The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), through its social accountability project UDEME, has launched its 2024 Accountability Reporting Fellowship. In its first year, the initiative aims to empower journalists in various media houses to identify inaccuracies in public budgets and documents.
Starting with a 2-day virtual training, the fellowship, which spans from March until August, brings together 21 journalists from across Nigeria and Ghana with the aim of widening their scope of analysis.
According to Ijeoma Okereke-Adagba, the project manager at UDEME, the reporting fellowship will cover a range of sectors, from agriculture and health to education and public infrastructure, with special focus on gender inclusion.
Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES and CEO of CJID, who was present at the workshop, emphasized the significance of investigative journalism, highlighting its relevance in the Nigerian and Ghanaian constitutions.
Kenneth Kwujeli from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning kicked off the training, providing insights into the budgeting process. Other sessions in the training included: data analysis for social accountability reporting by Akintunde Babatunde; investigative reporting techniques by Bisi Abidoye, assistant managing editor at PREMIUM TIMES; and crafting impactful stories by Kemi Busari, editor of Dubawa.
Each fellow will receive a grant from UDEME, to enable them to produce investigative reports focused on accountability at the sub-national level of government. The stories thus produced will also be tracked to measure their impact on society.
