The Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), in collaboration with several media organisations which form the Collaborative Media Project (CMEDIA), has called for an amplification of the works of journalists across the country.

The call was made by Motunrayo Alaka, the Executive Director and CEO of WSCIJ, at a briefing ahead of the Amplified In-depth Media Conference and Awards on Monday.

“There is a need to amplify the works journalists do, especially in this age of great technology and advancement,” she said.

“There are so many platforms that enable digital interaction available. There is news almost at a nanosecond, but how do we ensure it is news that is important to the livelihood of the people and the threats to their lives and developments as well as democracy?

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“We want to ensure that the works of journalists do not get buried. It should be highlighted that they contribute to civic education, the robustness of the civil space and that the change we want on the streets of the country, we have them eventually.”

Alaka said that investigative journalism influences the outcome of election results and called for the availability of the media at the subnational level.

“There will be conversations on how investigative journalism shapes election outcomes in an electoral season,” she said.

“Our call to action is that we hope to have many journalists and students of journalism in the room. That is why we are making it an open event. We want to make it a festival of ideas around the issues that concern us as reporters and journalists.”

“We want to highlight the importance of covering local issues and the media being available at the grassroots. There is a need to shift the focus from the federal government and concentrate on the subnational levels.

“Development is local, politics is local and journalism would make a difference must also be local. There is a need to beam searchlights on what is happening to journalism at the local level.”

Samson Ademola, Programs Officer and Research Officer of the WSCIJ also stated that beyond amplification of journalists’ works, the conference was set to uncover corruption in the country.

“The project is mainly geared towards uncovering corruption in the country,” he said.

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Alaka stated that 13 journalists from different media organisations had been shortlisted as finalists, while the winners for the different categories would be announced at the event which will run from December 8 to 9.

The Amplified Media Conference is an initiative of the Media and Journalism Cohorts of the MacArthur Foundation, which comprises 18 media organisations.