The Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals (AFYMP), a media skills/career development organisation trained about 50 campus journalists and mass communication students from South-South and South-East regions on a fully funded media workshop, strongly supported by MacArthur Foundation and Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).

The training which started on Monday, 27th June, 2022 and extended to Tuesday, 5th July, 2022 cut across various program categories which included; Media Entrepreneurship, Campus Journalism, Women in Journalism and Disability and Social Inclusion; with the divisions holding for two days each at LeadWort Hotel, Port Harcourt.

In its Women in Journalism category, the Executive Director of AFYMP, Mr Yinka Olaito said, “Those who ignore change will become victims”. He took the girls on a ride in history telling them how women like Christiane Amanpour,  Anderson Cooper, Bimbo Oloyede, and Ann Godwin, to mention a few, have pushed boundaries to become voices to be reckoned with in the media industry.

“We are interested in game-changers. People who can change the narrative. Young people who are passionate, not just passionate but committed to the media course. Are you the one AFYMP is looking for?” He said.

Media Practitioners from around Rivers state were also invited to educate the girl participants on the various forms of gender-based violence, digital and cybercrimes against women, how to write good stories of change, becoming a C-suite woman in the media, pushing the boundaries, collaborating with men, gender equity in the media and lots more.

George Ndubuisi Ukeagbu, the Head of News Department, Wave 91.7 FM, Port Harcourt while speaking at the event mentioned the various types of cybercrime which include; cyberbullying, cyberstalking, identity theft, doxing, etc. Before leaving the podium, he gave the girls a mandate to become advocates of digital rights.

Also speaking at the workshop, the current winner of the Best Leadership Award of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) – Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP), a correspondent of “The Guardian Newspapers”, Ann Godwin spoke on pushing boundaries, collaborating with men and gender equity in the media. She told the girls that being passionate about journalism, developing the I “can do” spirit, and refusing to be complacent will help them in pushing boundaries in the field of journalism.

Other media practitioners who coached the girls were the chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, Rivers State, Madame Susan Serekara-Nwikhana; Dr (phd) Hannah Innocent Aman; and Mrs Chioma Ezenwafor. Their different sessions were geared towards making the girls C-suite women whose voices will be of great input in media and the world at large.

At the end of the workshop, Mr Yinka Olaito urged the girls to go out into the world and be impactful. Displaying their joy at the end of the 2022 AFYMP workshop on Women in Journalism, the participants took lots of pictures with both directors and trainers who were available, as they were awarded certificates of participation.

Source: ACJ UNIBEN