joshua
By Abu Michael.
Stallion Times, Kano, on Saturday in Lokoja Kogi State, trained about 40 journalists and Civil Society Organization members on how to use social media to enhance their knowledge of media practice for self and societal development.
In his address of welcome, the Managing Director of the media organisation, Mal. Isiyaku Ahmed, said that the One-Day Training, with the theme,”Effective Use of social Media for Media and CSOs” was aimed at enabling participants appreciate best practices for creating social media content.
He added that the interactive training was also to give participants the opportunity to get the best of social media for news and story telling, as well as for them to know how to use social to reach wider target audience.
The participants were trained on the basics of social media, social media and effective content development and how to use social media to build relationships and tell stories.
Mal. Isa Ali, a Research Scholar and an expert in digital forensic, Lab. Antlantic Council, USA, who lectured participants on all the aspects of training, stressed the importance of social media to the workings of journalists, especially in Kogi state.
The expert enumerated the gains of using social media by journalists to include getting captivating headlines, enriching the content of stories, helping news content to reach wider audience and enable journalists to break news among others.
He also called on journalists to develop keen interest in using social media to boost their work, adding that social media plays pivotal role in shipping news content, dissemination and story telling and they should keep learning on the job.
Ali, however, urged journalists to shun misinformation and other unprofessional practices in the course of trying to be the first to break the news which he noted constitutes serious threat to their profession and their integrity and the organization they represent.
The digital forensic expert reminded journalists on the need to adhere strictly to the ethics of their profession by being transparent, objective, attribute sources, retract and correct news, where necessary and fact-check their stories to ensure their authenticity before publishing, among other measures.
Ali also called on journalists to be conversant with cyber crime laws in order not go against the law guiding the practice of their profession.
The Stallion Times has in the last two years availed journalists and members of Civil Society Organisations in Kogi state, series of training aimed at boosting their professional competence to perform better.
This the media outfit has been doing in active collaboration with Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and MacArthur Foundation, in terms of funding under the ‘Get Involved, Dialogue and Improved Project'(GDRIP).
Some of the journalists in their separate interview with our correspondent, thanked the three organizations for the training, adding that the exercise had improved their technics and competence in reporting events in the state.
