I-79 Media Consults trains campus journalists in Nigeria, Ghana on solutions journalism

By Blessing Udeobasi — One of Nigeria’s leading media training hubs, I-79 Media Consults, is set to train about 30 campus journalists from West Africa on solutions journalism.

The three-day training scheduled to hold from Tuesday 24th – Thursday 26th May 2022 will also support 15 campus Journalists with grants to produce solution stories pertaining to the education system in their countries.

Organised as part of the 2022 LEDE Fellowship facilitated by the Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), the training aims to engage campus journalists to write about social responses to challenges facing the educational system in their immediate environments.

The training, themed ‘Campus Solutions’, will be facilitated by known solutions journalism experts in Africa with proven track record of enviable works relating to Solutions Journalism.

Some of the facilitators include Seun Durojaiye, Innocent Eteng, Lekan Otufodunrin, Chibuike Alagboso, Dina Aboughazala, Abaas Mpindi, Rasheed Adebiyi (PhD), and Ifedayo Ogunyemi, among others.

Upon completion of the training, 15 persons would be onboarded as Campus Solutions Ambassadors and given a $100 grant to produce solution stories as well as establish SoJo units in their respective campus press outfits.

Speaking on the project, the 2022 LEDE Fellow, Ifedayo Ogunyemi, said the project aims to intensify the awareness, reach and understanding of solutions journalism in Africa.

“This project will also create a network of campus journalists interested in solutions journalism who will be trained occasionally in the art of constructive journalism and provided resources to write general and campus-specific SoJo reports.

“I am optimistic about the wonderful story ideas these campus journalists plan to work on, which include increasing access to education and school enrolments for minority groups, campaigns and advocacies focusing on drug abuse in schools and mental health challenges on campus and youth unemployment, etc.,” he added.

These reports, Ogunyemi hoped, will create working templates for addressing some of the challenges facing the educational sector in West Africa.

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