the trainer and mentor’s contribution to the media and journalism space.
Ejiro Umukoro urged journalists across Delta state to pursue solutions and developmental journalism so as to carve a niche for themselves in the media world.
She also encouraged newsmen to grasp opportunities to train and self-develop in order to boost their reporting skills.
