POLARIS Bank has renewed its commitment to capacity building in Nigeria’s media industry in order to upskill journalists and improve the quality of financial reportage in the country.
To this end, the bank last week organised a one-day media training designed to furnish journalists and media practitioners with the latest trends in the field.
The training, which was held in Lagos, had seasoned journalist and former banker, Akin Olaniyan, who drilled the journalists on delivering a well-balanced and effective report especially as it concerns the sensitive nature of the financial space.
Delivering a lecture on, “Reporting Finance in a Depressed Economy,” Olaniyan while using Nigeria’s current economy reality as a case study, highlighted some variables that journalists and media practitioners must pay attention to in order to deliver an effective reportage.
While also admitting some of the challenges journalists face on the job, which include media ownership structure, lack of capacity, poor remuneration, regulatory issues, ethno-religious considerations among others, he noted that these factors affect the quality of their reports.
However, Olaniyan advised that journalists maintain the ethical values of journalism practice as one single skewed publication could have a devastating impact on its audience, companies and organisations and even the economy of the country.
He commended the management of Polaris Bank for organising the training while adding that continuous and on-the-job training of reporters such as this would help them learn and relearn as well as to boost their capacity in delivery of their jobs.
On his part, Sheriff Adekoya, the director-general of Edgeforth Business Solutions and brand strategy firm who lectured on “Media Intelligence and Strategy” gave an insight on how technology can be effectively harnessed in journalism, advertising and branding.
According to him, technology is moving at a very fast pace, rapidly shaping daily activities and journalists and media practitioners alike are expected to leverage the opportunity to innovate and explore new ideas or be swept under the carpet in a constantly changing world.
He stressed that journalists who are particular about brand journalism need to create a unique pattern in their style of writing, and that a deep understanding of the brand and product that they wish to promote would enable them create brand believability among their target audience.
The Group Head, Strategies, Brand Management of Polaris Bank, Ndumeche Ezurike, urged the participants to embrace the knowledge acquired from the training to improve on their jobs for the benefit of the society at large and to be conscious of their corporate social responsibility as journalists.
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer, Polaris Bank, Adekunle Sonola, has said the bank is growing and positioning itself for digital leadership and market dominance.
In a statement, he assured its customers, financial sector stakeholders and regulators that the bank passed its road to recovery years back.
According to him, careful rethinking and re-strategising corporate plans created the bedrock of competitive burst and business sustainability, both attributes that Polaris Bank had focused on in the last few years, working with professional bodies such as PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG across several corporate verticals.
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