Media Career Development Network

18/04/2025

U.S. Consulate Supports Year-Long Training Program for Emerging Journalists

Lagos—With support from the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, the Media Career Development Network www.mediacareerng.org has launched a Bi-Monthly Journalism Clinic initiative aimed at nurturing the next generation of impactful Nigerian reporters.

Designed for early-career journalists with less than five years of reporting experience, the year-long initiative will offer hands-on capacity building workshops to strengthen professional skills and promote fact-based ethical reporting.

Through intensive workshops to be held in Lagos, the program will equip young journalists with the requisite skills to produce data-driven investigative reporting, introduce them to open-source digital tools to assist them in their work, and facilitate connections with senior journalists and subject matter experts for mentorship opportunities.

The clinics will cover a broad range of topics, including reporting on local governance institutions, transparency and accountability, financial journalism, public health coverage, and best practices for covering sensitive stories. Additional sessions will focus on accessing public data, working with anonymous sources, ethical and professional journalism practices, prioritizing truth, and best practices for leveraging social media for impactful storytelling.

U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Julie McKay highlighted the initiative as part of the U.S. government's ongoing commitment to strengthening media capacity in Nigeria. “Press freedom and a professional, responsive, and independent media are critical parts of any democracy,” McKay said. “By providing timely and accurate information, journalists give citizens a voice allowing them to engage in important dialogue and hold leaders accountable.”

Executive Director of the Media Career Development Network, Lekan Otufodunrin, noted that approximately 150 reporters will benefit from the capacity building program. He emphasized the program’s goal of empowering young journalists to fulfill their role to keep the public informed. “Participants will gain advanced reporting skills that enhance their ability to inform, educate, and hold leaders accountable,” Otufodunrin added.

Interested journalists can apply @ https://bit.ly/4lB6Tpx
Selected participants will be notified ahead of each bi-monthly session.

ENQUIRIES: [email protected]

Contact
Dayo Emmanuel
Programme Manager
Media Career Development Network
08033374017
# # #

Note that this program is for emerging/early career Journalists. It is being organized by Media Career Development Network (MCDN), with support from the U.S Consulate General, Lagos. It shall be a bi-Monthly skills-enhancement initiative, to be held in Lagos, running from April 2025 through to March...

17/04/2025

U.S. Consulate Supports Year-Long Training Program for Emerging Journalists

Lagos—With support from the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, the Media Career Development Network has launched a Bi-Monthly Journalism Clinic initiative aimed at nurturing the next generation of impactful Nigerian reporters.

Designed for early-career journalists with less than five years of reporting experience, the year-long initiative will offer hands-on capacity building workshops to strengthen professional skills and promote fact-based ethical reporting.

Through intensive workshops to be held in Lagos, the program will equip young journalists with the requisite skills to produce data-driven investigative reporting, introduce them to open-source digital tools to assist them in their work, and facilitate connections with senior journalists and subject matter experts for mentorship opportunities.

The clinics will cover a broad range of topics, including reporting on local governance institutions, transparency and accountability, financial journalism, public health coverage, and best practices for covering sensitive stories. Additional sessions will focus on accessing public data, working with anonymous sources, ethical and professional journalism practices, prioritizing truth, and best practices for leveraging social media for impactful storytelling.

U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Julie McKay highlighted the initiative as part of the U.S. government's ongoing commitment to strengthening media capacity in Nigeria. “Press freedom and a professional, responsive, and independent media are critical parts of any democracy,” McKay said. “By providing timely and accurate information, journalists give citizens a voice allowing them to engage in important dialogue and hold leaders accountable.”

Executive Director of the Media Career Development Network, Lekan Otufodunrin, noted that approximately 150 reporters will benefit from the capacity building program. He emphasized the program’s goal of empowering young journalists to fulfill their role to keep the public informed. “Participants will gain advanced reporting skills that enhance their ability to inform, educate, and hold leaders accountable,” Otufodunrin added.

Interested journalists can apply by sending an email to [email protected] with details of their reporting interests. Selected participants will be notified ahead of each bi-monthly session.

Contact
Dayo Emmanuel
Programme Manager
Media Career Development Network
08033374017
# # #

30/03/2025

Content Review

To enhance the quality of our editorial content on our website www.mediacareerng.org, we are devoting the month of April to review our published reports since the beginning of the year.

Our regular weekly schedule including editorial, insights, profile, focus and book reviews would be suspended with only few urgent content published.

We will reshare our published content and welcome comments and suggestions for improvement and wider coverage.

