…as NUJ National President warns against sensationalism
About sixty journalists and members of the Civil Society Organizations drawn from across the southwest states of Nigeria are currently undergoing training in Lagos State on how best to report election related issues without heating up the polity.
The training organized by Centre For Democracy and Development CDD in partnership with INEC and NUJ focuses on Conflict-Sensitive Reporting and Countering Fake News ahead of 2023 elections.
Declaring the programme open, the NUJ National President, Chief Chris Isiguzo said the training became imperative so as
to brainstorm and prepare journalists very well ahead of the election, considering
the fact that election periods in Nigeria are normally considered by politicians as do or die affairs.
The NUJ President affirmed that the union would engaged candidates of various positions, hence he urged them to appear at debate venues.
He urged journalists to work for peace and obey the ethical standard of the profession.
Isiguzo said:”In whatever we do as Journalists,it is very necessary to take the issue of peace as a cardinal point and take into consideration the need to be careful so that areas that are already fragile do not explode or implode.
“Peace is a basic requirement in a democracy. No democracy can flourish in the absence of peace.While, we concede that it is inevitable to eliminate crises and conflicts from our society, however it is important if deliberate efforts are made toward conflict resolution and peace building.
“As Journalists, we are expected to develop a thorough understanding of the elections and the electoral process, an understanding of conflicts and convey these to citizens in a way that reflect the truth in all their complexities.
“The proper foundation established by Journalists will provide citizens with the opportunities they require to make informed judgments about issues involved and perhaps help the government in taking meaningful decisions.
Chief Isiguzo explained that media professionals should brace up for the challenges ahead, especially since they are expected to participate in the process of social reconstruction and democratisation by providing a positive and participatory forum for the exchange of ideas.
He noted that NUJ is committed to improving the ethical standard of news reportage during elections, saying we are keen in ensuring that Nigerian Journalists undertake their professional duties within the ambit of the Electoral Law and other regulations.
Professionally, we desire to improve the news judgment of the journalist as it affects elections and elections related issues.
Media Professionals should be actively involved in the Pre-voting stage during which electoral frameworks may be developed or refined and boundaries may be defined to ascertain voter eligibility.
Earlier, CDD programme officer, Austin Aigbe worried over increasing rate of fake news hence the need for the workshop to ensure an election devoid of misinformation, disinformation and fake news.
He urged participants to put the idea gained into practice by fact checking every information before publishing.
