Tejiri Ebikeme
A Strategic Communication Consultant, Obasi Ogbonnaya has tasked journalists in the oil rich Niger Delta region on the need to focus on developmental journalism.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a 3-Day workshop and Press tour of Pro-Poor Income Growth and Employment Generation Model in Delta and Edo States by PIND Foundation, the veteran journalist stated that journalist should do more of developmental journalism for the good of the society.
Ogbonnaya, speaking further at workshop held at the Warri Economic Development Center of the Foundation For Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), traced the history of the development journalism to 1960 and implored journalists to build trust with the people.
While saying that PIND has helped to reassure the international community that it is safe to do business in the Niger Delta region, he stated that the oil-rich city Warri was not as bad as it was being painted by people outside the city.
“As practitioners, we should focus on development journalism and how do we report on development issues affecting the people? A feature on development journalism may cover the following issues – economic development, agriculture and food security, health sanitation and medicine, employment, education/literacy and housing conditions.” He stated.
But he lamented that the level of education and health in the Niger Delta region with a population of 22 million people, nine states and 185 local government areas was very low and something needed to be done to help reduce poverty in the region.
“In the social case of PIND, it has helped n generating sustainable growth by bringing in new resources and identify new opportunities to create income and job growth which is helping in reducing poverty in the Niger Delta region and these efforts have started to generate a multiplier effect,” he said.
He implored media practitioners to find new and attractive angles to hook their readers, adding that; “Seek to generate interest in development; find the human angle; reel your audience in; give the voiceless, local people a strong presence in your story , avoid taking sides and do not be influenced by third parties.
