21st Century journalists should possess vast skills, says Deputy Vice-President of ICFJ

Skills

By Busayo Onijala

Lagos, March 9, 2020 (NAN) Contemporary journalists need to possess vast skills to be very effective on their job; says Emily Schult, the Deputy Vice-President of Programmes at the International Center for  Foreign Journalists (ICFJ).

Schult told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos journalists were becoming a one-stop shop and the more skills they possessed, the more marketable they would be.

She added that journalists were the keys to an informed citizenry.

She also said that she was inspired by those who brought underreported or forgotten stories to light.

Schult said that reporting such stories had helped to improve the lives of citizens in their different countries.

“Learn as much as you can about the tools you know will help you in the long run.

“It is not only for the benefit of the organisation for which you work, but also for your personal experience,” she said.

NAN reports that Schult is responsible for ICFJ’s exchange and diversity programmes.

ICFJ recently ran a programme for journalists from European countries where they discussed about the influence of China in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa.

Schult said that to the best of her understanding, there were arguments for and against China’s investing in Africa.

“Nigerians understand that it has been helpful in a way because it serves as a means of bringing Foreign Direct Investment {FDI} into the country.

“Some Nigerians also seem to be nervous that enough caution is not being put in place as regard relationships between both countries,” she said.

The ICFJ deputy vice president said that the biggest issue journalists faced everywhere in the world was that their newsrooms were lacking funds.

“We have observed this across newsrooms in the United States where media organisations either shut down or retrench some of their members of staff.

“What can be done is the question being asked by everyone in relations to business models.

“I hope that some solutions are found because journalism plays a major role in the society,” Schult said. (NAN)

OMB/ERO/PAD
============

Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Peter Dada