*Over 3000 journalists directly impacted in four years
A cross-section of journalists who participated in the fourth edition of the media capacity-building session for journalists organised by Polaris Bank has expressed excitement at the quality of the workshop.
The annual media workshop, in its fourth edition held over the weekend, had in attendance over 152 participants, including renowned publishers, editors, Managing Directors of media houses, reporters, and other media-inclined professionals.
Earlier, while welcoming participants and declaring the workshop open, the Group Head, Strategic Brand Management of Polaris Bank, Nduneche Ezurike, said the Bank remains committed to its corporate citizenship of contributing to the development of the media in Nigeria.
He explained that since Polaris Bank took up the responsibility of empowering media practitioners in 2018, the media has been better for it.
The highly engaging sessions, anchored by some of the best in the industry, have helped media practitioners to raise the bar of their practice while avoiding landmines that could ruin their blossoming careers.
Polaris Bank, working through respective State Councils of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), has trained journalists in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Rivers, and Abuja on contemporary issues such as: Best Media Practice, Fact Checking, Impact of Fake News, Digital Journalism, Art of Story Telling in a Digital Age, Media Convergence & Transitioning to a Multi-Media Journalist.
He noted that since the commencement of this initiative, over 3,000 Nigerian journalists have directly participated in the Media Workshop, a key feature of the Banks’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) intervention.
Most participants expressed their appreciation to Polaris Bank for the consistency in hosting the media seminar, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They promised to put to judicious use the rich nuggets learned from the workshop.
The Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Online (www.freedomonline.com.ng), Gabriel Akinadewo, commended the bank for the innovation “and engaging journalists professionally in this media capacity-building intervention”.
The Deputy Group Business Editor of The Nation newspapers, Taofik Salako, noted that “The workshop was very educative and informative. As a matter of fact, I acquired new knowledge and information as regards Cybercrime Law and You.”
Another journalist, Toyibat Ajose, wrote, “Polaris Bank has indeed over the years shown consistency as a media-friendly brand by organising this annual high-impact capacity-building workshop for Nigerian journalists to broaden our horizons and enable us practise more professionally.” This, we appreciate.
Simon Kolawole, Founder and Publisher of TheCable, facilitated the topic: “Managing a Virtual Newsroom’, while “The CyberCrime Law & You” was anchored by Eric Orji, a top Legal Practitioner and Principal Partner from E.A Orji & Co Law Firm.
