Journalism made easier by GSM

 

Title:           GSM as a Tool for News Reporting in Nigeria

Author:       Tayo Popoola

Publisher:   NUT Lagos Council / Corporate Lifters International

Year Published:  2011

 Reviewer:  Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga

 

The second edition of Tayo Popoola’s book entitled GSM as a Tool for News Reporting in Nigeria, is quite voluminous and well updated than the first edition published in 2003. The first edition has a total of 72 pages but the second edition is made up of 163 pages.

There are several other areas of differences between the first and second edition which makes the second edition far better than the former. While the former contains seven chapters, the latter has eleven chapters. Chapter one of the first edition discusses topical issues such as, What is News? Components of News, while the same chapter in the second edition deals with: What is News? Types of News, News value, and exercises, coupled with two blank pages in notebook format at the end, for students to demonstrate a concise news writing skill. Chapter two deals entirely with use of GSM for Political Reporting. The use of GSM for political reporting is not extensively discussed in the first edition.

The notable difference between the topics in chapter three of the former and later editions is in the areas of types of beats, covering a beat and basic tips of covering a beat contained in the second editions in addition to other topics treated in the first edition. The first edition’s Chapter Four focus on only common errors in News writing, but the same chapter in the latest edition is based on News sources. Very minimal typographical errors were noted in the book such as in the area of the international serial book number differences between the one stated at roman numeral page two and that on the blurb cover. This needs to be corrected before re-impression next time. Notwithstanding, the second edition of GSM as a Tool for News Reporting in Nigeria, has further bring to the fore Popoola’s restless researches on how to improve the standards of intellectual and academic development of students through updating study text from time to time in line with latest discoveries in information sourcing, gathering, writing and reporting in the fourth estate of the realm, for the benefit of society. The book is very good for students, lecturers and journalists. 

The author is among the crop of lecturers' who makes the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) recognized best centre for journalism training in Africa. Popoola holds a first degree in Political Science, Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) as well as M.Sc in Mass Communication of the University of Lagos. His Ph.D area of specialization is political communication. He was at various times, Staff Writer, Political Correspondent; Political Editor, Deputy News Editor, News Editor, and Editor during his professional career in the field of journalism. Some of the print media houses he worked with between 1984 and 2001 include the following: Vanguard, Punch, Daily Times, Champion, Post Express, Lagos Horizon, Tempo, etc., to mention a few.

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