By Hamza Abdullah, an Abuja-based public affairs practitioner.
Nigeria’s nascent democracy has been facing an uphill task to stabilize, despite the wobble and fumble; and gladly, 24 years after, the three arms of government, the Executive, Legislature, and Judiciary appear to be getting it right. A robust mechanism ensures that the stability that exists is on course and showing signs of more improvement. But there exists a worrisome development in the Fourth Estate of the realm—the region of pen pushers; those that are responsible for nurturing a virile and sustainable democracy; whereas the old guard or better still the mainstream media practitioners have been upbeat. discharging their responsibility with panache and reality, some renegades—especially the new media practitioners, have been rather disappointing with their brash and recalcitrant approach to journalism. Instead of harnessing the huge opportunity available in the internet space, for progressive ventures, they have resorted instead to hagiographic and radical journalism, thus inviting controversy.
They operate unabashedly, with no barriers and even badging into the privacy of government policies and activities! Never before has this extremism been more apparent than in the display of a Lagos-based online media with popular tentacles worldwide. Nevertheless, let It be known that as much as a functioning press and democracy require criticism, so also transparency, and consequences for journalistic mistakes are not negotiable. Media practitioners should be collectively able to distinguish lies and deception. Otherwise…real information will be painted as fake, and manufactured (rubbish) gets presented as fact! It is also outside the ethics of journalism to mix truth with lies, such an attitude undermines the credibility of the source of information as exemplified by this Lagos online media.
Going forward, let it be known that professional standards for ethical and accountable journalism are an important defense against disinformation and misinformation. Norms and values guiding people doing journalism have evolved over the years to give journalism its distinctive mission and modus operandi. In turn, these uphold verifiable information and informed comments shared in the public interest. It is these factors that underpin the credibility of journalism. Again, as exemplified by this same Lagos media, they are standing logic in its head!
Then, of course, there are ethical codes, internally designed to support information gathering and verification in the public interest; these are the hallmarks for distinguishing acceptable journalism and in particular diluted news reportage, from other types of communication. This is of increased significance in the Digital Age where there is not just a democratization of communications, but also a constant flow of disinformation, misinformation, falsehoods, and abuse. They practice journalistic codes only suitable to lining their own pockets—which makes them rather opportunistic! And in pursuit of their own selfish and myopic desires, nothing is exempted including extortion, blackmail, and plunder!
For example, in the power sector, the chairman of the Electricity Regulatory Commission was relieved of his duty while the commissioners were allowed to continue to their end of terms. However, in TCN, the MD/CEO’s tenure in office is not yet over, while that of the former EDs expired having served with the former MD/CEO. This was what the media called a “bribe”. It happened elsewhere, it is not a bribe, but in TCN, it is a bribe. The use of the word “bribe” has been so twisted as to achieve a mischievous objective; thank God, the ever-alert and watchful audience is no longer asleep; they have been aware of the serial and controversial pattern of this Lagos-based online media to wreak havoc in public places.
TCN has particularly been subjected to repeated extremist bombardment with the sole purpose of trying to destabilize a functioning authority. Nowhere have been left unscathed in the frustrated rush to demonize an otherwise lively and well-propelled institution. The determined push by this sensational online media is rather tragic which is why a call for the revisiting of the laws that govern honest and legitimate concerns be addressed. This is not the era of reckless and incendiary mode of journalism; it is dangerous, to say the least!
It is rather shocking to see that the media that is supposed to help democracy strive, are the ones opposing the rule of law wherever it is applied. Instead of propounding the principles of investigative journalism, they are indulging in the precarious habit of harassing and impugning the character of innocent and hardworking government operatives, including leveling twisted allegations against them. This is a classic example of journalism without ethics.
A media without ethics is without a doubt on the road to perdition and will finally die a natural death.
In addition, the point must be emphasized that the practice of ethical journalism, should also be a catalyst and framework for establishing models of journalism that favor trust and accountability; where there is trust and accountability, the nation thrives! Trust is reporting what is accurate, accountable, and independent, which is essential to winning over audiences and building a virile democracy. To embed and enforce these core values in a changing media environment, newsrooms and media organizations adopt codes of conduct and create mechanisms for the public to hold them to account – press councils, readers’ editors, editorial policies, and internal ombudsmen are features of these self-regulation structures.
Such structures allow for errors to be identified in a professional peer-review context, they can facilitate public acknowledgment of mistakes and require corrections, and they help to enforce professional norms concerning the standard of publishing in the public interest. While often derided as ‘toothless tigers’ by critics who favor external regulation of the news media, these structures serve an important purpose in the context of the disinformation crisis: they help strengthen professional accountability and transparency and thereby reinforce community trust in journalism. They also help to mark out the distinctive characteristics of journalism that adopt the discipline of verification to achieve accuracy and reliability, distinguishing it from disinformation, propaganda, advertising, and public relations.
A journalism practice that deliberately allows the assassination of an established reputation just because of what it considers an aberration should have no place in the nation’s nascent democracy; a renegade state cannot exist side by side with a legitimate one—with the real authority. That Lagos-based online media is not practicing realistic journalism; they are breeding a new wave of terrorism—this time with the pen!
