Nigeria, Nov. 26 -- Experts have raised concerns about the crisis of declining local journalism across Nigeria's conflict-affected regions, warning that communities without credible local reporting risk further democratic erosion.

The experts spoke at the Media Development Conference hosted by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) on Tuesday.

The session spotlighted a new Local Sustainability Fund being developed to strengthen grassroots reporting, rebuild trust in local media, and protect journalists working under severe insecurity.

Akintunde Babatunde, CJID's Director of Programmes, speaking on the panel themed "Innovating Sustainable Models for Independent Journalism in the Digital Era," said the sustainability...