By Adelola Amihere
The Ripples Centre for Data and Investigative Journalism (RCDIJ), a non-profit sister organisation to Ripples Nigeria, Nigeria’s award-winning online newspaper, is set to hold its annual masterclass on data journalism for African journalists.
The specialised training tagged ‘RCDIJ Data Journalism Masterclass 2020’ is In partnership with Open Contracting Partnership, Code for Africa, BudgIT, Tracka, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and JetSystems and is expected to commence on Thursday, November 26, at Work and Connect, 50 Ubitu Ukiwe Street, Jabi, Abuja from 9am to 5pm
Speaking on the rationale for the selected focus areas, the Executive Director of the centre, Mr Samuel Ibemere, said, “2020 has been a truly challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has the pandemic directly upended life as we know it, its fallouts have also been gravely damaging.
“One area that has occupied the spotlight is government’s financial response to the crisis. The allegations of mismanagement and fraud that have dogged the entire process, from procurement to distribution of resources, bring to the fore, the essential value of open contracting, public sector projects monitoring, and data journalism.
“This presents a unique opportunity for journalists to deploy critical data journalism skills that will ensure transparency and accountability in the public sector contracting/procurement, and project implementation phases. But they have to be trained first. It is this challenge that RCDIJ, with the generous support of its partners, is taking up at this year’s masterclass”.
The Data Journalism Masterclass is one of the many projects being embarked upon by RCDIJ. The centre, an affiliate of Ripples Nigeria (www.ripplesnigeria.com), Nigeria’s foremost multimedia online news platform, is dedicated to the improvement of the human condition through journalism, public advocacy, empowerment, direct social intervention, among others.
This year’s masterclass targets forty (40) journalists from across the African continent who will not only receive first-class training, but will also access learning resources to support their practice of data journalism in this year’s areas of focus. Journalists from across media organisations in Africa (or who are freelancing) with some experience in data and investigative journalism can apply via the RCDIJ website (www.rcdij.org). Selection of participants will, among other things, reflect inclusiveness and diversity.
Application for the highly competitive training will open on November 2 and will run until November 15.
