The International Press Centre (IPC) has launched a four-series training on election reporting for women journalists in Nigeria.
The training, according to the non-governmental organisation (NGO), involves teaching journalists to report from a deepened gender perspective and using data skills and investigative methods to challenge stereotypical reporting of the electoral process.
Organised in partnership with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), the first leg of the training was held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, on 07 November, 2022, with 32 women journalists in attendance, predominantly from the southern parts of the country.
The second training is expected to be attended by 35 journalists from the northern areas of the country, and will be held in Abuja on 21 November, 2022.
IPC, in a statement, said the overall goal of the training is to support the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria with the media (broadcast, print and online) helping to facilitate the key ingredient of credible elections through engagement and professionalism.
According to IPC, the initiative aims to position women journalists to deliver impactful, public-interest and investigative reporting of the electoral process especially by incorporating the use of data tools in reporting the electoral process and the elections.
The sessions are targeted to place women journalists covering elections to write and produce special reports that are professional, inclusive, conflict-sensitive, fact-checked and data driven.
‘Within the framework of supporting the media by improving the gender stereotyped representations of women’s political participation, the skill-enhancing session for the journalists is imperative to re-direct and prospect opportunities for new impactful and professional reporting of the electoral process while empowering female journalists as agents of change’, the IPC Executive Director, Lanre Arogundade, said.
Participants at the trainings would be required to pitch impactful story ideas for which the resource person shall be providing mentorship guide and editorial assistance.
Photo source: Kim Nowacki
