The 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 true media and public relations professionals.

Isiguzo spoke at the opening ceremony of the one-month-long capacity-building training for ten select PRNigeria Communication Fellows.

The event occurred at the Abuja Corporate Headquarters of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, the two flagship media publications of Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR).

Isiguzo encouraged young communicators to leverage social media in their profession because the media is now moving from the hands of professionals to the ordinary citizens thus removing the element of objectivity in media reportage.

In his words, “The real journalist is the trained journalist. It is important to pick out the fake news and put the real ones out there. We must battle those who are putting out fake news and change the narrative on social media. Your role in this, as the next generation of journalists, is crucial and influential.”

Dr. Isiguzo also advised the PRNigeria fellows to take their profession seriously, emphasizing how much of a powerful tool journalism is in promoting accountability in a democratic setting like Nigeria. He stressed the significant role they play in shaping public discourse and holding those in power accountable.

“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.

During his opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of IMPR, Alhaji Yushau Shuaib, welcomed the fellows and explained how complex the selection process was while choosing the 10 cohorts from over 1,000 applicants.

“When we announced the fellowship, within two days we received 1,414 entries. Due to the competitiveness, the selection process had to use the first-come, first-served principle as the primary criteria for selection. This approach was consistent across all centres in Kano, Ilorin, and Abuja, after which 10 Fellows were selected for each Centre so I want to welcome and congratulate you,” he said.

Alhaji Shuaib stated the essence of the fellowship while giving an overview of its programme activities and encouraged participants to utilise the opportunity for their self and community development.

“The essence of the Fellowship is to broaden your scope of knowledge in all aspects of communication. While journalism deals with gathering and disseminating information, strategic communication involves being mindful of the kind of information shared to avoid harming the community and those mentioned in the report.

“The Fellowship focuses on modern communication methods, public relations, crisis communication and social media engagement, introducing technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning as journalism has evolved. Additionally, there is a multimedia session, as communication is shifting from print to audiovisual.

“This 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.

“It is expected that you will contribute knowledge and groundbreaking projects to the world based on what you learn during the fellowship,” he said.

Other speakers at the event included Dr. Sule Yau Sule, a seasoned PR practitioner and communication scholar at Bayero University Kano and Mallam Yusuf Alli, a multi-award-winning investigative journalist and a Managing Editor at the Nation Newspapers. (By PRNigeria)

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