Nigerian Journalists Launch Book On Experiences Of Campus Reporters
Two Nigerian journalists, Alfred Olufemi and Kabir Adejumo, have unveiled a book on experiences of media practitioners who started their career in their tertiary institutions.
The book, titled: “The Pain, Push and Pleasure” is a compilation of experiences of student-journalists across Nigeria.
The aim of the book, according to editors, is to guide student-journalists and prepare them for mainstream practice after school.
Speaking during the launch on Saturday, Adejumo, who now works at HumAngle, said his experience while practicing journalism on Obafemi Awolowo University Campus taught him what it means to be denied basic needs by those in power.
“This compilation is meant to spread the gospel of campus journalism and to serve as a manual to help student-journalists fulfill their dreams,” he added.
Veteran journalist and the founder of Media Career Development Network, Lekan Otufodunrin, applauded the brains behind the book for providing opportunities for campus journalists to learn from the experiences, including achievements and mistakes of those before them.
“Journalism isn’t a motherless profession and I am glad that Kabir and Alfred put this together. I must also commend all the contributors for sharing their experiences. I took my time to read through the book and they are very insightful and honest accounts. You can also see the diversity of the contributions. This is something we have to prioritise.”
He added that there are rules of engagement and campus journalists must follow ethics while discharging their duties.
Corroborating this, Busola Ajibola, a Deputy Director of Journalism Programmes at Centre for Journalism and Innovation Developments (CJID), said young journalists should report credibly and strengthen collaboration between them and mainstream journalists.
“In journalism, emotion is not what guides how you tell the story. As a journalist, you bear the burden of truth for people who were not there when doing the story. It is evidence that guides the story, she said. “We have to be creative in protecting young journalists and ensure that we also tell stories that affect us.”
Speaking on behalf of tertiary institutions’ management, Ademola Adesoji, spokesperson of Osun State University, stressed on the importance of campus journalism to the growth of institutions, saying authorities should be happy to have journalism bodies holding them accountable.
In his submission, Festus Ogun, a lawyer and human rights activist who wrote the foreword of the book, said “we must find a way to protect student-journalists from harassment and intimidation. As long as we try to advocate for press freedom, we must not forget our young people. The time is ripe for us to protect them from unlawful expulsion and rustication.”
Olufemi who gave a closing remark, said the multiple perspectives on the subject matter are meant to proffer solutions to the various challenges faced by press bodies on campuses.
“I’m glad that we are able to put this together and drive conversations around the practice of journalism on different campuses.The contributions from ex-student journalists who currently work in various newsrooms and media organisations also help to shed light on the nexus between journalism on campus and what is obtained in the mainstream,” Olufemi, who currently reports for Punch Newspaper, said.
Some of the contributors of the book include: Chiamaka Okafor, a Senior Reporter at Premium Times; Kunle Adebajo, HumAngle Investigations Editor; Oladeinde Olawoyin, an Assistant Editor at Premium Times; The Nation Newspaper’s Alao Abiodun; Yusuf Akinpelu of BBC; HumAngle’s Sub-editor, Muhammed Akinyemi and Ifedayo Ogunyemi of Nigerian Tribune among others.