We look forward to getting relevant feedbacks to enhance our content and accomplish our vision and mission of providing every resource needed for enhancing media careers.

Lekan Otufodunrin
Executive Director/Editor
Media Career Development Network

WHO WE ARE We are a registered not-for-profit and non-political organization. Initially registered as Media Career Service since 2003, we have been devoted to promoting excellence in media practice and providing resources to meet the challenges of media career through regular training, mentoring an...

24/03/2025

Editorial:
Hopefully, the bloggers have learnt their lessons the hard way and will desist from such publications that can get them arrested again. Other bloggers and journalists should also learn from this case that there are dire consequences for publishing reports that are not accurate and fair by the ethics of journalism.

EDITORIAL on the recent out-of-court settlement between Guarantee Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and bloggers standing trial for cyberstalking.

18/03/2025

Some women journalists have voluntarily taken up the roles of making valuable resources available to as many women and men in the media interested in learning as possible.

In continuation of our special reports, we highlight the commendable efforts of Media and Communication specialist, Adetunji, News Editor of , Goodness Chibunna and Media Consultant and CEO, Switch 24, Aanu Komolafe.

One major way to accelerate action to enhance the status of largely disadvantaged women in the media in line with the theme of the is to regularly provide them with resources, including learning opportunities through various platforms.

17/03/2025

Undoubtedly, the anniversary, beyond celebrating whatever accomplishments the union can lay claim to in the past seventy years, calls for deep reflection on how to continue to be relevant in line with the dreams and aspirations of the union’s founding fathers and the present reality of media practice.

The main professional body, whose membership is the vanguard of nudging Nigeria on the right path by the nature of its agenda-setting calling is the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) which auspiciously has just reached a milestone of 70 years of its establishment in the country.

14/03/2025

"The FRLP is a prestigious fellowship that has helped to advance my career as a journalist. The training sessions were intensive, and the mentorship was one-on-one and in-depth, which helped to shape my work as an investigative journalist. Being inducted as a fellow and joining the community of the Female Reporters Network is the height of it, as you get support from sisters across the country to help you do your work."

In our FOCUS Report, Blessing Osemobor writes of the Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism ( WSCIJ) which has enhanced the career and leadership potentials of participants.

12/03/2025

In commemoration of 2025 International Women’s Day, we asked students of the Department of Mass Communication taking the Media Biographies in Nigeria course to give a shout-out to some of the accomplished female journalists, broadcasters and other media professionals they have read about. Below are some of the many responses.

In commemoration of 2025 International Women's Day, we asked students of the Department of Mass Communication taking the Media Biographies in Nigeria course to give a shout-out to some of the accomplished female journalists, broadcasters and other media professionals they have read about.

11/03/2025

In the few reports for which we have opted not to use bylines and specific names where the incidents happened, we share accounts of “hostility from male editors who wield their power unfairly”,” eyes that seemed to cut through everything”, “abusive senior colleague and others.

As part of our International Women’s Day Special Reports, we asked female journalists about specific gender-related abuses, inequalities, systemic biases, workplace harassment, and other challenges they have experienced in newsrooms and other media environments.

09/03/2025

This WEEK on mediacareerng.org
March 10-14, 2025

(Women's Week at MCDN)

MONDAY
Editorial
IWD: Action in the media

TUESDAY:
Insight
'Our newsrooms gender abuse, discrimination experiences'

WEDNESDAY
People
IWD: Shout-Out to accomplished female journalists by UNILAG students

THURSDAY
Focus:
Female Reporters Leadership Programme

FRIDAY
Anniversary:

And more

Follow us on our social media handles:
X:
FB: Media Career Development Network
LinkedIn: Media Career Development Network
Instagram:

WHO WE ARE We are a registered not-for-profit and non-political organization. Initially registered as Media Career Service since 2003, we have been devoted to promoting excellence in media practice and providing resources to meet the challenges of media career through regular training, mentoring an...

05/03/2025

Media Career Development Specialist, Lekan Otufodunrin profiles the Lead Curator, Bazara Media Lab, Kenya, Christine Mungai who is an accomplished journalist, writer, and curator.

Media Career Development Specialist, Lekan Otufodunrin profiles the Lead Curator, Bazara Media Lab, Kenya, Christine Mungai who is an accomplished journalist, writer, and curator.

06/02/2025

From one project to the other, she has showcased her immense multiple capacities as an accomplished broadcaster, writer, media trainer, researcher, conference facilitator, moderator, speaker, panellist, media analyst, leadership coach and more.

Her early retirement in 2019 as Assistant Director from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) was a big surprise.