After operating for nearly eight years as a non-governmental organisation with a mission to deploy investigative journalism, open data and civic technology tools for the advancement of fundamental human rights, good governance and accountability in West Africa, the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism [PTCIJ] will now be known as The Centre for Journalism Innovation & Development [CJID].
PTCIJ was established in 2014 to expand the practice of investigative reporting to an exponential level and give journalism a coherent implication as the principle of holistic news operations in Nigeria.
In 2019, however, the PTCIJ management saw the need to officially expand its scope of activity as a sub-regional organisation, and enlarge its mission beyond promoting investigative journalism to now serve as a think tank for innovation and development within the West African media ecosystem.
Explaining the need for the transition to its new name, The CJID Chief Executive Officer, Dapo Olorunyomi, said: “The next decade calls for an expanded purpose in the fulfilment of a noble mission to improve governance, promote a community of harmony, and entrench democratic accountability in the West African sub-region.”
In addition to this, Tobi Oluwatola, the Acting Executive Director of The CJID noted that: “The purpose of the journalistic enterprise in democracy is to facilitate development by acting as a watchdog, agenda setter and public sphere gatekeeper that brings diverse views to resolving the challenges of democratic governance. As CJID, we can deepen the agenda setting and public sphere roles by bringing diverse ideological voices to an evidence based policy development debate, while also developing innovative tools to disrupt the production, distribution, and funding of journalistic work.”
“This is what we have been doing for the last three years and our name now needs to reflect this reality. It is important to note that we are here for every newsroom and player in the media ecosystem to ensure that democracy leads to real development and change.”
All activities, projects and interventions implemented under PTCIJ still remain valid under CJID and will be continued under the umbrella of The CJID.
Interested parties can learn more about The CJID on the organisation’s website: https://thecjid.org
