An NGO, Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI), on Wednesday, charged journalists on the use of data in reporting, especially on environmental issues.
Mr Ikechukwu
Ahaka, the Programme Officer, MAJI, made the call while speaking at a capacity
building workshop on using data participatory media tools for environmental
reporting for Yenagoa-based journalists.
He said that under
the Data Casting Biodiversity (DATACAB) project funded by the French Embassy,
the NGO had recruited and trained volunteers.
According to him,
the volunteers will serve as monitors to collect primary data from oil
communities during pollution incidents.
He said that the
data would be analysed and presented to media practitioners to make their
stories comprehensive.
Ahaka said that
modern trends and innovative analysis had made data an essential ingredient in
telling and authenticating stories that concern the environment.
“Data has become
the new oil and data has become so essential an ingredient in environmental
reporting and we observed that the available data is not inserted in the
reportage of Niger Delta environment.
“We put this
session together to see how environment reports from the Niger Delta could be
data-driven as data gives credibility and authenticity to stories because they
are empirical,” Ahaka said.
He said that the
National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has a rich database
on oil spill incidents in the country.
Ahaka said this
could be very useful for journalists covering the environment beat and urged
them to utilise the resources.
Mr Alfred Egbegi,
the Publisher of Izon Link, noted that the Niger Delta region was replete with
frequent pollutions and introducing the use of data would enhance the
understanding of readers.
Similarly, Mrs
Pauline Onyibe, Correspondent of New Telegraph Newspapers, outlined the
challenges facing reporters in covering environmental stories to include
hostile oil communities, insecurity and challenging terrain of the region.
In his
contribution, Mr Mike Tayase, State Correspondent of Daily Asset Newspapers,
called for caution and scrutiny of the data source.
He noted that
groups with vested interests, including oil firms could manipulate data to suit
their purpose, adding that bias in the data collection process would adversely
affect the outcome. (
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