A Sub-Saharan SoJo news desk is born

In November 2024, Nigeria Health Watch (NHW) and the School of Media and Communication at Pan-Atlantic University held a solutions journalism master class for 10 newsroom editors and leaders. The cohort included a participant from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the country’s national broadcasting platform. Following the masterclass, Mohammed Ali, a director of the NTA, with management’s support, launched a dedicated solutions journalism desk within its newsroom, which broadcasts to one of the largest audiences in sub-Saharan Africa. NTA invited NHW to its journalism clinics to introduce over 30 staff members to solutions journalism, review stories for quality and editorial alignment. Chibuike Alagboso, NHW’s director of media programs, says: “The establishment of this desk marks a critical shift — from one-off SoJo stories to a structured, sustained editorial focus. Already, the desk has begun working across departments to embed SoJo principles in news production, influencing how reporters frame stories and how audiences engage with the news.”