Becoming an Investigative Journalist: UniMAC NAFTI Campus launches Investigative Journalism Club

The Department of Broadcast Journalism in collaboration with ace investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has launched an investigative journalism club at the UniMAC NAFTI campus.

The launch of the Investigative Journalism Club aims to provide aspiring journalists and others with an interest in investigative journalism, to learn the skills in investigative reporting and uncover the power of in-depth research and truth-seeking journalism.

Speaking at the launch, award-winning investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure gave his insights on why investigative journalism is important for building a better society.

"If we ever want to be respected, we have to sit up and challenge the wrongdoings in our society and investigative journalism is one of the tools".

He further states that to become a good investigative journalist, one must be Competent, Courageous, and have a good Character and these are the 3 Cs of good investigative journalism.

He stressed "Courage is not enough to know what to do and how to do it, rather you must have the courage to want to expose culprits. You need to be competent enough to systematically know how to get information to nail culprits to the point that they cannot deny the truth anymore".

He underscored the need for integrity in the line of duty.

According to him “If you do not have a good character you might not be able to overcome certain temptations”. He thus encouraged future journalists to be firm in resisting monetary temptation as the benefits of integrity are far more beneficial than monetary gifts.

He emphasized the importance of maintaining professionalism in all endeavors. He encouraged students to begin blogging and making good use of technology because traditional media has lost the "first position" to break the news adding, it would also lead to potential employment opportunities.

Mrs. Mary Ayim-Segbefia, the Head of the Broadcast Journalism Department at UniMAC NAFTI stated "Having such a club in an academic institution would draw the students closer to the realities of what investigative journalism entails".

She implored the students to take the club seriously by participating in all activities and also showing commitment to the vision and mission of the club.

The launch of the club was met with excitement from the students. Makida El-Hussein, a level 200 Broadcast Journalism student delivered an impressive " spoken word" on investigative journalism.