STRENGTHENING MEDIA CAPACITY FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM THROUGH INSTITUTIONS’ BASED CURRICULUM

INTRODUCTION

One of the common criticisms against the Nigerian media is that they are generally weak in real, active and independent credible investigative journalism. Perhaps, the only exceptions are some few magazines and newspapers that are also occasionally accused of masquerading behind the veil of investigative reporting to push forward some hidden interests. Of course, it is normal to hear such criticisms, especially considering the complex nature of the society, prevalence of competing interests and the challenges in the industry.

While some people are busy criticizing the performance of the media, it is equally correct to suggest that the Nigerian press is one of the most vibrant on the continent. Today, it has, through its performance, created a distinct identity for itself in fighting against political rascality, corruption, human rights abuses and the promotion of due process and rule of law in the country.

Thus, the focus of this chapter is on improving the quality of investigative journalism in the media industry through the strengthening of the capacity of potential reporters and editors at the level of training in the various institutions offering mass communication and journalism courses in the country. Arguably, the quality and credibility of investigative reporting by the media are functions of high quality journalism which is dependent, principally, on the availability, commitment and experience of well-trained media professionals. There can hardly be a shortcut to that.

Just like there are complaints of insufficient number of core professionals in most fields in the country, journalism too is no exception. The number of highly committed professionals engaged in public journalism is relatively low compared to the demand for their services. On the other hand, the expectations of the public on the performance of the media are rising daily, increasing the pressure on the media to perform amidst mounting structural, political and cultural challenges.

PUBLIC EXPECTATIONS

There are enormous public expectations on the performance of the media to provide credible and reliable information that will assist in decision-making and opinion formation. Equally, majority of the people depend on the media for first-hand information to guide them for some of their actions in the public domain.

Thus, because of the public expectations and other professional demands, the Nigerian media is required to develop and sustain a strong tradition of investigation, documentation and reporting to help in instituting and maintaining transparency and accountability in public and private life. For instance, the people expect the media to provide them with detailed and credible evidence-based information for informed decision making about some of the following:

• Corruption and stealing of public resources at all levels
• Abuse of democratic norms and procedures
• Abuse of human rights
• Failure of institutions
• Political brigandage and rascality
• Damage to public property
• Sharp practices in businesses
• Weak, inept and non-performing leaderships
• Electoral frauds
• Upsurge in crimes
• Economic crimes
• High disease burden
• Debilitating poverty
• Rise in violent conflicts
• Progress in the implementation of programmes like the MDGs, NEEDS and SEEDS
• Implementation of budgets
• Privatization of public assets
• Commercialization of religion
• Weak infrastructure
• Impact of trade liberalization, etc

The above listed issues are by no means exhaustive. There are a lot more areas that should engage the attention of the media. With strengthened capacity, the media will have much to investigate and report to the public with the hope of bringing about change, identifying areas of challenges and being part of the solution for the ultimate benefit of the nation and its people.

Arguably, the media institution is aware of these expectations, though battling with challenges that affect the capacity of individual media organs to engage in investigative journalism on a sustained basis. Some of these obstacles include structural, political and cultural factors. Even more challenging is the limitation of attracting and retaining sufficient competent personnel who are expected to spearhead and undertake investigations in the various fields of interests.

Thus, our focus in this chapter, as mentioned from the beginning is on strategizing for scaling up the capacities of media houses in investigative reporting from the level of training offered to potential professionals for the media industry. Without doubt, if potential reporters and editors are equipped with the right techniques and broad frames of minds at the training level, they may grow up as professionals who appreciate and possibly undertake their responsibility as watchmen/women that the society can rely upon.

STRENGTHENING EXISTING JOURNALISM CURRICULA

A cursory examination of existing training curricula in most of the institutions offering mass communication or journalism in the country is likely to reveal that all of them teach investigative reporting/journalism as part of news writing and specialized reporting courses or, in few cases, as independent courses with assigned credit units. In teaching the students, the goal is basically to equip them with the skills and techniques for investigative reporting. Equally, they are drilled in the practical aspects of reporting and in some cases exposed to the challenges of investigative reporting.

However, there are still gaps that we need to address to improve the quality of training offered to our students for them to graduate as liberally and broad-minded professionals who understand their environment and the linkages that exist between the media and the different institutions of society. It is also important that they graduate appreciating their unique positions as assigned by the Nigerian Constitution of monitoring to ensure that elected leaders remain transparent and accountable to the people. Furthermore, they must understand the complexities of their expected roles in the context of a dependent developing democracy like ours.

In fact, one of the criticisms against the training of media professionals in the country is that the curriculum is heavily dependent on imported theories, ideas and skills. Students are disproportionately fed with foreign diets, which they often find difficult to contextualize or apply in the domestic setting. Thus, in strengthening our training capacities, we need to fully expose our students to the history, systems, dynamics, geography, successes and challenges of the Nigerian nation. Furthermore, apart from equipping them with the right skills, they must be sensitized to appreciate their unique roles as professional journalists within the context of a developing country in a globalizing world.

To this end, it is important that our media training institutions should be guided by the following considerations:

Philosophy

The first question to ask is: to what extent is the philosophy of training in our institutions fully reflective of the needs, aspirations and challenges of the Nigeria reality? According to Jimada (1987), the present philosophy of training mass communication students in most African countries negates the national and cultural values in most of the countries. Consequently, the media industry (the radio, TV, newspapers, magazine, etc) end up being supplied with inappropriately trained manpower who are eminently equipped to further perpetuate the use of the mass media for societal domination and even the destruction of its cultural values and identity. Therefore, he argued that it was necessary for a new philosophical imperative to be fashioned out for the training of media professionals in the continent.

