In a bid to bridge the gap in African media’s reportage of sustainable development issues, African Newspage (http://www.AfricanNewspage.net) has launched its African Newspage Journalism Masterclass Series, which offers media capacity development for African journalists across various themes from climate and food security to trade and regional integration as well as migration and mobility, among others.

The series was launched earlier this October with a Climate Solutions Journalism (SoJo) masterclass that exposed Nigerian journalists to the climate change phenomenon as well as how to report innovative and community-driven solutions to the climate crisis. The masterclass was targeted (https://apo-opa.co/48idNtK) at journalists from across diverse media platforms, namely print, online, radio, TV, as well as bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters.

The masterclass was held in collaboration with Nigeria Health Watch, Solutions Journalism Network (SJN), Climate Africa Reporting Toolkit Africa and the Organization for Community and Civic Engagement (OCCEN).

A press statement by African Newspage (http://apo-opa.co/4dW0cJN) said the Masterclass offered a unique opportunity for Nigerian journalists to deepen their understanding of not only the climate crisis and its implications but also how to embark on solution-oriented climate reporting —against the media’s current prevailing obsession with reporting problems and what is not working in society.

The statement quoted Mr. Adam Alqali, Editor-in-Chief of African Newspage (http://apo-opa.co/4dW0cJN), saying: “The masterclass not only empowered journalists with an understanding of climate change but also introduced them to the principles of Solutions Journalism (SoJo). They can now report on innovative, community-driven solutions to the challenges posed by the climate crisis, thereby enabling the replication of such solutions across other communities and societies.”

Mr. Alqali emphasized that the essence of Solutions Journalism lies in examining not just what is working in society but how the solutions have been implemented, whether or not they worked, and or why they didn’t work. This approach, he said, assists communities and policymakers in taking the right steps toward replicating and scaling such responses to development challenges.

Among others, the masterclass also equipped participants with the necessary tools to identify and pitch SoJo story ideas and empowered them to raise awareness about community-driven solutions to the climate crisis to empower communities to take an active role in building climate resilience and preparedness.

One of the participants, Ismail Auwal, a New York Times freelance journalist, said (http://apo-opa.co/4dTk9AD) he found the masterclass engaging. “This is my first time being exposed to Solutions Journalism and climate reporting. I found the climate journalism course very engaging and understandable to even those who do not have a science background.”

Zulaiha Danjuma, an investigative journalist said (http://apo-opa.co/4dTk9AD): “Coming from a background of core investigative reporting, the masterclass has inspired me to produce SoJo stories. This is a wake-up call and will help me utilize investigative reporting techniques for SoJo reporting to achieve the same impact. In the course of the masterclass, I was able to develop a story pitch based on a story idea that's been in my head for three months.”

The objectives of the masterclass series are to empower African journalists to effectively report and influence sustainable development at national, regional and continental levels; Report on crucial development challenges using multiple forms of journalism, including investigative reporting, accountability reporting, advocacy reporting, conflict-sensitive journalism, etc as well as critically examine, evaluate and interpret development plans, projects and policies at national, regional and continental levels particularly SDGs and Agenda 2063.