Nigerian media have been urged to focus more on the rural poverty reporting in order to ensure grassroots development in the country.

Experts at a media workshop for select print journalists on Solution-Driven Rural Poverty Reporting in Lagos organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) with support of World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) said the media need to do more in the area of reporting poverty issues.

Dr. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, Head of Department, Mass Communication, University of Lagos said poverty is a global concern but the magnitude is what the problem is really. She declared that media messages on the glaring and growing rural poverty in Nigeria could bring to the fore the issue and a possible intervention to alleviate it.

“Poverty is under reported. We can look at politics and business as entry point to report poverty. If we really deserve development, poverty issues should be reported, media should set agenda for government in order to achieve solution. When we amplify poverty issues, policy makers pay attention. If poverty could be dealt with, other problems would also be addressed,” she said.

According to her, poverty goes beyond mere measurement of a household’s expenditure or welfare; adding poverty has many dimensions and may include inadequate access to government utilities and services, environmental issues, poor infrastructure, illiteracy and ignorance, poor health, insecurity, migration and internally displaced persons, social and political exclusion.

Director, IPC, Lanre Arogundade said that poverty is an underlying factor in different aspects of our lives and it is important journalists report it in order to achieve development in the nation.

“Poverty is connected with politics, development, corruption, budget and it is important journalists have the necessary skills that will help them conduct investigations and do in-depth reports on rural poverty conditions. This is imperative because we all pay the price of poverty,” he said.

By Funmi Falobi (c) Daily Independent Newspaper

@ http://dailyindependentnig.com/2015/09/nigerian-media-tasked-on-rural-poverty-reportage/