Funmi Ogundare
For three days, 21 women journalists from various media houses converged on the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), Ikeja, Lagos, for the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) impact award digital and fact-checking training, aimed at helping them to bridge the digital divide and gain fact-checking skills to avoid misinformation and disinformation.
It was organised by an alumna of the IVLP Edward Murrow Programme for journalists, Kofoworola Belo-Osagie.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Belo-Osagie noted that aside helping women journalists in various career stages, the choice for their selection as beneficiaries of the training, was informed by the discrimination that they face in the newsroom.
“In many media houses in Nigeria, few women occupy positions in senior management,” she said, adding that a limit was applied to the number of participants to ensure adequate support and ample benefit from the hands-on training.
The convener added that the participants were nominated by the National Association of Women Journalist (NAWOJ), various media houses, Education Writers Association of Nigeria, Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), among others.
“By gaining specialised skills that help bridge the digital gap, the journalists will expand the army of professionals in the media, news, information space.
“They will also better fight fake news and produce much needed quality content that support societal development,”Belo-Osagie stated.
In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, (WSCIJ), Mrs. Motunrayo Alaka, urged the participants to be responsible by taking up leadership roles wherever they find themselves.
She told the participants that WSCIJ has a lot of grants and opportunities that they can benefit from.
The CEO of Women in Technology (W-TECH), Mrs. Oreoluwa Lesi, also infomed the participants about opportunities available for women in information technology, while applauding Belo-Osagie for putting the training together.
She urged the participants to take what they have learnt to other women in their various places of work.
The training focused on mobile journalism, video production/social media, using Google tools, designing fliers, infographs, simple graphics with Canva, podcasting, as well as writing a fact-check report, among others.
