•Reporters learn new skills at Abuja workshop
From Olabisi Olaleye and Ali Abare, Abuja
In most cases, writers are often displeased with their last published works. There is always the feeling that they could have done the story differently and in a better way.
This was the exact feeling that enveloped over 40 journalists from various media across the country recently. The journalists went through an intensive two-day workshop on Data and Facts Checking Journalism organised by the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) in collaboration with Africa Check. The workshop took place in Abuja.
Some participants informed at the event that if they had diligently sourced data to back up most of their past stories and embellished them with digital tools, they would have become award-winning stories.
The organisers informed the participants that the event was for working journalists who are interested in the process and methodology for accurate fact checking in media practice.
PTCIJ Programme Director, Joshua Olufemi, explained that data journalism is solving problems using infographics and statistics with the traditional news gathering skills with a vast range of digital information available.
“Every digital journalist should leverage on Microsoft Excel and go the extra mile to use the Google search engine. And journalists should always be factual while filing their reports. It should always be who adds additional information and not who breaks the story first.
One of the facilitators, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, during the training, explained that media or journalists who are not in the data game would not be masters of their game.
“We need to renew our engagement with sources and look at what is legitimate and illegitimate during accountability. And one is only right in journalism to the extent where the sources are right. Good journalism helps provide citizen with information they need to make informed decisions about their choices, about being free; and about effectively self-governing in one of the courses.
Olorunyomi, who is the founder of Premium Times, further explained that things and times were fast changing in the digital age, owing to the challenges of citizen journalism, where everyone is now a journalist, and the issue of trying to digitally break a great story first.
Another facilitator, Fareeda Abdulkarim, who explained how to write for the new media, said nothing was the same anymore because media houses now compete with one another fiercely over contents and videos.
She cautioned that new media writing was different from traditional media, noting that it is a platform where digital natives do things differently with language, style, data driven tools and leveraging on competitors tools to their advantage.