It has however been observed that the absence of synergy between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media has led to insufficient push for accountability issues in governance.
Executive Director, Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) Dr. Wilson Imongan has recently participated in a 2-day media training workshop for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from Nigeria and Ghana.
The workshop which was held in Lagos was organized by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) on Effective Use of the Media to Promote Social Justice and Accountability Issues in West Africa. The media training was to improve the knowledge of CSOs in the operations of the media and build their capacity for gainful and effective utilization of the media for the advancement of social justice and accountability.
The training featured discussions on types of media, their strength and limitations as well as leveraging new media for social justice and good governance. It also include a guided tour to the corporate headquarters of the Nations Newspaper where the participants were lectured on the processes of news gathering, editing, production, printing and distribution.
The media training workshop was a follow up to a round table meeting on media and civil society organizations partnership for good governance and accountability earlier organized by the ICIR.
It was agreed that the CSOs and the media should understand and appreciate their complementary roles as change agents and also synergize on issues of social justice and accountability.