Taraba Assembly Trains Journalists on Parliamentary Reporting, Ethics
By Chuwang Dungs, Jalingo
The Taraba State House of Assembly, has trained journalists with basic skills in covering the parliament.
The workshop with the theme “Enhancing Effective Parliamentary Reporting for Accountability and Good Governance,” was organized in partnership with SHA-ED Integrated.
Over 50 journalists, drawn from different media organisations, participated in the two-day training, which was held from Thursday to Friday at the State Assembly complex in Jalingo.
The Training
The training covered a range of topics and issues, such as understanding parliamentary procedures and terminologies, principles of accurate and balanced parliamentary reporting, ethical considerations in parliamentary reporting, crafting impactful stories from legislative activities and investigative reporting on legislative processes.
It also covered data journalism and parliamentary reports, challenges facing reporters in parliamentary coverage, the use of technology in parliamentary reporting and simulating a parliamentary debate: writing reports in real time.
Why The Training
Speaker of the House, John Bonzena, who declared the training open, said the training became necessary considering the crucial role journalists play in promoting accountability and good governance.
He noted that the ever-changing dynamics of the parliamentary arm of government necessitate constant training and capacity building for journalists.
The Chief of Staff to the Taraba State Governor, Jeji Williams, says “the press can make legislative processes interesting to the general public to get involve in, by humanizing and using effective data to foster better understanding of legislative processes, as well as governance, thereby empowering the citizenry to engage actively in democratic processes.”
The Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashere, Gombe State, Professor Umar Pate, in his keynote speech highlighted the importance of training journalists, citing the presence of quack journalists in Taraba State.
He emphasized the need for journalists to adapt to the changing media landscape, leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to enhance their work.
Danjuma Adamu, a media expert, noted that journalists play an important role in holding leaders and institutions to account as well as strengthening democracy, which often brings them into confrontation with the rich and the powerful.
Adamu stressed the need for ethical considerations in parliamentary reporting, advocating for the establishment of a Parliamentary Reporting Framework that embraces global best practices.
“For the press to achieve accurate and balanced parliamentary reporting journalists must strive to demonstrate the promotion of clarity, objectivity, fairness, timelines, respect, credibility, confidence and the avoidance of biases,” he said.
“In performing these critical functions, therefore, you will frequently find yourself navigating complex legal environments and issues.
“Your ability to do your job as a journalist, therefore, depends not only on your storytelling skills and abilities but also on your knowledge and understanding of the law, especially those that affect the media,” he said.
“In addition, familiarity with the laws and regulations affecting journalists and the media empowers you to better protect yourself and your sources.”
Josiah Kente, one of the resource persons says, “investigative reporting plays a crucial role in exposing corruption, legislative inefficiencies, and policy loopholes. The fourth estate, as the press is often called, ensures that lawmakers do not operate in an environment of unchecked power.”
Participants Speak
The participants commended the organisers for organising the training.
A participant, Adamu Also, a journalist with NTA, said knowledge gained in the training would help participants thrive in their journalism practice.
“This training is no doubt impactful, we have learned a lot, however there is the need for accessibility on the part of the legislators for journalists in the state to perform better.” Mr Also said at the end of training on Friday.
Another participant, Ben Adaji, a reporter with Aljazeerah, described the training as “timely.”
Mr Adaji said the training came at the right time when journalists in the state don’t have access to interact with legislators in the state.
“The training provided us the opportunity to bare our minds regarding our relationship with the lawmakers in the state. The organisers have promised us that they will organize another training between the journalists and the legislators, which is a good development. Above all the training has equipped us with skills and knowledge in covering legislative procedures,’ he said.
