A veteran sports journalist, Morad Moutouakkil, has called on African sports journalists to embrace the new digital technology by developing their skills and be professional.
Moutouakkil made the call on Wednesday in Rabat at the ongoing training on sports journalism, which has the theme “Mastery of Techniques for Good Practice of Sports Journalism.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by the Atlantic Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA) for journalists from African news agencies.
Moutouakkil said combating fake news was a big challenge for journalism in the digital age.
He cautioned participants against fake news and advised them to always scrutinise social media accounts of news sources to avoid sending out fake news.
“As a news agency you cannot afford to feed your subscribers with fake news as it will erode the integrity of your organisation,” Moutouakkil said.
He added that there was a need for partnership between African news agencies to strengthen and promote sustainable sports development.
Moutouakkil said African news agencies should make it a deliberate policy to use digital tools to enhance their revenue generation.
He said the digital age has created many challenges for every profession and altered considerably various aspects of journalism.
Topics being discussed at the training include “sports journalism in the digital age and sport and socio-economic development”.
Others are “sports and communication and culture”, “ethics and professional conduct of the sports journalist”.
A total of 23 participants from 20 African news agencies and experts in the sports sector are attending the training.
Joseph Edeh, a Senior Editor on the NAN Sports Desk in Abuja, is among the participants.
FAAPA was established in October 2014 as a professional platform to encourage exchange of experiences and to promote cooperation among news agencies in areas of common interest.
It also strategises to position news agencies to remain relevant with regard to the fast-changing trends in multimedia technologies, as well as championing professional ethics.