Nigeria needs journalism practice that pushes people to solve problems

Editor’s Notes

Despite the existence of theoretical grounds that emphasise the need for development and developmental journalism practices, Nigerians have been bombarded with negative events more than positive events throughout the years. Solutions journalism originated as a new style of journalism practice as a result of the media stakeholders’ failure to produce good news more than bad news. Reporting on people’s responses to issues is the emphasis of solutions journalism.

In this regard, our analyst interacts with Dr. Adebiyi Rasheed Ademola, who recently received a Solutions Journalism Fellowship from the Solutions Journalism Network in the United States, which was implemented by Nigeria Health Watch in Abuja. He believes that it is high time that media practitioners and owners have mindset shift in terms of news they produced and how they produced them for the public consumption.

Excerpts

Tekedia: Can we meet you, please?

A: I am Rasheed Ademola Adebiyi. I hold a PhD from the University of Ibadan. I teach at the Department of Mass Communication, Fountain University, Osogbo, Nigeria. Currently, I am a 2022 fellow of the Solutions Journalism Africa Fellowship with the main aim of mainstreaming Solutions Journalism practice and teaching in the media ecosystem in Osun State, Southwest Nigeria.

Tekedia: Can you tell us more about the fellowship?

Adebiyi: Thank you very much. As I stated earlier, the main mandate of the fellowship is to advocate for the practice and teaching of Solutions Journalism by newsrooms and media learning centres. The fellowship is supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, New York and implemented by the Nigeria Health Watch, Abuja. I intend to achieve this in four different ways. One, I put forward advocacy. Two, I train the newsrooms and their journalists on solutions reporting. Three, I create a WhatsApp hub for SoJo in the state. Four, I monitor the generation of solutions stories. I have been on advocacy visits to selected newsrooms and Departments of Mass Communication in the state talking to them on how to mainstream this brand of journalism into their curriculum and practice.

I have been advocating for four mind-shifts- focus, pedagogical, role and space. I have been engaging newsrooms on how to shift focus from problem reporting to solutions reporting. I have had conversation with the learning centres on how to shift from the philosophical background of bad news is news to good could be news. I have also told the media ecosystem in the state to move from the watchdog role to the guide dog role. I have also advocated for more space for solutions reporting. On this mandate, I have visited Rave FM, Osogbo, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), Osogbo, Nigerian Television Authority, Osogbo as well as state offices of News Agency of Nigeria and Voice of Nigeria. I have also met with media professional bodies in the state such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists, National Association of Women Journalists and Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria. The reception has been wonderful. I also had a training for selected journalists last Wednesday. Besides these interactions with professionals, I also engaged the academia through seminars and presentations. I am due to present to a panel comprising of both the media teachers and practitioners at the Lagos Studies Association conference coming up later this month (June, 2022).

Tekedia: You have mentioned a lot about Solutions Journalism, its practice and teaching. Could you tell us how it is different from the usual journalism practice that we know?

Adebiyi: Well, Solutions Journalism is a new trend in journalism that focuses on response to social problem. It is rigorous and evidence based and it seeks to draw insights from the response. Not only that, solutions reporting also looks for evidence that the response works (or not) and reports limitations of the response. It is different from the problem-focused reporting because instead of considering the problem, it engages the response to the problem thereby giving agency to people to solve their own problems. It gives the opportunity to people to at least take off their eyes from the everyday problem which is becoming normal in their lives and directs such focus on responses to these problems. SoJo also ensures that the whole story is told. The whole story in the sense that for every problem in any society, there are responses to such by people within the society whose voices are not being accentuated. So, what we are advocating is that journalists and reporters should tell the complete story of what is happening in the society.

Tekedia: Interesting. What was your experience on the journey so far?

Adebiyi: The experience has been wonderful. The reception has been amazing. Interestingly, the newsrooms have been generating some kind of solutions-related content. For instance, both the TV and radio stations visited have one or two programmes which are focusing on responses one way or the other. So, in those instances, we pleaded that SoJo should be incorporated into their everyday consumable content such as news. By bringing solutions stories into the news, they increase the frequency at which people have access to the solutions-focused stories.

For journalists, they see SoJo as what they have been doing but it comes only once in a while. To them, we urged them to put more focus on solutions reporting. A lot of the time, the question was to understand the difference between solutions reportage and development reporting. We always provided the difference as solutions journalism is a strand of development reporting which is seeking to put people in the driver’s seat of their development journeys. Questions that bothered on their fears were thrown at us, we tried to answer the questions as creatively as possible. This is because these fears are likely barriers against the practice of solutions journalism. Largely, the experience has been wonderful.

Tekedia: Moving forward, what is your focus after the fellowship?

Adebiyi: After the fellowship, continuous engagement of the issues raised in the course of the fellowship would continue. I have a plan to establish a Media Innovation Laboratory where I continue to engage issues militating against independent media such as financing, ownership interference, engagement of development issues and other problems. On the advocacy journey, I saw a gap in continuous professional education for journalists and media practitioners. I intend to fill the gap with the proposal of a media laboratory where we would continue to engage those issues and more.

Tekedia: Thank you for your time.

Adebiyi: My pleasure.