by Akan Imoh
Firstly, CNN did not send the interns or should I say the ‘Newbies’ in journalism, No, they rather sent in heavyweights, those who would command respect.
One thing our local media has failed to realize is the fact that they have great powers. The situation on ground can be compared to having a race-car yet driving it like a snail on the express road.
Our media houses do not understand the enormous power they wield. They forget that they are supposed to be the watchdogs of the society. But to be fair to them a little, I ask, how can we make hungry dogs watchdogs of the society?
The truth is that we still have a lot to learn from our foreign counterparts when it comes to covering hot issues such as the current search for the kidnapped girls.
Well, I was extremely glad when the CNN crew landed in Nigeria to cover the search. My gladness stemmed from the fact that professionalism as well as fearless, unhindered investigating would begin… and I wasn’t wrong.
Firstly, CNN did not send the interns or should I say the ‘newbies’ in journalism, no – they rather sent in heavyweights, those who would command respect.
Secondly, excellence in journalism began to show immediately. You could see how the reporters began engaging the public, the government spokesperson, looking for sources. It was also refreshing to see these reporters raise very intelligent questions; questions that had previously not been asked.
Thirdly, you could see and sense boldness in their engagements. One of them was always mentioning Doyin Okupe (A spokesperson of the President) in his tweets. He even requested an interview with this government official through a Direct Message on Twitter. I’m a journalist and I know how long and how difficult it is to secure an interview with someone of Okupe’s clout, worse still, now request an interview via DM…forget it, you’ll never get that interview.
Well, I picked out some tweets by the CNN’s journalists, you’ll marvel at their competence, boldness and passion for the job.
– JIM CLANCY @Clancycnn
“No, not too late. These girls are alive. They want to go home. There’s a huge amount that can be done to achieve it.”
“To my #Nigerian friends and #BringBackOurGirls – Know @CNN is going to be ALL OVER this story, all the time from now on…somebody has to!”
“@doyinokupe Pls see DM requesting interview.”
“#BringBackOurGirls It is not my intention to simply judge Nigeria’s official response. They need to DO SOMETHING first, then I can judge”
“@doyinokupe What “effort” exactly? Who in the military is in charge of their operations? How many troops committed?”
“@doyinokupe We are almost 3 weeks into this crisis and the government has not provided photos, a list of names or anything else.”
“@doyinokupe Believe me, we are all ears! Please tell me who is the designated spokesman for the government handling of the crisis?”
– ISHA SESAY @IshaSesayCNN
“In Nigeria as part of team covering missing girls. Tweet me questions you want put to officials.#BringBackOurGirls http://pic.twitter.com/d0YE4Bm8pb“
“On the ground in Nigeria as part of growing #CNN team for continuous in-depth coverage of missing Nigerian schoolgirls. #BringBackOurGirls”
“More than 2 weeks on and still 100+ abducted Nigerian schoolgirls still missing. How can that be?? I’m here with CNN to cover this story.”
“So good to once again be on my home continent. Great to be back in Nigeria! A big thank you for all the warm welcome msgs!!”
– VLAD DUTHIERS @VladDuthiersCNN
“Will be live with @ErrolCNN in a few minutes to talk about the fate of the kidnapped girls in #Chibok #nigeria #WhereAreOurGirls”
“@VladDuthiersCNN: Thanks to @CNN’s @brianstelter for having us on @CNNReliable to talk about the fate of 200+ girls kidnapped in #Nigeria. #WhereAreOurGirls”
It is important to note that with the injection of these reporters into the fray, it gave the whole social media campaign a whole new boost.
Check this out:
“@TrendsmapAbuja: Isha Sesay, @ishasesaycnn is now trending in #Abuja http://t.co/EbTL7bPEKk“
Indeed, we have a lot to learn about starting and keeping up news stories. Our local media need to truly understand the meaning ‘Agenda Setting Theory.’
That’s all I have to say for now.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
