Imrana Sulaiman Maikanti, Gombe
Journalists from across Gombe State gathered at Amina Hall on Tuesday for a capacity-building workshop aimed at promoting ethical and conflict-sensitive reporting. Organised by the TEKAN Peace Desk, the session was designed to equip media professionals with practical tools to report on sensitive issues responsibly, without exacerbating tensions.
The event brought together journalists from various media organisations across the state for an intensive training session focused on ethical and constructive reporting during times of conflict.
In her opening remarks, the programme coordinator, Madam Helen Haggai, highlighted that the workshop was intended to provide journalists with the necessary skills to cover conflict in a way that helps to de-escalate tensions rather than inflame them.
“Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of journalists to become agents of peace. The way conflict is reported can either aggravate or help resolve it. We want to ensure the media serves as a tool for peacebuilding,” Haggai stated.
The first session, facilitated by media trainer James D. Mannok, addressed key issues such as fact-checking, avoiding misinformation, and the dangers of profiling in conflict reporting. Mannok emphasised that conflict coverage must be grounded in accuracy, verification, and sensitivity to language.
He warned that profiling — attributing conflict to specific ethnic, religious, or social groups — could provoke further violence, promote stigmatisation, and compromise journalistic integrity.
“Profiling dehumanises individuals and paints entire communities with the brush of a few. It breaches the ethics of fairness and objectivity,” Mannok said.
To avoid such pitfalls, he urged journalists to focus on individuals’ actions rather than their identities, steer clear of sweeping generalisations, and always verify claims before publishing.
The second session, led by Hauwa Musa, centred on gender-sensitive approaches to conflict reporting. She noted that women and children are often the most affected in conflict situations, yet their voices are frequently underrepresented in media narratives.
“Gender-sensitive reporting means giving voice to all sides, especially marginalised groups,” Musa explained. “It also involves recognising how conflict impacts people differently depending on gender, and ensuring that coverage neither reinforces harmful stereotypes nor excludes female perspectives.”
She encouraged journalists to deliberately include women’s experiences and viewpoints in their reporting and to be mindful of gendered language that may perpetuate discrimination.
Participants expressed appreciation for the training, noting that the knowledge gained would enhance their professional practice and support peacebuilding efforts in Gombe and beyond..