Society

East, Northern regions: CAMASEJ, US embassy train journalists on investigative journalism.

Some participants at end of training to unearth cover-ups

The Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ, has in collaboration to the United States Embassy in Yaounde, trained some 25 journalists drawn from Adamawa, North, Far North and East Regions, on investigative journalism.
This was during a workshop which took place in Ngaoundere from June 20 to 21. It was the second after a similar training in Douala grouping journalists from six other regions of the country.

During the Ngaoundere phase of the exercise, the journalists were schooled on coming up with good investigative reports.

One of the resources persons, Franklin Sone Bayen, a senior investigative journalist and editor, reminded participants that venturing into investigation is unearthing something someone is trying to hide.

To succeed in such a mission, he advised journalists to be “persistent and determined to get what is being covered up".

Participants were also taught how to verify information online, write good pitches and fact check information.

One of the participants, Joel Maman, a staff of the Far North Bureau of Cameroon Tribune, one of the Cameroon News and Publishing Cooperation, SOPECAM, told The Guardian Post that he has, thanks to the training, acquired fresh skills to better investigate stories.

The skills, he said, “will help me to identify and write good Investigative stories".

Another journalist based in Ngaoundere, Mary Namondo, said thanks to his passion in exposing wrongdoing, the training has reawaken her curiosity.

The Press and Media Coordinator of the US Embassy in Cameroon, Rodrigue Nganzi, on his part, lauded the training as a veritable way of sparking change.

"Professional gatherings like this are very important because when you put the knowledge to proper use, it brings about change," Nganzi remarked.

He encouraged the journalists to put the knowledge acquired to good use.

At the end of the training, participants were tasked to come up with investigative pitches. Ten of the best pitches, it was announced, will receive funding from the US Embassy.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3150 of Wednesday June 26, 2024