By Olatunji Tolulope
Leading commercial bank in Nigeria, Polaris Bank Limited held media training for media practitioners in the finance sector in Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
The event held at Jevinik Place, had many participants from some foremost and reputable media organizations. It primarily aimed at fostering cordial relationships between them and the bank, plus adding more knowledge on business reporting.
In his welcome address, the bank’s Group Head, Brand Management and Corporate Communications, Nduneche Ezurike, on behalf of the management, happily thanked the participants for their patience and their attitude towards the event.
“Most of what we have learned that brought us to where we are now has expired. There must be a commitment to learning in a way that brings a lot of humility” the bank officer clearly stated on the competition in the media industry.
He further said: “Your experience will only count if you have the capacity and the skill to be relevant for today. If you don’t beat the capacity of freshness, you will not be relevant”
Ezurike said the essence of the training was to create a mutual understanding through the highs and lows, not only that but to look toward the future of business reporting. He, therefore encouraged the participants to open their minds to learning, hopeful of a great turnaround in their careers.
The first lecture tagged “Reporting Finance in a Depressed Economy” was handled by a business media expert and former Group Business Editor of Punch Newspaper, Akin Olaniyan. He admonished participants on how to do balance in reporting news in the finance sector, especially, in the current situation of the country, having spelt out the devastating indices of the economy.
Olaniyan stated that journalists must report in the context of happenings around them. He said; “the quality of the media will determine the quality of democracy. It is what the public sees, what they have access to as far what the media reports help give their prompt decision”.
The “Problem with Nigeria Media” author stated theory of social responsibility helps the public in the sense of reflection, favouring the interpretation and analysis of the event. He further said the theory helps to neutralise the constraint imposed by the government of the day.
He brought the idea of developmental journalism, stating some factors that shape news which is the economic, political, technological and cultural factors. He challenged the participants that they should know the nitty-gritty of finance before they can report business.
A communication strategist, Sheriff Adekoya gave the last lecture on strategic media intelligence. He explained how the world is evolving especially in the media industry, stating that the present-day world is fast becoming the diffusion of ideas as opposed that it is the osmosis of ideas.
Adekoya said that the then ravaging COVID-19 pandemic has changed the thinking of mankind towards the digital age, where most people are flowing with the latest trend in the world due to the advancement in technology rather than sticking to the traditional way of doing things.
He said that pseudo-realism- something that is real and cannot be verified-is fast becoming the norm, telling participants to be mindful of how they expose their data. He added that media professionals must be cautious about how their content influences the digital age, stating they must be signal-driven and impactful.
At the end of the two lectures, there were questions and answer sessions that made the participants rub their minds with the facilitators about issues in the media industry.
