Building a New Generation of Ethical, Skilled, and Responsible Journalists
The Journalism Skills Advancement Programme (JSAP) is an initiative of the Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) designed to mentor and equip entry-level and early-career journalists — particularly those without formal training in journalism — with the essential knowledge, skills, and ethics required to thrive in today’s complex media landscape.
With a rapidly evolving information environment and increasing pressure on media institutions, the practice of journalism in Africa, faces serious challenges — from poor content quality and ethical violations, to a growing population of undertrained practitioners. AMDF created JSAP to respond to this crisis by addressing the root problem: lack of foundational journalism skills among many of today’s news reporters.
Why It Matters
Historically, journalism in Nigeria was practiced by some of the country’s brightest minds — nationalists and statesmen like Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Anthony Enahoro. They used journalism to fight colonialism, shape national policy, and defend the rights of ordinary people.
Today, that tradition is under threat. Many new entrants into the profession lack the training and values required to produce high-quality, factual, and ethical journalism. A large proportion have no academic background in mass communication or journalism and have not undergone structured newsroom mentorship. As a result, journalistic output is often biased, shallow, inaccurate, or unethical.
JSAP exists to reverse this trend by mentoring a new generation of journalists grounded in the principles of fact-based, ethical, and development-focused journalism.
Programme Design
JSAP is a structured, cohort-based mentorship and training programme that combines theory with real-world practice. It is currently implemented in partnership with select media organizations, providing a bridge between classroom learning and newsroom application.
Programme Components:
- Monthly In-Person Training Sessions: Hosted at the AMDF Media Centre, these interactive classes blend lectures, experience-sharing, Q&A, and critical thinking sessions.
- Hands-on Practical Sessions: Mentees engage in field assignments, story drafting, use of digital tools, newsroom equipment, and peer critiques of published work.
- Story Analysis Workshops: At the start of the programme, mentees review published work by other journalists; later, their own reports are used for group critique, fostering growth and confidence.
- Assignments and Mock Exercises: Participants are assessed through continuous tests, practical news assignments, and writing drills.
- Newsroom Follow-Up: Mentors visit mentees in their media houses, facilitating feedback sessions with their editors or news managers to evaluate real-time application of lessons learned.
Key Learning Areas
The Journalism Skills Advancement Programme covers a wide range of topics essential for modern journalism, including:
- News writing and structuring
- Ethical journalism and integrity
- Data journalism basics
- Computer-aided reporting and research
- Integrating social media into news production
- Interviewing skills and fact-checking
- Story angles and framing for development reporting
Impact
The programme has already mentored several promising journalists who now demonstrate improved writing skills, better newsroom confidence, and greater ethical responsibility. Feedback from newsroom managers confirms that mentees are applying their training in meaningful ways — producing higher-quality stories and contributing to a stronger, more informed newsroom culture.
By investing in early-career journalists, JSAP is creating a ripple effect across the media ecosystem — improving the quality of public discourse and fostering a culture of accountability, truth, and development-oriented journalism.
Join or Support JSAP
Are you a media house looking to upskill your reporters? A journalist early in your career and eager to improve? A donor or institution passionate about ethical journalism in Africa?
Contact us at coordinator@amdf-centre.org