Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state, his Ekiti state counterpart, Ayodele Fayose and former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Ruben Abati have warned media practitioners against taking sides in their reportage.
The trio who stressed the need for objective reportage that will not bring both the people and government on a collision course, maintained that objectivity, fairness and accuracy were professional ethics expected to be upheld by the media in achieving good governance and sustainable development in the country.
They spoke on Tuesday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital at the First State Council on Information Summit, organised by the Oyo State Government through its state ministry of information.
The two-day summit themed: “Managing Information and Communications: The Catalyst For sustainable Development” had in attendance media practitioners (from the print, broadcast and online media), media executives, media regulatory bodies, veteran journalists and academics.
Others are, Public Relations Practitioners, Theatre practitioners, independent broadcasters, film makers, students and other relevant stakeholders in the media sector.
Ajimobi while declaring open the summit maintained that misinforming the people, particularly about government activities can only breed disharmony and lack of trust between the government and the people.
The governor, who agreed that being objective was one of the most difficult things to be in life, however, enjoined the media practitioners to ensure they correctly and factually informed the people so that the government and the people can always work in the same direction.
“Our answer as a government in this maiden edition of the summit is to seek responses to the questions which often arise at every critical point of whether the media industry has been living up to its name, performing up to expected standard, or has the government also instituted a seamless and easy access to information dissemination and communication machinery for its policies.
“Obviously, we cannot answer in the affirmative. So, today, our answer is this gathering. Our answer is this maiden edition of Oyo State Council on info summit with the theme: Managing information and communications: the catalyst for sustainable development. It is convened by the Oyo state government for stakeholders in the media profession, to exchange views and ideas and to seek ways of improvement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I implore all of you here, to please let us correctly, factually, inform our people so that the government and the people can work in the same direction. As the internet and digital media usage becomes increasingly widespreed, it is a matter of strategic necessity for information managers to fashion out practical strategies in the engagement of the various interest groups.
“In whatever we do, we are the people that will make this profession respected and respectable. When you talk facts and figures, when you find out what you don’t know, when you engage people in the public service and you engage various stakeholders, openly, honestly and without prejudice, it gives credibility to whatever you are doing, and credibility is important in professionalism, so I implore all of you as you are here today, not to favour any government or any individual, you can be apolitical and objective. The most difficult thing to be in life is to be objective because as human beings we are all always very subjective”.
Fayose in his short remark, urged the practitioners to look inwards and lead by example with whatever they were sending to the government and the public, adding that if things got better through the information and communication disseminated, it was in the interest of everybody.
He lamented that most journalists had abandoned their first professional call and had become what he described as “professional-political journalists”, urging them to choose a path to follow of the two fields.
“I want to remind you that if it gets better, it gets better for all of us. Leaders of yesterday wanted it better than what we have now, who will make it better for you and your children that are unborn and their tomorrow?
“The first thing I will suggest is for you to look inwards, you can only lead by example, whatever you are sending to us, whatever you are sending to the public, as people in this profession, you have to live it by example.
“If you live above board, you are reasonable apolitical in this system of change. Most journalists have abandoned their primary constituency, they are professional-political journalist. The first thing is for you to take to one profession either as a politician or as a journalist. I therefore want to appeal to you to get it right and contribute it right”.
Former Chairman Editorial Board of Guardian Nespaper, Dr. Abati warned journalists to be cautious in the discharge of their duties because government officials and politicians do not trust them (journalists).
Abati in his keynote address, said that the partnership government seeks from media practitioner was far better facilitated when the people’s needs and expectations in a democracy are met, and government works in the people’s interest for the common good.
“One of the revelations I stumbled upon in the course of my four-year excursion into government is that government officials and politicians do not trust journalists.
“They believe journalists can be bought and that the news can be fixed if the price is right. The net effect of this is the pervasive opinion in official corridors that the public information process in Nigeria can be manipulated, and the people can be made to believe what government wants.
“The over-confidence of government along this line is partly responsible for the impunity of politicians and their agents. Thus, what is missing is the value of integrity in the country’s information architecture, producing by extension, a poverty of ideas and a lamentable disconnect between policy and the public mind.
“The social media is forcing a rethinking of business models and the modes of practice by the information manager and media executive.”
Abati recounted that as the Special Adviser in the Nigerian Presidency between 2011 and 2015, the social media was the greatest source of agony for his office.
“As the Special Adviser in the Nigerian Presidency between 2011 and 2015, the social media was the greatest source of agony for my office.
“While to a reasonable extent, you could expect the mainstream media to be professional, since media practice is guided by certain codes and rules, the relationship with the social media was perilous territory.
“The worst part of it all is the failure of most of our media owners to pay salaries of journalists and attend to their welfare. This places a burden on information officers and managers in government and corporate Nigeria who are expected to use their offices to maintain a large crowd of unpaid and overworked Nigerian journalists.
“The partnership that is often sought between government and the media no longer obeys an established pattern, it is now more fluid and variegated, with influential stakeholders occupying both a mass communications and a de-massified market.”
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