UNESCO to Advance Journalism Practice in Building Sense of Belongingness

United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Tuesday said it would further promote journalism practice as means of building a sense of belongingness in the profession.

Mr Macualey Olushola, the National Professional Officer, UNESCO Regional office, made this known at a two-day event of training the trainers on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Abuja.

The theme of the event is “Think, Create, Share the News’’.

He said that the organisation was determined to achieve the feat by helping reporters to truly act as channels of information and knowledge through which citizens would communicate with each other to make informed decisions.

“Journalism facilitates informed debates between diverse social actors and provides us with much of what we learn about the world beyond our immediate experience.

“It functions as a watchdog of government in all its forms, promoting transparency in public life and public scrutiny of those with power through exposing corruption, maladministration and corporate wrong-doings.

“It is an essential facilitator of democratic processes and one of the guarantors of free and fair elections and vehicle for cultural expression and cultural cohesion within and between nations,“ he said.

According to him, MIL is an important prerequisite for fostering equitable access to information and knowledge to engagement in a digital society.

In his presentation, Mr Olunifesi Asekunle, UNESCO Coordinator, MIL University Networks, said that MIL consisted of all the knowledge, skills and values which a country wished its young people to acquire.

“It will also provides quality education for students, both in terms of the level of engagement it generates and the outcomes it produces,“ he added. (NAN)