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Support for science journalists in Nigeria
Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos, Mr. Finjap
Njinga unveiled three facilities established to support journalists and improve
the reporting of development issues such as science, health, environment, and
population in the Nigerian media.
Coming under the aegis of Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, the
facilities are:
1. Media Resource and Advocacy Centre (MRAC),
2. Computer Clubhouse, and
3. The Popline Support Center
All are designed to help journalists understand and better report the complex
issues in health, environment and the applied sciences. Media Resource and
Advocacy Centre (MRAC). Established in 1999 as result of field experience
and a study of media needs between 1994 and 1999, MRAC is an operational
strategy to promote health and science journalism in Nigeria.
The Centre provides journalists with resource materials on environment,
health and medicine, science and technology, and other development issues. It
offers other services that improve scientific information flow to journalists
and, ultimately, the general public.
"We use an integrated approach to promote public understanding of
science," says Akin Jimoh, Program Director, Development Communications
Network.
Computer Clubhouse
Established in 2002 with support from the Ford Foundation, the Computer
Clubhouse provides resources, skills and creative learning environments for
On-line Journalism. The Clubhouse conducts regular training opportunities for
journalists and NGOs on the use of Internet resources. Sixty journalists were
trained in 2002 on Internet-Assisted Reporting on HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health
and Sexual Rights Issues. For youths, who patronize the Clubhouse, the aim is to
provide them with the requisite skills to compete positively with their peers
from all over the world.
Popline Support Center
The POPLINE is a database on population issues containing more than 291,000
citations with detailed abstracts and in-depth indexing. It provides journalists
with information on population, family planning, reproductive health and sexual
rights, and other related health issues. The database is made up of
publications-journals, monographs, and technical reports.
The database is maintained by the Population Information Programme of the
Centre For Communication Programs, John Hopkins University, Bloomberg School Of
Public Health, and supported by Office of Population, United States Agency For
International Development. The support centre facility will complement an
on-going project: Approach To Media Partnership In Reproductive Health And
Rights Promotion In Nigeria, supported by the Ford Foundation, Office for West
Africa. - Akin Jimoh.
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