The president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, has suggested the primary cohort of the inaugural PRNigeria Younger Communication Fellowship to leverage social media to develop into true media and public relations professionals.
Mr Isiguzo spoke on the opening ceremony of the one-month-long capacity-building coaching for ten choose PRNigeria Communication Fellows.
The occasion occurred on the Abuja Company Headquarters of PRNigeria and Financial Confidential, the 2 flagship media publications of Picture Retailers Promotion Restricted, IMPR.
Mr Isiguzo inspired younger communicators to leverage social media of their occupation as a result of the media is now shifting from the palms of pros to the odd residents thus eradicating the ingredient of objectivity in media reportage.
In his phrases, “The true journalist is the skilled journalist. You will need to select the pretend information and put the true ones on the market. We should battle those that are placing out pretend information and alter the narrative on social media. Your function on this, as the following technology of journalists, is essential and influential.”
Mr Isiguzo additionally suggested the PRNigeria fellows to take their occupation critically, emphasizing how a lot of a robust device journalism is in selling accountability in a democratic setting like Nigeria. He pressured the numerous function they play in shaping public discourse and holding these in energy accountable.
“Journalism is a singular occupation. Given the circumstances, the regulation (structure) has given energy to journalists and for this reason we’re the linkage or middlemen between the federal government and the individuals.
Throughout his opening remarks, the chief govt officer of IMPR, Yushau Shuaib, welcomed the fellows and defined how complicated the choice course of was whereas selecting the ten cohorts from over 1,000 candidates.
“Once we introduced the fellowship, inside two days we obtained 1,414 entries. Because of the competitiveness, the choice course of had to make use of the first-come, first-served precept as the first standards for choice. This strategy was constant throughout all centres in Kano, Ilorin, and Abuja, after which 10 Fellows had been chosen for every Centre so I wish to welcome and congratulate you,” he mentioned.
Mr Shuaib said the essence of the fellowship whereas giving an outline of its programme actions and inspired individuals to utilise the chance for his or her self and group growth.
“The essence of the Fellowship is to broaden your scope of data in all features of communication. Whereas journalism offers with gathering and disseminating data, strategic communication entails being conscious of the type of data shared to keep away from harming the group and people talked about within the report.
“The Fellowship focuses on trendy communication strategies, public relations, disaster communication and social media engagement, introducing applied sciences like synthetic intelligence and machine studying as journalism has advanced. Moreover, there’s a multimedia session, as communication is shifting from print to audiovisual.
“This Fellowship additionally supplies networking alternatives. To facilitate this, we organised a session the place you’ll go to some organisations, together with media homes and PR departments, to work together, study from their sensible experiences, and achieve hands-on expertise.
“It’s anticipated that you’ll contribute data and groundbreaking initiatives to the world based mostly on what you study through the fellowship,” he mentioned.
Different audio system on the occasion included Sule Yau Sule, a seasoned PR practitioner and communication scholar at Bayero College Kano and Yusuf Alli, a a number of award-winning investigative journalist and a managing editor on the Nation Newspapers.
By PRNigeria
