Medrive empowers journalists with conflict reporting skills

Medrive, a media hub focused on training African journalists, has empowered dozens of journalists drawn from broadcast, print and online media across the country with conflict reportorial skills.

Speaking at the training held in Lagos, the Founder of Medrive, Wemimo Adewuni, said journalists need to assess the risks involved before going into a conflict zone, researching about the conflict, be objective in their reports, and aim for resolution, and not to escalate the conflicts.

According to Adewuni, who is also a multimedia journalist and Presenter with 99.3 Nigeria Info FM, journalists should research a conflict, look beyond the surface, dig deep into multilayer data to produce a factual, balanced, analytical and comprehensible story.

She also emphasized on the important role journalists play in escalating or containing the effects of conflicts during a session on Sensitive and Conflict Reporting.

Also speaking, a Human Rights and Constitutional lawyer, Barrister Evans Ufeli, urged journalists to always challenge stereotypes in reporting conflicts by understanding and effectively utilising the constitutional role bestowed on them by Sections 2, 4 and 33 of the Nigerian constitution.

Similarly, Niran Odufayo, a crime reporter with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), during a session, shared strategies of reporting crime and conflict with participating journalists.

He also played some of his audio reports, which were gathered under intense situations including murders, clash between cultists in Lagos, protests, etc.

Participants were also taught Life Saving and Resuscitation Skills needed during emergencies, especially when reporting conflicts.

Trained by Adekunle Ajibulu, a First Aid Trainer and Instructor with the Nigerian Red Cross, participants were paired up to practice what they had learnt about clearing airwaves, giving mouth to mouth and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation while calling for help.

Adewuni further noted that with more funding, the media hub would take the training to northern and South-South parts of Nigeria to train more journalists in the regions.