Media and development practitioner, Samson Ademola, has joined DevReporting as Associate Editor and Programme Manager under a partnership designed to strengthen the organisation’s editorial systems, development communication practice, and programme delivery.
In this role, he will provide advisory and coordination support across editorial planning, project design, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), while working with the DevReporting team to deepen storytelling innovation and strengthen learning systems around development issues.
DevReporting, a niche media and cinematic platform that focuses on development issues in Nigeria, and Africa by extension, has developed a few programmatic initiatives aimed at addressing noticeable gaps in development reporting.
As part of its projects, DevReporting introduced a series of projects, including DevCinema, DevCheck, DevStats, among others, which are scheduled to be launched in months to come.
About Ademola
Mr Ademola brings more than a decade of cross-sector experience spanning journalism, research, and media capacity development. He has managed multi-million-dollar donor-funded initiatives and led collaborations across Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa focused on governance, civic participation, and media sustainability.
He spent more than seven years with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), where he led multi-donor projects supported by the MacArthur Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, OSIWA, US Mission in Nigeria, Oxford Policy Management, and the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), among others. At WSCIJ, he helped coordinate a network of 18 media organisations, oversaw subgrants to 26 newsrooms, and directed initiatives advancing accountability, gender inclusion, and institutional learning within the media.
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Before his time at WSCIJ, Mr Ademola worked as a correspondent with United Press International and The Nation Newspaper, where his work focused on development and human-interest reporting. He was recognised as a joint winner of the Coca-Cola/NBC/The Nation Campus Life Sports Reporter of the Year (2011) award.
He is the Founder and Lead Consultant at MediaEdge Innovations Nigeria, a media-for-development advisory firm that helps civil society, donors, and development actors plan better, tell stronger stories, and learn from their work.
Speaking on the engagement, Mr Ademola said, “I welcome this partnership with DevReporting. After more than 12 years away from direct newsroom work, this offers a meaningful opportunity to contribute editorially while bringing programme management and advisory expertise to strengthen development journalism, communication systems, and project delivery that drive accountability and impact.”
Through this engagement, he continues to help organisations and media actors apply learning, use evidence to drive initiatives, and communicate results that inspire action and accountability.
‘His arrival, a sign of what to come’
Reacting to the development, DevReporting’s Team Lead/Editor-in-Chief, Mojeed Alabi, said the newspaper’s decision to work with Mr Ademola is a reflection of what to come from the niche platform.
He said as a media organisation still taking its baby steps, working with an experienced hand like Mr Ademola will help nurture the dreams of the founders.
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“At DevReporting, we believe that collaborations and partnerships are the lubricants for impactful journalism. It is the currency that must be spent by every player if we truly aspire to witness the kind of change we so much desire. So we welcome Mr Ademola to our fold for a journey that has just begun,” Mr Alabi said.
