The Informant247: Online Newspaper Putting Ordinary Nigerians At The Centre Of News Agenda

Information, across the world, today occupies a very crucial space in our lives. Through technological advancements, we now have easy access to collecting, refining and distributing information.

This left media companies with the burden of competing with counterparts in the industry, thus increasing the rate of false information dissemination, bias and unbalanced reportage. It was at the height of this that the Informant247 was founded to break these barriers by placing much premium on qualitative journalism while also giving the information to the populace as fast as possible.

The online newspaper was established as an independent medium in 2017 for public benefit. The medium’s online TV and foundation are subsidiaries of its growing network that follows the same principles and values under the parent body – The Informant247 limited.

The online newspaper is dedicated to providing comprehensive stories that go beyond the headlines while putting ordinary people at the centre of the news agenda.

“We strive to inform, engage, entertain and empower our audience. We challenge the narratives, and give to the voiceless, a voice that resonates. We also focus on some most unreported places and events,” the online newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief, Salihu Ayatullahi said. “We are expanding our digital footprint to create contents that amplify the voices of the ordinary people – too often left out of the mainstream media – more accurately and timely than others. This content keeps track of the government’s policies and developments in the country.”

Headquartered in Ilorin, Nigeria, the medium’s office is designed to meet the highest professional standards, equipped with advanced technology and equipment used in various media fields in order to ensure a professional work environment.

The Informant247 operation

The medium – that started as a local online newspaper based in Kwara State – have over the years achieved a lot in terms of the positive transformation and feeding readers with unbiased, timely, and accurate news and investigative reports.

“We try to put the human story at the forefront of our reporting and also uplift the voices of the forgotten such as stories on poor schools in rural areas, poor road network, healthcare system among others,” Ayatullahi said.

Grounded in its mission to put the masses at the centre of news agenda and supported by a – now – more diverse news team, the medium provides unbiased and inclusive reporting that will empower news consumers to get more than they demand.

It primarily focus on areas such as: Investigative reports; In-depth and Special stories; Feature articles; Business and Economy explainers – to boost economy and business literacy; Fact-checks – to address the proliferation of fake news which has proven to be a negative effect of the now advancing social network; Oddities; Political analysis – a corner where the full spectrum of political voices can be aired; Sport and Lifestyle contents as well as other interesting and rich contents that we believe will be at their delight.

The audio-visual department of the medium also provides viewers with news and feature documentaries as well as weekly recaps of major news from across the country.

“We understand that manpower and resources are imperative which these plans are underpinned and pre-requisite conditions for the full realization of our objectives, this prompted us to represent a substantial commitment of new staff: Editors, columnists, correspondents, presenters, audio-visual experts and technical staff to drive it,” Ayatullahi said in a statement announcing the expansion of its operation last year.

The Informant247 foundation

The medium earlier this year launched its foundation – named The Informant247 foundation. The foundation, according to the medium’s CEO and Publisher, Salihu Shola Taofeek is aimed to enable undergraduate students with passion for journalism develop their skills and improve their performance in the field of communication and media industry.

Explaining the reasons behind its establishment, Taofeek said, “Since the launching of The Informant247 in 2017, we have organized a number of training courses in various media fields, benefiting a number of trainees and likewise IT and SIWES students from across tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

“As a resolve of our commitment to achieve excellence, we developed content of our training courses to keep up with the advances and novelties in the field of communication and its various disciplines. This reflected positively on the trainees as well as the environment and the institutions in which they work. Many are now owners of media platforms. We thought we could do more by establishing a subsidiary that will be dedicated solely to that (training).”

As a pioneering project, the medium collaborated with experts and institutions to organise an essay competition to test the creative writing abilities of undergraduates and encourage campus journalism in Nigeria.

“The competition is to test the capacity of our student journalist. We are working towards partnering with notable institutions within and outside the country to offer specialized high-level courses in various aspects of the communication field to our prospective trainees. These courses will vary depending on the candidates’ level and needs,” Taofeek said while announcing the winners of the essay competition.

The promise to do more

The online newspaper assures its readers that it remains resolutely committed to journalism ethics, justice and fair play in all circumstances, saying it is an achievement they will continue to build upon.

“We are determined to continue to push forward. We will do more, not less. We will remain focused. While we understand that qualitative journalism requires a lot of money, we won’t only be at the pursuit of profit, ignoring stories that affect ordinary people. This does not reflect our mission,” Ayatullahi said.