Nigeria’s leading media experts met on Friday to discuss the challenges faced by journalists in carrying out their duties in Nigeria and also offered possible solutions for them.
The event was held in commemoration of the 2022 World Press Freedom Day with the theme, “What should journalists do to stay safe, maintain credibility and be sustainable”.
It was organized by the International Press Institute (IPI) in collaboration with the Nigerian Journalists Union (NUJ).
Among the media personalities who attended the event were a former Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); the CEO of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu; representative of the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and representative of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
IPI President Musikilu Mojeed delivers his welcoming speech at the World Press Freedom Day commemoration at the Abuja Charge
In his opening remarks, IPI Nigeria President Musikilu Mojeed said the aim of the event was to improve independent journalism and the operating environment for journalists and media organizations in Nigeria.
He affirmed that IPI and its members are fully committed to credible and independent journalism, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and the free flow of news and information.
“We will always stand firm and resist any measure or action that threatens these issues and principles that we stand for,” he said.
Mojeed lamented that journalists were often intimidated and harassed while carrying out their constitutional duty, adding that IPI had launched a ‘Black Book’ to be used to document people whose actions threaten press freedom.
“The records thus compiled will be regularly updated and regularly shared with embassies and all relevant international and human rights groups around the world. We will use the records to ensure that named individuals are held accountable in one way or another,” she added.
Professor Tonnie Iredia delivered his keynote address at the World Press Freedom Day Commemoration in Abuja “Sustainable Professional Excellence”
Also speaking at the event, Mr. Iredia, Professor of Mass Communications at Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, drew journalists’ attention to the need for them to work towards sustained professional excellence in their duties and disposition. general.
The former NTA CEO, who was the guest speaker at the event, also said that credibility can best be achieved through a profession that develops its members to adopt best practices and global realities in its operations.
He listed some of the responsibilities the public expects of journalists to include setting the national agenda, monitoring society and serving as watchdogs.
The guest speaker urged the media to communicate effectively so that the public understands them in order to avoid attacks on journalists. According to him, inaccuracy leads to attacks on journalists.
“We have to ask ourselves if our report is always accurate because accuracy is important.
“If you carry a story that is not true about someone, he has a moral right to attack.
“Make efforts to be impartial and treat all stories the same because people think that being in the media means you can destroy a person’s character,” he said.
World Press Freedom Day (WPFD)
The veteran journalist emphasized training and updating journalists on a regular basis.
“There has to be a degree that qualifies you to be a journalist.
“In many professions you cannot go from one degree to another if you have not been trained.
“In today’s media, many people are on TV without going through the audition,” he added.
One of the challenges he highlighted includes the lack of constitutional legal backing, which he said
The Nigerian constitution does not specifically grant power to the press.
Others, he noted, are operating in outdated facilities, servility, and divided loyalty and focus.
Some of the panelists who spoke at the event include Sani Zorro, former NUJ President and Assistant to First Lady Aisha Buhari; Muyiwa Adejobi, Nigerian Police Spokesperson and Ladi Bala, President of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).