By Uzair Adam Imam
Department of Mass Communication, Kano State Polytechnic, organised a one-day lecture series to prepare their students about the dynamic nature of 21 century journalism.
The event Thursday had three guest speakers who discussed on the topics; The 21st Century Mass Communication Students by Associate Professor, Mainasara Yakubu Kurfi, Head of Mass Communication Department, Bayero University, Kano.
The remaining two were: Crime and Judicial Reporting by Comrade Abbas Ibrahim, Chairman Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano and Reading: A pathway to Entrepreneurial Journalism by Mal. Badamasi Aliyu.
Speaking after the event, the convener, Malam Aisar Salihu Musa (Aisar Fagge) said, the essence of the event was to prepare students about the new skills of 21st century journalism.
He added that the event would also help the upcoming journalists develop a critical and entrepreneurial mindset which will enable them to excel in their choosen career.
In his words, Aisar stated, “The emergence of new media technologies, the ICT and the user-generated-content have transformed the way news is produced, consumed and distributed. So there is a need for our students to know about these changes in the practice of 21st century journalism.
“Not only that, there is also a need to introduce our students into entrepreneurial journalism, especially in a country where job opportunities are rare; a country with a massive unemployment problem where majority of the youths are roaming the street without job.
“So the students need to know that they can get job for themselves by learning new skills assisted by the internet. Students could be content creaters, content developers, writers, advert practitioners, copywriters, public speakers,” he stated.
In his paper: “Reading: The Pathway to Entrepreneurial Journalism,” Mal. Aliyu said, by reading, you can become whatever you want in life. You can write well, speak good because of reading good books. Knowledge and skills are buried in books. Explore them and be what you want to be. I got 4 million naira as a result of the book I read “How to write a business plan.
The event was graced by the academic and non-academic staff across the Kano Poly schools, lecturers from Bayero University, Kano, Federal University Dutsin-ma, Al-Qalam University, FCE Kano and former students among others.
The Head of Department, Mass Communication, Kano State Polytechnic, Malama Binta Muhammad Lawal, ably represented by one of the lecturers, Malam Salihu Sule Khalid, commended the event.
