AKFC and CAJ bring Chika Oduah to keynote at #CAJ15

OTTAWA, May 14, 2015 /CNW/ - The Canadian Association of Journalists and Aga Khan Foundation Canada are thrilled to announce Chika Oduah as a #CAJ15's keynote speaker on June 5.

Oduah, a Nigeria-based freelance journalist who works as a TV producer for Al Jazeera and writes for the Associated Press and GlobalPost, joins Seymour Hersh as a conference keynote. The conference runs June 5-6 at the Hotel Atlantica in Halifax. Registration is open, with conference rates starting at $239 plus tax.

Oduah's award-winning reporting has taken her to Central America and Africa. Her byline has popped up in the New York Times, National Geographic, The Atlantic, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, The Guardian, and Religion News Service, among others. She also blogs for the Huffington Post in collaboration with the Berggruen Institute on Governance.

The conference will hear Oduah's plea for more local voices reporting in African communities that western media outlets typically visit only briefly, just long enough to file a few stories, before flying home to newsrooms a continent away. Oduah, who lives in Abuja, Nigeria, has reported extensively, and independently, on youth employment, food security, and gender.

"Chika Oduah provides our delegates a window into development reporting that we can't otherwise find in Canada," said CAJ President Hugo Rodrigues. "We're thrilled she will travel so far to enlighten a room of Canadian journalists, and we're grateful to Aga Khan Foundation Canada for its collaboration and financial support."

AKFC is a non-profit international development agency, working in Asia and Africa to find sustainable solutions to the complex problems causing global poverty.  Established in 1980, AKFC is a registered Canadian charity and an agency of the worldwide Aga Khan Development Network.

"Quality reporting on the developing world gives Canadians a more rounded view of the complex dynamics at play in global affairs," said Khalil Z. Shariff, chief executive officer of AKFC. "We're enthusiastic to be working with the CAJ towards our shared goal of promoting a global perspective among Canadian journalists."

The CAJ is Canada's largest national professional organization for journalists from all media, representing over 600 members across the country. The CAJ's primary roles are to provide high-quality professional development for its members and public-interest advocacy.

www.caj.ca/caj15 | www.facebook.com/CdnAssocJournalists | www.twitter.com/CAJ

SOURCE Canadian Association of Journalists

For further information: Hugo Rodrigues, CAJ president - 613-330-8396 cell, [e-mail]; #CAJ15 conference co-chair Paul Schneidereit - [e-mail]; #CAJ15 conference co-chair Nick Taylor-Vaisey - [e-mail]; Registration questions can be sent to [e-mail]