By Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
JALINGO – The Taraba State House of Assembly in collaboration with the SHA-ED Integrated have commenced a Two-day capacity building workshop for journalists covering the parliament with the theme “enhancing effective parliamentary reporting for accountability and good governance”.
The Speaker of the House Hon. John Bonzena who declared the training open in Jalingo on Thursday noted that the role of journalists is indispensable and the ever changing dynamics of the parliamentary arm of government calls for constant training and capacity building for the journalists.
In his keynote speech, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashmere Professor Umar Pate said that Taraba State has a high rate of quack journalists and constant training and capacity building is indispensable.
“The nature of communication at all levels is in transition all over the world. The information revolution and development of the internet have given birth to a powerful and pervasive system of communication with profound impact across boundaries of time, space, status etc.
“These developments have created limitless opportunities, affected roles and caused difficulties and uncertainties in the communication and Media sectors, nationally and internationally.
“E-Legislation system through multiple platforms to facilitate legislative activities…. requires the journalists covering this beat to be in tune and equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to function optimally.
“Going forward, journalists must deliberately mainstream Artificial Intelligence in their work, respect political principles like plurality, accountability, collective identities, relevance and collaboration in public communication”
While presenting on Ethical Consideration in Parliamentary Reporting, Barr. Danjuma Adamu noted that parliamentary reporting is a sensitive area of reportage and call for the establishment of a Parliamentary Reporting Framework incorporating global best practices and local contexts.
