By Olusegun Aribike and Linda Agbu
Renowned media trainer and content creator, Dr Falilat Okunnu, has described the training and retraining of journalists as vital to the development of media practitioners in the era of digital transformation.
Okunnu said this at the end of a three-day training on film editing for editorial and technical staff of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
“The world is going digital now, and all journalists need to be in that space,” she said.
She noted that participants learnt sequencing, trimming, transitions, audio balancing and visual storytelling using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Okunnu expressed confidence that participants would apply the knowledge gained in their daily work.
“I can see the enthusiasm in them. I have that premonition that they will put this into practice,” she said.
Earlier, the Head of NAN Lagos Office, Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowole, said the initiative reflected the growing importance of multimedia journalism and the need for journalists to acquire digital storytelling skills.
“Multimedia is the trend in journalism now. If you are a journalist and you don’t have multimedia skills, you have not started,” she said.
Omowole said the initiative would build a critical mass of multimedia personnel so the agency would not be affected when trained staff members leave.
She said the office also planned further capacity-building programmes, including drone training, and was exploring arrangements to enable participants to acquire laptops through instalment payments.
Omowole added that certificates would be issued to participants who completed the training.
The Head of Editorial Operations, NAN Lagos Office, Mr Kevin Okunzuwa, said the training would improve the agency’s competitiveness in the rapidly evolving media landscape.
“For any journalist to remain relevant, you have to think smart and work smart,” he said.
Okunzuwa said modern journalists must combine reporting, photography, videography and editing skills to meet the demands of digital news audiences.
He said the training would improve both the quantity and quality of NAN’s video news output.
“We’ll be coming out with more videos, both in number and quality,” he said.
Okunzuwa added that the agency planned to expand its presence on social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, describing the training as “the stepping stone to bigger things.”
Participants described the training as timely and practical, saying it strengthened their ability to produce multimedia content for digital news audiences.
The Head of the Science and Technology Desk, Ms Oluyinka Fadare, thanked the management and the facilitator for organising the programme.
“We have all learnt something. Going forward, we will hone these skills and put them to use for the agency,” Fadare said.
One of the participants, Joy Oyerinde said the training would help her tell stories through visuals and audio, describing it as an opportunity to grow as a “modern-day journalist.”
Sports Reporter Oluwatunmise Omosofe said the practical sessions would improve her ability to produce engaging video reports that would complement written stories.
Agriculture and Environment Reporter Uchechi Afonne said the training gave her the confidence to navigate Adobe Premiere Pro and handle basic video editing independently.
Health and Gender Reporter Catherine Egwuom described the training as a valuable opportunity, saying continuous skills acquisition was essential in today’s workplace(NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa