By–Dauda Musbau
FactCheckAfrica, an initiative of Brain Builder Youths Development Initiative (BBYDI) on Friday, November 22 trained journalists under the Union of Campus Journalists in University of Ilorin.
The training which began at exactly 10 am had in attendance FactCheckAfrica’s team members who trained the student journalists on the theme: “Equipping The Next Generation of Journalists With Best Industry Practice.”
Afeez Rabiu, a lead researcher cum fact-checker at FactCheckAfrica, shared during his presentation on the topic, Digital Media and Career Development in Journalism that student journalists should prioritize personal branding and leverage the opportunity on digital space.
“Effective use of the digital space has the capacity to catapult you to greatness,” Afeez emphasized.
Afeez also shared that receiving the feedback a few minutes after the workshop through his email address was a highlight of the training for him, showing the enthusiasm of the participants.
“It was an interactive experience for me. The Inductees were receptive and very attentive during the training. They also came off as highly engaging during the interactive segment showing their attentiveness,” he said.
Also, Muhammad Mustapha, a lead researcher at FactCheck Africa, discussed the importance of uncovering hidden truths and provided an effective approach to Investigative Journalism. Muhammad cited a resonated example with the journalists which sparked the story ideas for potential investigative projects.
He led the practical session on how the student journalists can use the digital tools like myaifactchecker, reverse image search,Times’ Visual Guide on generative AI and others, to aid their investigations.
While thanking FactCheck Africa for the insightful of their members, Hannah Boluwatife, the president of the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), Unilorin chapter said, “It was awesome having FactCheck Africa around. The training was insightful for us not only for the intending journalists but also for the existing members.”
“The training met our expectations because I was expecting a training on Digital Literacy and Investigative Journalism,” she continues, “But they explored more and gave us ideas on how to build personal brand and portfolio for our works,” she concluded.
Hannah believed that UCJ, Unilorin members have an edge over other campus journalists because the training has developed their capacity more than it were before.
