Blessing Oladunjoye, BONews publisher, held a one-day capacity-building workshop for entry-level female journalists with 1-3 years of professional experience in and around Lagos state on Friday, 16 June 2023, at the International Press Center, Ogba, Lagos. Tagged ‘Leading (Media) Ladies’, the training was designed to broaden participants’ knowledge on navigating the challenges in the newsroom.
She engaged Lekan Otufodunrin, Executive Director of Media Career Development Network (MCDN); Adeola Ekine, Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) Lagos; and Juliana Francis, Deputy Editor, Eagle Online as resource persons. They provided their expertise and equipped the nineteen (19) participants with skills to emerge as newsroom leaders.
Francis, who won the 2022 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSAIR) award in the print category, took participants through the challenges of female journalists in Nigeria and how to overcome these limitations by setting career goals to help their emergence as leaders in the newsroom. Ekine listed steps to identify the right mentors and the advantages of mentorship for young professionals. The NAWOJ chairperson also identified the challenges of finding female mentors within the media industry. On his part, Otufodunrin of MCDN took participants through how female journalists can forge ahead despite challenges in the newsroom, break limitations that prevent female newsroom leadership and build allies and support systems within the media space.