BY AMAYINDI YAKUBU
STUDENTS of Divine Radiance High School, Bonsaac, Asaba, yesterday visited the premises of The Pointer Newspaper at Nnebisi road, Asaba, on excursion to avail themselves of the various processes of newspaper production.
The excursion, organized by the school’s press club, saw a turnout of a good number of the students accompanied by two of their teachers, Mrs. Grace Emmanuel and Miss Precious Ubah.
On arrival at The Pointer Newspaper corporate headquarters in Asaba, the General Manager, Mr. Godfrey Ubaka, welcomed them with words of encouragement, following which the Features Editor, Mr. Benson Okobi- Allanah, took them round the premises, comprising the news room, library and computer section of the newspaper.
The English teacher, Mrs. Grace Emmanuel, explained that what prompted them to embark on the excursion was that “in our curriculum, one of the subjects is article writing, so, if you want to make studying interesting for students beyond writing and teaching in class, then you should bring them out and to see things for themselves because this motivates them. So, we are here so they can see what we have been teaching them in the classroom”.
Emmanuel, speaking about their press club and the said, “we want them to feel that what they are doing is not just a waste of time but something that will aid them in life.”
“It is a means to let them know that there are plenty of jobs out there that they can get into, like being a print and broadcast journalist; that is what prompted us to come to The Pointer Newspaper.”
A Junior Secondary School (JSS3) student, Miss Egbuniwe Chimamanda, who said she has interest in studying both journalism and law, spoke about what she learnt during the excursion, saying “I learnt that there are different departments in the newspaper, and it takes a very brilliant and agile person to obtain news.”
Another student, Master Akachukwu Lawrence, spoke about his career goal saying “I want to become a lawyer so that I can fight for justice in our country because there is a lot of corruption and fraud happening in the country.
In the company of excited students, Mr. Benson Okobi Allana described the various roles of every editor and journalist, saying they are usually assigned to a particular beat. He also took the students to witness how production activities are initiated from the newsroom, editors’ desks and onwards to the computer room, where news stories and articles are formatted before going to the press for publication.
To spur and encourage the students to begin writing early rather than waiting to become adults, Okobi- Allanah narrated how his journalism career began when he wrote his first published article being just a naïve primary three pupil in Lagos as “Letter to the Editor.”
At the end of the tour, Emmanuel thanked the management for the opportunity, before taking a group photograph with the General Manager, Mr. Godfrey Ubaka and others.
