Media practitioners, teachers, students of mass communication and allied profession converge on Umuahia, Abia State capital, for the 12th Media Institute Training  organised yearly by Vision Africa , the owner of Vision Africa FM Radio, Umuahia. The event, which held for two days, June 24-25, had as theme, ‘Image Makers: Shaping Culture, Inspiring Change Through Media’.

The seven resource persons from the USA and three from Nigeria assessed current media practice, examining, among others, how image makers promote welfare of a nation.

President/Founder of Vision Africa, Bishop Dr Sunday Ndukwo Onuoha, who said the 2025 edition of the conference created a platform for media professionals to upgrade their skills towards shaping and securing a better future for the society, affirmed the influence of broadcasters, storytellers and content creators as agents of cultural definition and transformation.

He said, “in every society, those who craft and share stories and inform the public through words, images, and sound,  play a vital role in shaping how people see themselves, their communities and the world.”

According to him, by telling stories that reflect both the challenges and the hopes of the communities they serve, media professionals contribute meaningfully to the ongoing work of nation building, promoting public understanding, shared values, and social cohesion.

He said further that in serving the public good and advancing the welfare of nations, image makers do more than document events, as they help shape the moral and imaginative framework of the societies they call home.

The Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti, who flagged off the conference through his Information Commissioner, Prince Okey Kanu, underscored the need for media to prioritise narratives that inspire confidence and not fear. He also urged participants to subsist narrating the true Abia story that would be devoid of fake news.

The Coordinating Director, Broadcast Monitoring, National Broadcasting Commission, Susan Obi, while enjoining broadcasters to be mindful of their influence in shaping societies and decisions, stated that through various platforms, the media constructs narratives and images that deeply influence how individuals and societies perceive themselves and others. 

“Broadcasters, as image makers, wield immense power in shaping cultural identities, influencing decisions and promoting the welfare of nations, and beyond information dissemination, the media acts as a key player alongside traditional institutions, the State, family and schools in defining a society’s wellbeing,” Obi said.

Professor of Mass Communication and Deputy Vice Chancellor at the Gregory University Uturu, Abia State, Dr Uwaoma Kalu Uche, frowned against the rapid trending fake news dissemination suggesting that a  ‘Content Creation Criminal Commission’ that is similar to EFCC, should be set up to checkmate false content creators.

The resource persons who lectured on various topics/issues were Dr Chuck Pollak, Don Geiger and Troy Miller, Dr Vic Costello, Sharon Geiger, Don Geiger, Jeff Wilson, all from the USA.

Others (Nigerians) are Sarafina N’kenta, a certified social behavioural change communication expert and chief operations officer of Vision Africa and Professor Uwaoma Uche.

Miller discussed importance of ethical leadership, steady decision-making, integrity in moments of organisational or cultural upheaval, focusing on what kind of leadership the media world needs in times of crisis.

While Pollak looked into a media manager’s multi-dimensional role, balancing leadership strategies for managing talent, budget and content pipelines, Dr Costello posited for careful use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the performance of media work.

Wilson harped on mapping out visual stories through planning tools and discovering how AI accelerates production processes such as scripting and visualisation; Don Geiger urged for incorporation of personal convictions, ethical perspectives, or faith-informed viewpoints into on-air content in a way that feels natural, respectful, and inclusive.

Participants rose from the two days  interactions that featured questions and answers sessions, corroborating that the media is a veritable instrument to promote good governance, keep the people abreast with the goings on in the society, and  that broadcasters and information managers should subsist  disseminating  what their target audience need and ought to be informed  at all times.