Why are African travel vloggers suddenly interested in Burkina Faso?
The trend is unmistakable. Burkina Faso is on the radar of travel documentary filmmakers, and the coincidence seems at least a bit suspicious.
Four things the latest Digital News Report tells us about Nigeria’s media ecosystem
Every year since 2012, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) has released a Digital News Report, providing important insights on news consumption across the world. The 2025 edition (available here) is based on responses from nearly 100,000 people from 48 countries. What can we learn about the Nigerian media ecosystem from this study?
A bunch of things you might want to know about essay writing
I was recently invited by the Undergraduate Essayists Group to facilitate a workshop on — you guessed it — essay writing. Fun fact: The group has trained hundreds of young and aspiring writers across Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. When the founder reached out via LinkedIn in May, he mentioned that many of their previous trainers …
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Enhancing journalism through AI: What are the actual possibilities?
In what ways will the artificial intelligence revolution help journalists? I have a couple of ideas (ten in total). Some of them are painfully obvious. Others, not so much.
Don’t be lazy, and 15 other random writing tips for journalists
I am very suspicious of the notion that I have something valuable to teach others. So you must understand how difficult it is for me to write an article like this because who am I to presume I have enough expertise to tell others what to do and what to avoid? But then, if I’ve …
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From tiny sparks to wildfires: How misinformation sprouts in the internet era
The spread of misinformation on the internet can be likened to a wildfire. It begins with a spark. Then, it is picked up by another thing that catches fire and continues to spread until everyone is talking about it. As a researcher, you come across this fact, and because it is featured in so many …
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Innovative approaches to media literacy in the fight against misinformation
A lot of resources have been invested in getting journalists to do more fact-checking. But increasingly, we’re realising that it is not enough to verify claim after claim. It is not even enough to go after disinformation networks and get hundreds of bot accounts suspended from various social media websites. We also need to boost …
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Why I started journaling and why you should too, according to my journal
January 5, 2020. 21:11. I’m hoping this will be worth it. And fun. This is my first diary entry. I’m late to the party, I know, having been born over two decades ago. This feels weird already. Not sure why. Maybe because it’s like I’m giving an account of myself to myself. And I’m not …
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Journalism’s First Commandment? Thou Shall Not Steal.
In practice, however, the rule is more complex than it sounds. Here’s how you can avoid the whispers and traps of plagiarism. One of the first lessons drilled into your head as a journalist is that plagiarism is bad. Like really bad. It is essentially the journalism equivalent of armed robbery — Perhaps even worse than passing …
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