My Second Month Experience at The Hope Newspaper: Diary Reports

Over the past two months, I’ve been a participant in the 2024 cohort of the Next Gen Internship Programme of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID)  and I am glad to share that I have learnt a lot beyond my imagination. Recall that I was assigned to The Hope newspaper where I’ve been opportune to cover several reports and experience real newsroom life under the leadership of Mr Akindele Adebubola. 

From filing reports about Ondo’s upcoming elections to fact-checking and completing several other tasks assigned to me, here are the highlights of my lessons in the second month.

My first report for the month was titled “Economic hardship fuels voter apathy in Edo, Ondo”. I did this by interviewing residents who already had their voter’s cards to get their ideas about the upcoming election. This was tedious as I found it hard to convince my sources to speak to me because most people seemed to be afraid of speaking about the election. 

I also participated in the 2024 Dubawa WeekforTruth as a volunteer and held my outreach at Marvelous Star Tutorial. After the outreach, I submitted a Reporter’s Diary titled: My Experience at Dubawa Week For Truth 2024.

In addition, I fact-checked a claim which stated that the Ondo Government disbursed money to artisans while gearing up for elections. As the Ondo State Gubernatorial election approached, several claims flew around social media and among members of the public. So I decided to verify that particular claim and found it misleading. The claim had been shared in several WhatsApp groups and status and had raised a lot of scepticism among members of the public who wondered if the governor truly dashed out the money or loaned it to artisans. In-house training on how to cover stories that matter was also conducted for interns and staff members in preparation for the Ondo State Gubernatorial Elections.

Currently, I am working on another report about how social media contributes to mental health issues among the youth. This will focus on the excessive use of social media and its consequences relating to mental health disorders.

I look forward to what the last month of the internship will bring and how much I will learn. 

End note: Fatimah Idera is a participant in the Next Gen/Campus Reporter 2024 Internship Programme. To read about her experiences during the first month of the internship, click here.