Journalists charged to embrace ITC, focus on peace journalism

Journalists have been charged to embrace the opportunities created by ICT in contributing to national peace through the used of Peaceful Journalism in Nigeria.

The Honourable Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affiars in Plateau State Hon. Sylvanus Tapgun made this call on Thursday when he chaired the maiden training workshop of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Plateau State Council held at the NBTT conference hall in Jos the Plateau State capital.

He said the coming of ICT has the positives and the negatives, and as such, Journalists must explore the positive angle of the ICT in improving the nation’s democracy.

He said as the nation head to election in 2023, Journalists can deploy the positives aspect of ICT to improve the country’s elections.

“The role of ICT on the pen Profession is not out of place because it has the positives and the negatives depending on which divide you choose to play. But I am sure that the positives are by far outweigh the negatives.

“Therefore, as we take another bend to another election year, there is no better armour to equip Journalists than through ICT empowerment.”

The Resident Electoral Commissioner of Benue State Dr. Nentawe Yilwatde said ICT has come to stay and the world is moving and media practitioners must go with the changing world.

He said Journalists can deploy the use of certain apps in the 21st century such as “speech to text converter, TinEye, Tabula, OpenRefine, Mailvelope, oTrancribe, FilMicPro’ amongst others that will enhance Journalism works in the 21st century.

He said the social media space is sought after for news because of its access, saying a recent report shows that there are 104 million internet users in Nigeria and 33 million social media users, saying 80.6 per cent of social media users are within the age range of 18 to 44.

He advised Journalists to develop their content to address the needs of the large category of social media users, noting that the platform can be used for collaborative reports, political revolution, a voice for the voiceless and for social and political processes among others.

The INEC REC however cautioned journalists against using every material they get for their reports, saying there are tools that can enable them fact check information using authenticators.

The Head of Department of Mass Communication, Dr. Taye Obateru while delivering a paper on Peace Journalism and its risk, maintained that Journalists must create a stable and peaceful atmosphere to enable them also work effectively.

The NUJ Chairman Plateau State, Mr Paul Jatau stressed that the steps taken by the Chapel is a commendable one as the council over the years has considered training and retraining as the best way of equipping his members.

“The focus is very apt considering the challenges we face out there in discharging our duties with the coming of ICT where we now have citizens Journalism. “Each day we are faced with this challenge of those who are not trained, those we see everything and post everything, who don’t have a second eyes, who are the content producers, content editors. We are encouraging other Chapels to do same.”

The Chairman of the Correspondent Chapel Mr. Gyang Bere earlier on in his welcoming remarks stressed that the workshop is aimed at equipping his members with the knowledge of ICT in meeting with the global space.

He said such knowledge will also help Journalists to report activities around their environment even when people can not meet face to face like during the COVID-19 lockdown across the country.

A minutes silence was observed in remembrance of their colleagues who died on dury in 2007 while in the convoy of the Former Governor Josuah Dariye.