By Laurina B Lormia
(Cub-Reporter)
The Managing Editor of the Inquirer Newspaper, C. Winnie Saywah-Jimmy, has launched a strategy aimed at empowering reporters to take on supervisory roles within the newsroom.
Over the past months, Madam Saywah-Jimmy has been bent on prioritizing the growth of reporters by assigning them supervisory responsibilities for expediency and to showcase indispensability among the workforce especially the editorial department.
This transformative initiative is designed to foster leadership skills among reporters, enhance editorial standards, and create a more dynamic and efficient newsroom as well as enable reporters understand the institution’s editorial policy.
On Monday June 3, 2024, during the regular editorial meeting, reporters appreciated Madam Jimmy for such brilliant idea in helping them grow outside of news gathering and reporting.
Managing Editor Saywah-Jimmy underscored the critical importance of providing reporters with opportunities for continuous learning and professional development internally where monitoring of each reporter is key.
According to her, it is important to give reporters the space they need to learn new things, to ensure that the Inquirer Newspaper remains at the forefront through continuous education and capacity building for progress.
“We are empowering our reporters to not only keep up with the changes, but to lead the charge in delivering accurate, and impactful journalism out there, so that others can see The Inquirer as a learning and teaching media space,” she said.
She concluded that, “We are not only training reporters as supervisors for the newsroom, but also growing them professionally to contribute to the newspaper’s success in a more impactful way as that they become equipped for the job market.”
Meanwhile, reporters expressed their gratitude to Madam Saywah-Jimmy for continuously providing them opportunities to learn and grow and appreciated her for her unwavering support in bringing out the best in them.
The reporter at the Liberian Senate, Bill W. Cooper, extended thanks to the boss, and described the initiative as a positive step towards ensuring that every reporter feels valued and comfortable in carrying out their reportorial duties.
“This move is the first of its kind in the Liberian media and it further enables reporters have basic knowledge about managing or supervising a newsroom or institution as a whole,” Cooper said.
The sports reporter, Sam Siapha Mulbah, who is currently executing his task this week as the newsroom supervisor, thanked the boss for such learning opportunity and said that he is learning and experiencing new things while in the supervisor position.
He emphasized that such measures contribute significantly to the professional satisfaction and efficiency of journalists, fostering an environment where they can perform at their best.
Laurina B. Lormia, expressed gratitude to Madam Saywah-Jimmy for the opportunity afforded her to serve as supervisor and guest editorial writer for the Newspaper.
According to her, she was shocked when the boss told her to always write the editorials for the paper, she stressed that it is a privilege in her journalism career, professional growth and promised to bring out the best.
For her part, the Judicial Reporter, Precious D. Freeman, said her experience serving as a supervisor was filled with wonders and delight noting, during her service as newsroom supervisor, she felt almost like the boss because she was respected by her colleagues.
She added that while serving as the supervisor, she got lots of experiences which included structuring of headlines, writing editorial, having access to all of the stories, among others.
“Even though it was not easy at the beginning but there was light at the end of the tunnel in which I am still benefitting from,” she said.
Madam Freeman however appreciated her boss for the opportunity given her, and urged other institutions to follow this path in order for the reporters to be dependable during the absence of their bosses.