Accordingly, the training philosophies for mass communication and journalism students should be rooted in and reflective of the Nigerian/African needs, cultures, ethics, systems, challenges and development processes in the context of global affairs. This suggests that institutions need to emphasize multidisciplinary approaches in the training of media professionals. The philosophical underpinnings should encompass political, social and ethical mobilization strategies that will promote development. Ideally, the country’s ideology or nationally defined philosophy that is widely and popularly accepted should inform our training philosophies, but unfortunately, there is none. Therefore, it is incumbent on the various institutions to fashion out their directions within the existing national priorities, the need for the promotion of freedom of expression and the upliftment of the dignity of man at all times.

Content

The content of the programme is extremely important in the training of media professionals. While we desire to have sufficiently equipped professionals in investigative journalism, it should not be done in isolation of the need to produce complete professionals with broad knowledge base and comprehensive understanding of issues that they need to investigate. Otherwise, we risk producing craftsmen and women who are barely knowledgeable about the realities of the society. So, the question will then be: In what context will they apply the skills if they are ignorant of the linkages in the society?

To this end, I agree with Amadi (1987) who advised that “…communication educators should ensure that students recognize that catholic reading tastes, familiarity with resources and a disposition to double-check statements does not degrade, but enhances their work. The instilling of such habits cannot result from a hasty lecture or two included in a reporting or script writing course; only extensive study can make them second nature.” Thus, we need to broaden the content of our courses to enlarge the scope of the students. A limited scope restricts the mind, thereby narrowing their focus and views about global or national perspectives. The implication is that we end up producing provincially-minded professionals who can hardly appreciate the dynamics of our existence.

Therefore, it is imperative to develop comprehensive and dynamic contents that directly address contemporary realities. Failure to do so will only result in “a confined scope” of interests which cripples the communications student and graduate. It is also important to advise that the spirit of investigative journalism be mainstreamed into the content of most of the courses by raising the students’ level of curiosity and desire for credible investigations. If sufficient areas of inquiry are built into the body of the various courses, students are likely to be challenged to seek for details and venture into new frontiers using journalistic skills and techniques.

Here are some few example of what I mean. I believe a good understanding of issues about governance will help the students to fully investigate the extent to which governments are responsive to the needs of their people. In other words, they will be better equipped to ask how efficient, accountable and honest governments are in collecting and utilizing revenues in their domains. They may want to find out the extent to which governments engage the citizens in policy formulation and implementation; how successful are we in actualizing the MDGs? What is happening to the environment? What is the nature of gender relations in our communities? How are we monitoring and addressing potential conflict issues and points before they explode? What kind of attention are we paying to human rights issues? How are we addressing stereotypes? What should be our roles in the emergence of credible democratic systems? How can the people believe and trust us?

To inculcate this line of thinking in our students, there is the need for the contents of our courses to borrow from far and wide and strongly recommend to our students to pick subsidiary courses in sister departments like Sociology, Anthropology, History, Economics, Psychology, Political Science, Information Technology, Languages and Linguistics, General Knowledge, Agricultural Economics and Extension and most importantly English Language and Literature. Exposing the students to diverse and varied backgrounds will definitely enrich their minds and sharpen their analytical capacities in the real world.

Teaching Methods

No matter how rich the curriculum may look on paper, if the teaching methods and delivery skills are weak or ineffective, the desired objective may not be achieved. Therefore, it is important that we review some of our teaching methods to ensure that they encompass active seminars/presentations in each course, serious class projects and field assignments plus the normal lecture hours. Our students should be exposed from the early stages to exercises like reviewing books in related disciplines and presentation of seminar papers. They should also be engaged in competitive intra and inter class quizzes and debates on current affairs. It is equally important that we encourage them to cultivate and sustain the habit of attending to the radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. Where feasible, we should insist on the usage of recommended textbooks during lecture periods instead of asking the students to make copious and boring notes that are sometimes outdated. Instead, we should encourage them to openly discuss in the classes based on readings from the books.

Of course, I am not unaware that we have the challenge of large numbers of intakes in most of the departments offering mass communication or journalism courses. One way to respond to the problem is to devise creative strategies to bear the burden without undermining quality. Each department, depending on its circumstances, should be able to negotiate its maximum student capacity and determine feasible ways of training them.

Other recommendations include:

• The strengthening of the relationships between the industry and the institutions through internships, field visits, guest lectures, lecturer participation in editorial and production activities, etc.
• Involvement of professionals from the industry in regular review of curriculum.
• Strengthening of relationships between the institutions and Civil Society Groups. This will provide our lecturers and students with opportunities to access new information and broaden their perspectives, especially in participatory and activism journalism.
• Promote the teaching of Public Journalism in the curriculum. Encourage students to approach issues based on evidence instead of rumours or hearsay.
• There should be a comprehensive review of the information/media labour market in Nigeria by our institutions to generate data that will inform their training priorities in each course.

CONCLUSION

It is evident that the training of media professionals in the country must incorporate emerging challenges and extend beyond skills acquisition to a more comprehensive multidisciplinary approach that will broaden the knowledge base of the student. Thus, the need for greater capacity for investigative reporting should be understood from that perspective. Skills of reporting alone will not be sufficient; the professional should have a fair understanding of the society to be able to appreciate the subsystems and know the right questions to ask.

References

Amadi, K. C. (1987). “Value of General Education in Communication Training.” In Ugboajah, F. O. et al (ed.). Communication Training and Practice in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives. Nairobi: ACCE.

Jimada, U. (1987). “Towards a Philosophy of Communication Training.” In Ugboajah, F. O. et al (ed.). Communication Training and Practice in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives. Nairobi: ACCE.

Ochilo, P. O. (1997). “Communication and Journalism Curricula in Africa: The Case of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In Africa Media Review. Vol.11, No.2.