By Janet Samuel
In a bid to improve the investigative capacity of journalist, Safer Media Initiative(SMI) has urged Journalist to uncover the untold stories within the grassroots level
The Executive Director/CEO of SMI, Peter Iorter, gave the advice in a 2 day capacity building workshop on investigative journalism organized by SMI in collaboration with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and the MacArthur Foundation in Abuja.
Mr Iorter said the Training is an interventions within the SMI’s mandate to strengthening journalism presence at the grassroots level.
The CEO noted that according to report from the findings of SMI, 69.7 percent of communities are not satisfied with media coverage within their areas
He added that the need for Journalists to cover issues in various communities is also one of the reasons for the capacity building.
According to him, the major aim of the training is to equip participants to do impactful investigative stories to assist the vulnerable in the societies.
The guest speaker, Professor Abiodun Adeniyi of the department of Mass Communication, Baze University, Abuja, also advised Journalists to remain safe in the course of delivering their mandates within those communities with the mindset of grassroots accountability
He noted that the inverted pyramid needs to be reinverted to look into issues that are considered less important but causing great havoc within the communities
The presenter, Editor and Head of the Investigations and Data Desk, Premium Times, Taiwo Adebayo, while delivering his lectures said journalist should look into holding the powerful accountable and exposing wrong doings as they collect, process and disseminate information.
He urged Journalists to be intentional in their reportage and always verify claims by digging deeper to aske the questions of how and why it happened to uncover the truth and publish facts
Mr. Adebayo encouraged journalists to give the public informations needed to make inform decision even as investigative journalism is not about what they want but what they can prove.
The 2 day workshop/training was an opportunity for the selection of Journalists to pitch a story for further investigation on issues around the communities.
Source: Radio Kogi
