NUJ President Initiates First PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship Program

NUJ President Initiates First PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship Program

President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr. Chris Isiguzo has advised the first cohort of the inaugural PRNigeria Young Communication Fellowship to leverage social media to become media and public relations.

He spoke at the opening of the one-month capacity-building training for 10 select fellows. The event was held in Abuja at the headquarters of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, publications of Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR).

Isiguzo charged the communicators to maintain integrity because the media is now moving from the hands of practitioners to ordinary citizens, thus removing the element of objectivity in media reportage.

“The real journalist is the trained journalist. It is important to shun fake news and disseminate factual news. We must battle those who are putting out fake news and change the narrative on social media. Your role as the next generation of journalists is crucial and influential.

“Journalism is a unique profession. Given the circumstances, the law (constitution) has given power to journalists, and this is why we are the linkage or middlemen between the government and the people,” he said.

IMPR Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yushau Shuaib explained the complexity of the rigorous process, which resulted in a cohort of 10 individuals from more than 1,000 applicants.

“We received 1,414 entries within two days of the fellowship announcement. The selection process had to use the first-come, first-served principle as the primary criteria. This approach was consistent across all centres in Kano, Ilorin, and Abuja, ” Shuaib said.

“The fellowship will broaden participants’ knowledge in different aspects of communication. While journalism is gathering and disseminating information, strategic communication is being mindful of the information shared to avoid harming the person(s) or the community mentioned.

“The fellowship focuses on modern methods, public relations, crisis communication and social media engagement, introducing technologies like AI and machine learning. Furthermore, there is a multimedia session, as communication is shifting from print to audiovisual.

“The fellowship also provides networking opportunities. To facilitate this, we organised a session where you will visit some organisations, including media houses and PR departments, to interact, learn from their practical experiences, and gain hands-on experience.”

Other speakers were Dr. Sule Yau Sule, seasoned PR practitioner, communication scholar at Bayero University Kano; and Mr Yusuf Alli, award-winning investigative journalist, Managing Editor at The Nation.