Leadership & Impact
Thirty years of work, set out by what it demonstrates rather than the order in which it happened.
01
Newsrooms led and rebuilt
She has built news operations from nothing and rebuilt them when they were failing, across more than two decades.
TVC Communications
Director of News and Editor-in-Chief · 2018 to 2025
News teams of at least 150 across all 36 states; a 200% rise in viewership over four years. Television Station of the Year at the Nigerian Media Merit Awards, twice.
Silverbird News 24
General Manager · 2015 to 2018
Established the twenty-four-hour news channel from the ground up.
NN24
Managing Editor and Consultant · 2012
Retrained more than fifty staff across editorial, production and technical, with a 65% rise in viewership.
Silverbird Communications
National Head of News, STV and Rhythm FM · 2010 to 2015
Ran the news division across STV and Rhythm FM and set editorial policy for the group's television and radio stations. Launched specialised programmes on security and defence, global perspectives, the environment and African affairs.
Minaj Broadcast International
Group Head of Content and Quality Control · 2006 to 2010
Group content and quality control across all units. The station took Station of the Year, Best Newscaster and Best Production.
Silverbird Television
Group Head of News · 2002 to 2005
Built the news operation from launch. Recruited the first ten staff, wrote the on-air style guide, grew one station into six with regional bureaux.
Plus TV Africa, LTV and News Central
Consulting mandates
Newsroom transformation, training and repositioning.
02
Landmark coverage
Reporting that took in the return to democracy, the wars of the sub-region and the trials that tested a country, grouped by subject and not by year.
- Democracy and elections
- The agitation for civil rule, the 1999 general elections and the inauguration of Olusegun Obasanjo, the 2019 and 2023 general elections, and #EndSARS in 2020.
- Trials and accountability
- The trial of coup plotters, the Oputa Panel, and the prolonged trial of the Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha.
- Conflict and diplomacy
- The wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali; ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations and the Commonwealth.
- Aviation
- ADC Airlines Flight 086 at Itoikin, near Ejirin, in 1996, the ADK 053 crash in Abuja in 2006, and sustained reporting on the Nigerian aviation sector.
03
Editorial governance and standards
The part of her record that does not make headlines and matters most institutionally: the policies, systems and standards that outlast whoever is editing on the day.
- Wrote editorial policy for television and radio operations across multiple networks.
- Developed the on-air look-and-feel and style guide for a station at launch.
- Established group-wide quality control across news, sport, business, features and documentary units.
- Formulated policy at executive management level, and built the partnerships that helped generate income for the news division.
- Built a strategic communications framework for the Nigeria Police Force under the Inspector General’s transformation agenda.
04
Mentorship and talent development
She has spent as much of her career building journalists as building bulletins.
- Recruited and trained the founding news teams at stations she launched.
- Designed specialist training programmes across editorial, production and technical functions.
- Sustained focus on developing women in Nigerian journalism.
- Serves on the advisory boards of media organisations and consults for newsrooms being established or overhauled.
Her session on leadership, bias and effective writing was reported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (opens in a new tab) on 1 May 2025.
In their words
What colleagues, mentees and peers have written about working with her.
“Stella Din-Jacob is a consummate professional in the News Broadcast sphere. I have known her for about 2 decades. In this period, she has sparkled and continues to sparkle - winning awards for her leadership and inventiveness at Channels News, Minaj Broadcast International, Silverbird Television and TVC News. I recommend her to anyone seeking to partner with one of Nigeria’s best in the News Broadcast sector.”
“Stella Din is unarguably one of the foremost broadcast managers in Nigeria with a record of excellent performance in every organisation she has worked to date. Her professional knowledge and management skills are top-notch with an outstanding record of training and mentoring various categories of broadcasters and journalists over the years. I attest to her commitment to excellent and ethical media practice.”
“She is called the General for a reason. And it’s based on her stern direction, deep desire to mould everyone to be as near perfection as possible. From news writing, production of short and long form reports, she’s got them all covered. Salute to a Titan!”
“You will go through the furnace no doubt, but you will come out the finest and purest of gold. That’s how I will describe Stella Din-Jacob. You can never mention her name and mediocrity in one sentence. She is a thorough professional to the core, a journalist who knows her trade. Above all, she is one who will see the light in you and give you all that you need to shine. If you need the work to be done, Stella Din-Jacob will make it happen to the last word of it.”
“Stella Din, the Editor-in-Chief of TVC, is a seasoned television journalist who has garnered numerous accolades in her field. Known for her unwavering commitment to journalistic ethics, Stella’s dedication and high standards are respected by television professionals across generations of practitioners in Nigeria and beyond.”
“You will strive in vain to match the drive, tenacity, and professional excellence of Stella – this quintessential work horse and compelling intellect. You always win with her on your [professional] side.”