MHNG Network in partnership with the School of Media and Communications (SMC) of the Pan-Atlantic University trained 25 journalists from different media organisations cutting across print, online and broadcast on the art of interviewing.
The training course covered key elements required to elicit appropriate information from the interviewee, including researching the subject, preparing for the interview, use of recording devises, norms prescribed by ethics and managing sensitive information gleaned from an interview.
Rosemary Egabor, convener of the media initiative and the CEO of Urban 10 Hub Limited, a public relations outfit also affiliated with MHNG Network, said the training was important because interviews are used to expand upon the basic “who, what, where, how, when and why” of news gathering in whatever beat a journalist may cover, and it is the information gathered and dispersed that the public relies and acts on.
“This workshop is a response to the need of the Nigerian media for capacity building to make it respond to global best practices and serve the needs of an emerging economy like Nigeria,” says Egabor, a public relations professional.
Ikechukwu Obiaya, dean of the School of Media and Communication, who kicked off the first session with a two-hour presentation on the purpose of an interview, applauded the initiative. Joseph Bel-Molokwu, also of the School of Media and Communication, took the rest of the session.
Obiaya said it aligned very much with the school’s mission of providing training for media professionals to enable them pursue their calling of service to human cultures with a sense of creativity, skill, knowledge and values.
The MHNG Network was founded by Urban 10 Hub Limited, one of Nigeria’s growing PR companies, in 2016. The initiative seeks to promote professionalism in the media through journalism network programmes that bring together professionals from across all media platforms to network, debate and engage with national and global issues that are of importance to the Nigerian media industry.
MHNG network also uses its social media platforms/online community to promote media-related activities and campaigns.
Also, through its partnerships, the network seeks to build capacity and promote best practices in the media. The network believes that a strong media will ultimately result in a strong PR because PR is all about story telling.
ISAAC ANYAOGU
