Media Trust Digital Newsroom goes live

Media Trust Group, owners of Daily Trust, Weekend Trust, Aminiya, Trust TV and Trust Radio, has unveiled Project Evolution, its Digital Newsroom aimed at improving quality and independent journalism.

The AI-powered newsroom was launched on Wednesday at the company’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.

Declaring the event open, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Malam Ahmed Shekarau, commended the board for ensuring actualisation of the vision which he traced back to 2006.

He said the board kept working on the project and showed the management and staff that it meant business through the appointment of Malam Naziru Mikail as Executive Director, Digital Operations in 2019.

He said after the appointment, the board gave the directive to get a globally renowned consulting firm that could drive the project.

Shekarau praised Mikail, who is currently pursuing his PhD in the United Kingdom, for his contribution towards the project and thanked London-based Innovation Media Consulting Group for working closely with Media Trust to achieve the milestone.

To the staff, the GCEO said, “This converged newsroom is meant to strengthen journalism not only in Nigeria but on the African continent. I charge you all to utilise the newsroom accordingly, as it is here to empower all of us in delivering our work.”

Malam Abdullahi Wada Maida, a member of the Board of Directors, who supervised the Monitoring and Evaluation Committee of Project Evolution, expressed delight that the project saw light of the day.

While thanking the staff for their contribution to the growth of the company over the years, he reassured them of the board’s full support for the project.

“The Digital Converged Newsroom is a great idea, and rest assured of our commitment to provide the necessary support you need to make this a success,” he said.

Malam Ibrahim Shehu, Editorial Director and main driver of the project, described the newsroom as the first of its kind in West Africa.

“I don’t think there is anywhere else in West Africa where you have the TV, Radio, Newspaper and Digital arms all in one newsroom,’ he said, adding that the various stables had been merged into an unbroken chain to give the newsroom speed and depth, without losing focus and accuracy.”

He said the newsroom has been equipped with state-of-the-art tools to compete with leading media organisations across the world.

Juan Senor, President of Innovation Media Consulting Group, congratulated Media Trust Group for working towards execution of the project.

”Today is not simply the opening of a newsroom, it’s the opening of a new way of thinking about journalism in Nigeria, and I would argue, in West Africa. When we were invited to work with you at Daily Trust, our brief was not just about workflows or culture change, and certainly not about novelty or gimmicks, it was about purpose.

‘How do you design a newsroom that serves modern journalism with speed and depth in equal measure? How do you create a space that helps journalists think more clearly, collaborate more naturally, and serve audiences more honestly? How do you become mobile first?’ When Nigerians are mobile first, this newsroom has been built around those questions.

“It is digital first, because audiences are digital first. It is AI-powered not to replace journalists, but to give them back time, time to verify, to investigate, to explain and to hold power to account. Technology and its physical space are not the story. They are the support structure that allows better journalism to happen every day.

“The physical space where you are today matters, matters hugely. Every desk, every screen and every workflow has been designed to encourage openness, cross platform thinking and editorial rigor. Newspaper, television, radio and digital are no longer separate silos, but one newsroom with a shared mission and shared standards,” he said.

Launching the newsroom, the Chairman of Media Trust Group, Malam Kabiru Yusuf, recalled how the company took off about 25 years ago.

He said the journey had reached a point where those who founded it have begun to see the fulfilment of their purpose.

”When I walk into the newsroom and I see so many new faces, young people, most of whom I haven’t met before, as I said, and I think most of them don’t even know me. Maybe they hear my name. So I said, well, I think the journey has reached a point where those of us who began it should begin to find our way out.

“You know, I used to joke that not too many years ago, maybe 15 years thereabout, that I’m sure the day will come when I will walk into these premises and people will say, ‘Who is that old man? What is he doing here?’ Because they wouldn’t know. So it really is my pleasure to see the transition happening, to see that we have built an institution that hopefully would outlast all of us, including you, the young people.

“You know, let me say that I don’t know if it’s about 25 years ago,  we were in a rented accommodation. It’s a bungalow where we actually started the Daily Trust.  And we had the ambition that we need our premises.”

Specifically about the Digital Newsroom project, he continued, “At the bottom of the whole thing. I was wondering how the adaptation would be done. But it’s been done well.  It’s been done well.  And I’m happy to see you all seated ready to work.  Our vision is to really grow this company. I know vision and mission are things people write on paper. But we mean it.  If you see how we started, to where we come, you shouldn’t believe that the journey will not take us to where we want to be.”

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