Political and media literacy social enterprise, Shout Out UK (SOUK), in partnership with the US Department of State, hosted a two-part event on the 5th June 2024, at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Nigeria. The interactive event featured a live podcast episode, the final instalment in the ‘Media Minded’ series presented by Matteo Bergamini MBE, focusing on combating violent extremism in West Africa. The podcast episode, to be released later this month, will discusses strategies, challenges, and opportunities for civil society organisations in fighting extremism, featuring several guests and Nigerian experts, including Dr Zainab Mai-Bornu, international politics lecturer at the University of Leicester, Taoheed Adegbite, a journalist and graduate of a UN P/CVE programme and Mugu Zakka Bako, President and Founder of Unique Centre for Peacebuilding & Trauma Healing (UCPTH).
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Political and media literacy platform, Shout Out UK (SOUK), in partnership with the US Department of State, hosted a two-part event on the 5th June 2024, at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Nigeria.
The interactive event featured a live podcast episode, the final instalment in the ‘Media Minded’ series presented by Matteo Bergamini MBE, focusing on combating violent extremism in West Africa. The episode titled “The Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities in Developing Civil Society Organisation Capabilities to Combat Extremism”, will feature Nigerian experts discussing effective strategies to combat violent extremism and the challenges faced by civil society organisations in this endeavour. The discussion will have an audience of at least 65 members, including academics, journalists, CSO representatives, and government officials.
Before the podcast recording, a four-hour CPD Media Literacy workshop and hackathon for over 50 civil society representatives took place. Participants learned to combat disinformation using West African examples and best practices from podcast interviews. The workshop included an interactive session to develop anti-extremism strategies and provided resources for participants to share their knowledge with their organisations.
The Media Minded podcast explores the frightening world of misinformation and propaganda. Now in its fourth season, each episode tackles a new facet of the fight against violent extremism in West Africa. Through interviews with leading counter terrorism experts, journalists, psychologists, and organisations fighting extremists in their communities, this series equips listeners with the knowledge and successful strategies to counter radicalisation at home.
The multipart series has featured expert guests such as Bulama Bukarti, Senior Analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s Extremism Policy Unit, Dr. Christopher Faulkner, Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College and Dauda Muhammad Gombe, founder and executive director of the Northeast Youth Initiative Forum (NEYIF) each discussing violent extremism.
You can listen to all episodes of Media Minded via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn Podcasts.
Matteo Bergamini, Founder and CEO, Shout Out UK added:
“With the rise of violent extremism in West Africa, it’s crucial that we equip civil society with the tools to combat misinformation and radicalisation. The Media Minded series tackles these issues head-on. This event will highlight how historical grievances and current global events are exploited by these groups and provide practical strategies to counteract their influence. By enhancing media literacy and understanding the psychological factors behind extremism, we can empower communities to resist radicalisation and promote peace. This all starts with education and awareness.”
