At Media Seminar, Sowore Tasks Nigerian Journalists On Best Practices During Access Bank Lagos Marathon

Presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) has tasked Nigerian sports journalists to ensure that they do their jobs with utmost sense of professionalism as they cover the 4th edition of Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, which holds 2 February, 2019.

Sowore, who is also a Nigerian human rights activist, pro-democracy campaigner, founder of online news agency Sahara Reporters said at the 2019 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Media Seminar held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Monday, that journalists covering the race must abide by the rules of the competition as it has always been the norms in marathon events all over the world.

The journalist turned politician, who had actively participated in eight marathon events across the world, noted that for journalists to cover the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon very well, they must be prepared to run in the event. This running, according to Sowore, may not be physical running, but the running maybe psychological and moving around during the coverage.

“What I was saying was that journalists covering marathon race must be mentally alert and be conscious of what he or she is doing so that the job will be well delivered.

Sowore, who took part in the 2017 edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, enjoined the Nigerian journalists to use the right modern equipment during the coverage of the marathon race, adding that digital equipment are being deployed to cover marathons across the world.

“I discovered that Nigerian journalists always focus on the runners in the marathon, neglecting the people that make real human interest stories in the marathon events. These are the people on the sidelines, who though not doing the running, but their activities if well reported, are good stories to read.

“I also want to advise journalists to always put pressure on the organisers of the marathon to do the right things. Some stories may be negative, but underneath them are few things that the organisers must take note to improve on the organisation of the marathon.

“That is why pre-event reports of the activities around the marathon are very important, not only for organisation of the event, but for the people participating in the competition to prepare them for the task ahead of them.” he said.

Sowore advised the organisers of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon to ensure that security is maintained at all time during the race in order to guard against unforeseen incidents in some black spots along the routes of the race.

During the media seminar, three journalists were given awards tagged Ayodeji Boonyamin Tinubu For Excellence Reporting the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon Awards in the television, radio and print categories.

Over 100,000 runners are expected to participate at the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon this year.