Polaris Bank Limited just lately hosted a hybrid capacity-building seminar for about 500 journalists each in Nigeria and internationally. The seminar, themed “Empowering Journalists in the Digital Age: Storytelling, Tools & Transformation,” aimed to equip media professionals with the talents and data essential to thrive in at this time’s quickly altering journalism panorama.
In a welcome handle, Rasheed Bolarinwa, Head of Brand Management & Corporate Communications at Polaris Bank, highlighted the {bank}’s longstanding custom in media training. He identified that Polaris Bank has been investing in such initiatives for the previous 12 years and confidently acknowledged that the {bank} has been within the vanguard in digital capability constructing for the Nigerian media. Bolarinwa pressured that enhancing the talents of journalists in the end advantages society as an entire.
Drawing from a well known Chinese proverb, he defined that the {bank} prefers to show folks find out how to fish slightly than merely giving them fish to eat. Empowering journalists to turn into self-sufficient, he mentioned, is the tenet behind the Polaris {bank}’s govt administration annual approval and assist of the seminar.
The media seminar featured coaching classes led by two distinguished journalists: Mr. Taiwo Obe, Founder and Director of The Journalism Clinic, and Mr. Abayomi Adisa, a senior journalist with BBC. Obe reminded members of the basic goal of journalism, quoting veteran American journalist Tom Rosenstiel: “The purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.”
Obe mentioned the numerous transformation journalism has undergone because the early 2000s, pushed by technological innovation. He highlighted the emergence of cellular journalism (Mojo), which permits journalists to seize, produce, and share information content material in real-time. Obe talked about Reuters’ 2007 introduction of the Mojo Toolkit, which included the Nokia N95, a small tripod, compact wi-fi keyboard, photo voltaic charger, and exterior microphone, as a milestone that made it simpler for reporters to ship information on the go.
He inspired journalists to discover and make the most of quite a lot of free digital purposes accessible on the Google Play Store. By embracing these instruments, journalists can transcend conventional text-based reporting and incorporate audio, video, and interactive graphics to inform extra compelling tales. Obe additionally highlighted the rising adoption of synthetic intelligence in Nigerian newsrooms, noting that AI is now getting used for duties comparable to copy modifying, content material illustration, content material technique, and promoting concentrating on, which opens new avenues for effectivity and creativity in journalism.
He additional suggested journalists to leverage the info from their information tales in progressive methods, suggesting that they rework story information into guidebooks, archival materials, subject analyses, place papers, suggestions, puzzles, Q&As, and even inspiration for full-length books.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abayomi Adisa, who centered his presentation on writing for social media, urged members to harness the magic of constructing their audiences cease, interact, and share their posts. Adisa outlined key methods for crafting efficient posts and teasers, guaranteeing that the content material is private, related to the viewers, participating, shareable, and concise. He acknowledged that social media is an setting characterised by distraction and noise, so content material have to be each influential and personally resonant to seize consideration.
Speaking on the seminar, Mrs. Bukola Oluyadi, Group Head of Customer Experience & Value Management at Polaris Bank, throughout her closing remarks emphasised the {bank}’s dedication to supporting the media business. She remarked that these seminars are essential, as no business or group can flourish with out the involvement and backing of the media.
Oluyadi acknowledged that capability constructing just isn’t a one-time effort however a steady course of. She famous, “People cannot improve with the status quo of yesterday; we need to keep building.” According to her, the {bank} is devoted to sustaining this initiative yearly, absolutely conscious that constant funding within the media is important for long-term development and sustainability.
