November / December’s Diary: My Internship Experience with Confidence News. 

My Internship with Confidence News has been a very insightful one. As with the first two months of the programme, the last month has also been a time of dedicated learning and personal growth in the journalism field. 

In the quest for personal development, I participated in a 1-day Gender Based Violence workshop organised by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID). The workshop featured conversations about the media’s role in combating GBV, and techniques for interviewing survivors among others. This workshop helped me recognise the possibility of producing high-quality GBV-related stories.  I also reported the workshop in a news story that detailed experts’ recommendations on protective measures for journalists reporting GBV-related stories. 

In the early part of December,  I produced a fact-check on the viral claims that Netflix was exiting Nigeria and found it misleading. This fact-check was challenging as it was difficult to get accurate online information about the claim.

I was also assigned to coordinate students from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) who were interning with Confidence News. I introduced them to the newsroom ethics and style just the way I was taught and edited some news reports to test my skills and understanding of the in-house style. I also edited a feature story written by an IT student, Musa Aminah, on the UDUS commemoration of World Soil Day. 

Additionally, I wrote an argumentative article on Nigeria’s tax reform titled. Nigeria’s tax reform: An appraisal or Detriment to National Economy( Not yet published). 

As we are about to round up this cohort, I’m glad I was a participant and I’m confident that this invaluable internship has nurtured my skills and aided my transition into mainstream journalism.