"Hee-hee," giggles my colleague Matthew at an email that's just arrived in his inbox. It's an email inviting Matthew and the rest of our training team in Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action's Nigeria office to a team-building karaoke night - and he's not the only one that’s excited.
Let me explain why. I love karaoke. And not just because I love music.
It's because karaoke takes you seamlessly from the known to the unknown - from the familiar beat of a song to the unknown, the lyrics on the screen.
This has become my strategy when I go out to train journalists around the country: taking trainees from what they already know to what they don't quite know. This is how I help them to make an impact.
'Karaoke strategy'
I've worked as a trainer on a number of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action projects in Nigeria which aim to improve governance and help people to hold their leaders to account. And since I joined Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action three years ago, I've adopted my 'karaoke strategy' to make my courses as fun and creative as possible.
I use teasers, exercises and icebreakers to inspire my trainees to think differently. For example, if I’m doing a session on conflict mitigation, I do an exercise with the trainees that demonstrates how easily conflicts can erupt from simple statements that might at first sight appear harmless, but can spark unexpected reactions in unforeseen circumstances.
The beat of the story
The trainees I meet know the beat of their story. They know the issues that face Nigeria – corruption, unemployment and electricity shortages, to name but a few. And of course, they're more than aware of the challenges journalists and their employers face in Nigeria.
They all know a fellow journalist who has been suspended or even sacked from their job and their employer heavily fined or shut down for daring to publish a story critical of the government.
But without training, journalists don't know how best to be able to tell their stories in the face of such pressure.
Singing the lyrics
In the same way karaoke guides you to sing a song's lyrics, I lead my trainees through the rudiments of good journalism - truth, accuracy, impartiality and the importance of reflecting a diversity of opinions, for example. I also teach them techniques for avoiding censorship and the importance of keeping editorial values in mind and referring up to editors to seek advice.
This kind of training has enabled the journalists I've taught in Nigeria to successfully "sing the lyrics" of their stories.
Journalists like Aliyu Misau from the state of Bauchi in north-east Nigeria. He used his training to produce a radio package about the appalling condition of the 98km road between Misau and Gamawa. What should be an hour-long journey between the two towns takes two and a half hours because of the huge pot holes which slow cars to a crawl.
But after Aliyu's package was aired, the state government committed to repair the road and have allocated budget for the work.
Journalist Aliyu Misau showing his colleague the skills he learned during Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action training.
"Proud to be a digital journalist"
Ifeoma Udechukwu is another journalist who's used her skills to help her fellow Nigerians.
As well as learning how to digitally record and edit, Ifeoma was awarded a bursary as part of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action MESSAGE project in 2011 to deliver an investigative story. She chose to focus on sanitation in her home state of Anambra in south-east Nigeria.
Her package focused on a notorious dump which had been left to fester for ten years beside the Onitsa-Owerri road, scattering rubbish across the road which led to a number of fatal accidents. The result of her package? The dump was closed.
Ifeoma shows colleagues how digital audio editing works.
Ifeoma says, "The training helped me to know where to get the right kind of information, the right people to talk to and how best to package my programmes. I am proud to be a digital broadcaster now.”
If this is what my love for karaoke can bring, then play me some more music and pass me the mic!
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