Lagos, Nigeria – September 9, 2024 – The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) proudly announces the commencement of its four-day StoryLab workshop in Lagos, running from September 9th to 12th, 2024. This workshop, part of the third edition of the Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI) by the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ), London, will convene 18 investigative journalists from Nigeria, The Gambia, and Ghana.
The StoryLab workshop is designed to elevate the skills of climate and environmental journalists, focusing on cross-border climate and environmental reporting. This is based on the delivery of a region-contextualized version of a Climate Investigations Course (CIC). The initiative aims to empower journalists to hold regulators accountable, raise public awareness, and advocate for sustainable practices. By fostering collaboration and supporting the development of effective policies and strategies, the workshop and other post-workshop activities seeks to strengthen climate and environmental governance across West Africa.
The OCRI 3.0 program is facilitating crucial cross-border cooperation among journalists globally, enabling them to investigate and expose environmental violations by both state and non-state actors. Such violations contribute significantly to environmental degradation, loss of habitats, resource scarcity, and diminished livelihoods, particularly affecting vulnerable communities in the region.
Nicholas Adeniyi, CJID’s Climate Change Project Coordinator, highlighted the workshop’s distinctive approach. “Our mission extends beyond traditional training. We aim to empower journalists to report on environmental issues in a way that drives real impact,” Adeniyi stated. “Participants are selected based on the potential impact of their story ideas, which will be honed by a team of expert investigative editors throughout the workshop.”
The workshop’s curriculum is tailored to address the specific environmental challenges and experiences unique to the Sub-Saharan region. Following the workshop, participants will receive grants to support their investigations into climate change and environmental issues, ensuring their reporting is both in-depth and impactful. Additionally, they will join the CJID Cross-Border Climate Reporting Network, promoting ongoing collaboration on regional climate and environmental stories.
Adeolu Adekola, Project Manager of OCRI at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, London, urged participants to fully leverage the opportunities provided by the workshop. “The storylab framework of the workshop is going beyond only equipping journalists with the needed skills to fostering a collaborative and research-based system for investigative climate change stories. This workshop is the first of four with others planned for other regions namely Latin America, South Asia and Francophone Africa. Following the StoryLab, participants will also receive story grants and digital tools to support their research and evidence-based reporting,” Adekola noted, emphasizing the workshop’s commitment to fostering impactful storytelling.
Since 2020, CJID has trained over 400 journalists on climate change, produced a comprehensive climate change reporting handbook, and significantly transformed the landscape of climate change media in Africa. This StoryLab workshop marks the seventh in CJID’s series of capacity-building workshops focused on climate change and environmental journalism, reflecting the Centre’s ongoing dedication to advancing investigative journalism in these critical areas.
About CJID
The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is a West African media innovation and development think-tank. With a continental scope of work, CJID operates across 11 countries in Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa.
The Centre has been a leader in investigative journalism, innovation, open data, verification, promotion of the welfare and safety of journalists, elections, as well as the freedom of information and expression. CJID’s vision is to promote and enable a media landscape that advances values of democracy.
