​Next Gen Intern’s Diary: Learning the Art of Pro-Freedom Journalism, by Shereefdeen Ahmad​

A few months ago, when I saw the application for the 2026 Next Gen Internship Programme, I already pictured myself working at a specific platform. I will tell you about the platform shortly. 

​The Next Gen internship programme, an initiative by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development’s (CJID) under its Campus Reporter project, is targeted to equip emerging journalists and recent graduates with hands-on newsroom experience, high-level mentorship, and ethical storytelling skills. It bridges the gap between student journalism and mainstream media practice.

The initiative places successful applicants in a three-month internship in their preferred media platform they selected during application. I was selected among the 11 outstanding candidates across Nigeria for the 2026 cohort. 

For me, ​I wanted something different. Something different from the usual conventional style of journalism, and that desire led me straight to fill in The Liberalist, Nigeria’s sole pro-freedom platform dedicated to promoting liberty and prosperity across Africa, as my preferred newsroom.

​Mobilized in May, my first month as an intern at The Liberalist has been everything I envisaged and anticipated. I find myself completely immersed in learning the art and craft of pro-freedom journalism, a specialised field dedicated to defending liberty. 

As part of my core responsibilities, I have taken over the platform’s weekly newsletter, which curates and analyses one vital, topical issue published during the week.

​This task requires me to select a compelling published article and break it down analytically for our audience. Every Monday at 9:00 PM, this newsletter lands in the inboxes of over 4,000 subscribers. To hit this deadline, I draft the content every Saturday, submit it for editorial review, and schedule the final version either late Sunday night or early Monday morning. The routine has hands-on benefits, as it exposes me to the practical operations of Substack and teaches me how to effectively manage and schedule digital publications.

​During my first week, I analysed Morocco’s decision to remove Malian nationals from its electronic travel authorization system, known as Autorisation Électronique de Voyage au Maroc (AEVM). In the second week, I shifted my focus to the domestic front, examining how Nigeria’s new tax policy actively threatens local health innovation.

​Beyond the newsletter, my role includes producing multimedia explainer videos and graphics. Recently, I produced a visual explainer detailing how Burkina Faso’s military junta disbanded over 100 civil society organisations and non-governmental bodies. Civil society organisations play an indispensable role in protecting human rights and upholding the rule of law. Because of this, human rights analysts warn that the junta’s crackdown signals a broader, dangerous pattern to silence dissent and restrict the civic space within the nation.

​Pro-freedom journalism champions a free society where individual freedom flourishes. Producing an explainer video to distill the severe consequences of this military junta felt exciting. As multimedia storytelling becomes increasingly vital in our digital era, mastering tools like Canva and CapCut gives me a distinct competitive advantage, and I feel thrilled to participate directly in this modern media landscape.

​For years, I have harbored a deep ambition to become a pro-freedom journalist. My passion for this field ignited in 2022 after I participated in the Journalism for Liberty Fellowship. That fellowship fueled my career interests and exposed me to the foundational nitty-gritty of pro-freedom journalism, which actively advocates for free markets, individual liberty, and economic freedom.

​Admittedly, this specialised field presents unique challenges. Understanding these deep philosophical concepts requires extensive reading and rigorous study. This intellectual demand represents the most challenging part of my journey so far. Pro-freedom writing is not random news reporting that a writer can simply pick up and produce on a whim; it requires a profound, foundational understanding of liberty principles before one can successfully carve out a journalistic angle.

​I intend to overcome this challenge by committing myself to more rigorous research than ever before. In the meantime, I am glad to be learning the art of pro-freedom journalism, and I look forward to the growth ahead.