Beginning May 1, 2006, Projekthope, host NGO of the news and information site NigeriaHIVinfo.com, will offer series of one-month training programs funded by the Health Journalism Partnership (HJP) small grants programme. The Health Journalism Partnership Small Grants Programme is a joint initiative of Internews Network, ICFJ, and Panos London.

NigeriaHIVinfo.com will host professional journalists at their office to receive formal training and report on HIV/AIDS issues for both the web site and each of their respective outlets. Internships will last for 4 weeks and will be offered to five journalists at a time from one of each outlet: television, radio, newspaper, magazine and photojournalism.

On internship, guest journalists will undergo on-the-job training by reporting exclusively on HIV/AIDS issues in Lagos and around Nigeria. An in-house media trainer (Sutton Eaves) from Canadian based media NGO, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), will work with interns on a daily basis to help develop the specific skills and attitudes necessary to report on HIV/AIDS issues. Lessons in specialized health reporting will be partly prepared by Patricia Wodi, MD, board certified both in general pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Newark, New Jersey. Patricia wodi currently practices in Mississippi, USA.

Under the guidance of the in-house media specialist and other local partners, journalists will receive training on the basic protocols of reporting that will inculcate elements of human rights and also introduce participants to specialized health reporting. Both individual and workshop-style skill development sessions will examine investigative reporting and research methodologies, the impact of language and presentation and source selection.

At the end of the project, 20 Nigerian journalists will have received specialized instruction in health and human rights journalism, as well as the chance to put these skills into practice.

NigeriaHIVinfo.com was conceived to complement the efforts of the media in Nigeria in reporting HIV/AIDS but more importantly to provide timely, accurate and responsible news and analysis about the occurrence of HIV/AIDS in the country.