Google Offers Data Journalism Training to Nigerian Journalists

Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, communication and public affairs manager, Google Anglophone West Africa, has said that the organization had concluded arrangements to train Nigerian journalists on data journalism in 2013.

Kola-Ogunlade stated that : “This year’s training is aimed at helping Nigerian journalists to understand how to use online data journalism tools that would help them develop more data-driven news.”

He said the training would focus specifically on using Google fusion tables, Google forms and Spreadsheet, Advanced Search 2.0 application, Google Earth Maps and Crowd Sourcing with the Social Media, to enhance news gathering by journalists.

He said the training would also include sessions with application software developers who worked closely with journalists and the media to enrich the training experience.

He said the 2013 edition of the training would have a different structure to fit the feedback received by the organisation after the 2012 edition of the new media training.

Kola-Ogunlade said the number of participants at the training would be reduced to 50, to ensure easier access to resources and facilitators.

“This means that after registration, there would be a random short-listing phase where we cut down the number of participants to 50.

“Secondly, because the training this time is a lot more intense, attendees must attend all the 3 classes to qualify for certification.

“The reason is that we want everyone who attends to have a good grasp of the tools,” he said.

He therefore urged applicants to ensure that they would be available for all the three sessions before filling the form.

He said that the 2013 training series would be a 3-Session Data-Tools Training, beginning from June 4.

“The training will kick-off  at Google’s one-week outreach event slated to hold in the week of June 4, 2013,” he said.