Enhancing Synergy between Journalism Training and Practice in Nigeria: The Curricular Challenge

Media practice in Nigeria is today facing a serious challenge occasioned by deficit in the professional qualities of the Mass Communication graduates. The challenge is made stiffer by the new media environment which makes the media industry increasingly more complex. As such, there is a need for the Nigeria Mass Communication graduate to possess basic professional skills in order to function well in the new media environment. This study has explored ways of building synergy between journalism training and practice in Nigeria through curricular adjustment. Views from the academia and the Nigerian media industry were collated and a consensus on how to adjust the curricular to make them more industry-friendly was made. The finding identifies minimal set of basic competencies that will enable a graduate of HND/BSC/BA Mass Communication practice journalism skillfully within the context of global professional standard. Qualitative analysis was done using ANOVA software from which interpretations was made on how the curricula can be adjusted to fill the skill gaps in the HND/BA/BSC Mass Communication curricular in tertiary institutions in Nigeria and the results shows that curriculum review can be the key technique to enhancing synergy between journalism training and practice in Nigeria.