By Chioma Obinagwam
Business reporting is critical to businesses. Hence, the need for journalists to embrace specialization in reportage.
Confiance News gathered from a statement made by Friday Ekeoba, General Editor of National Wire during the Maiden edition of the Campus Business Journalism Awards
Drawing from his extensive experience reporting finance for national dailies like Tribune and Newswatch, Ekeoba explained the potential within business reporting, even in political stories. “When you report that a university official has misappropriated x amount of money, research into what facilities that amount can provide, and you are delving into business reporting,” he illustrated, encouraging participants to develop a niche in business journalism to prepare for real-world media practice after their studies.
The awards ceremony, organized by National Wire, celebrated the achievements of campus journalists excelling in business reporting.
In the Best Business Feature category, Olamide Ayoade, a Mass Communication student from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, with his entry earlier published on Campus Mirror titled
“How OOU Student Entrepreneurs Leverage Tech for Career Advancement”, emerged as the winner.
Sonaike Peter Omotola, Features Editor and a student of Education and Political Science at the University of Ibadan, secured second place, while Tolulope Ayeye, Editor of Indy Press Organization and a Law student at the University of Ibadan, took third place.
Indy Press Organization also clinched the title of Best Campus Journal of the Year 2024, establishing itself as the top campus magazine.
Dayo Emmanuel, Chairman of the awards and News Editor of National Wire, explained the vision behind the initiative: “Our website is strong on financial reporting, and we intend to raise fresh reporters into that beat from the campuses,” he said.
Continuing, he said, “We decided to encourage campus journalists already trying their hands on business reporting, so we put up the call for entries to identify them. Initially, we were not expecting fantastic reports while people were worried for us that we may not get any entry because campus journalists don’t write business stories, but we were bent on starting from somewhere.”
Emmanuel, however, acknowledged the support of Manifold Media and Tayo Olanipekun, the main sponsors, and expressed optimism that the experience would inspire campus journalists to explore financial reporting further.
Victor Emeruwa, Director of Strategy at Manifold Media, commended the initiative for strategically targeting the next generation of reporters. “Many young people want to look into politics because that is what can easily trend, but fantastic opportunities exist in the business desk,” he noted, encouraging the winners to pursue careers in financial journalism.
Lekan Otufodunrin, media trainer and career specialist, praised the focus on business reporting among campus journalists. “This is commendable because it is focusing on the next generation of journalists,” he stated, emphasizing the importance of niche specialization.
Similarly, Muyiwa Akíntúndé, Editor of Breezy News Nigeria, highlighted the initiative’s potential to nurture future journalists, while Ugonma Cokey, Director of Training at Voice of Nigeria, noted its role in equipping campus journalists for the industry. “This is unique because it shows campus journalists the need for business reporting, positioning them a step ahead when they join the industry,” she observed.
Sanmi Falobi, Program Manager of the International Press Centre (IPC), urged the organizers to sustain the initiative, emphasizing the importance of resilience. “You must not relent and must not despise the days of small beginnings. Many of us look back at projects that started as dreams and are now big,” he encouraged.
Representing the panel of judges, Ishaya Ibrahim, Editor at The Niche newspaper, praised the contestants’ commitment and urged campus journalists to explore business reporting from a student’s perspective “Business reporting is a unique field with its specialities, and campus journalists should look in that direction to tell the outside world what happens in that field,” he advised.
The event marked a significant milestone in nurturing future business reporters from Nigerian campuses, laying the foundation for the next generation of financial journalists.
National Wire, run daily by three journalists from different cohorts of the Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa (BMIA), began publishing via nationalwire.com.ng in 2016. The website has remained strong on financial articles and has generated responses from Nigeria and beyond.
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