Avoid propaganda and false reports, Journalists warned

Media practitioners have been urged to always display professionalism in the discharge of their duties of news reporting and information dissemination.

A veteran journalist and former State Director ofthe National Oreintation Agency, (NOA) in Kwara State, Mr. Femi Mapaderun, stated this on Wednesday at a seminar on “Journalists and Ethics Of Election Coverage and reportage” organised by National Orientation Agency and Nigeria Union Of Journalists Kwara State chapter held in Ilorin.

Mapaderun who is currently the Station Manager at Impact Business Radio FM, Ibadan said: “there is no doubt that information is an essential component of the development process and to that extent, Nigeria requires a massive dose of information which can only be put together and packaged by the media practitioners.

“The information must however be derived from the people sociocultural values such as to generate perception and attitudes that are conducive to the nation’s efforts at development”

“For the records, let it be made manifestly clear that the 2015 presidential election was won and lost on the social media. In the sense that so much information both truth and false were flying on the social media most especially against the sitting president to the extent that former president Goodluck Jonathan would need the grace of God to win that election.”

He added that, “And here we are again, facing similar challenges or even in worse dimension. The major contestants are posting so much information and video clips on all social media platforms that one is at a loss as to what to believe. It is that bad, sad to say that our conventional media practitioners are being dragged into this puddle.

“Journalists of my own era, who understudied the likes of Segun Osoba, Areoye Oyebola, Festus Adenaike, Chris Okolie, Sam Amuka did not have it easy as those of present era, but the dictum was that “if you are in doubt, leave out but today the dictum is if you are in doubt, damn all consequences and use” in those days, we also ran after scoops but they were verifiable scoops and not the one that you will prefix with “alleged or allegedly “

“As media practitioners, in this election season, you must be able to differentiate between propaganda and truth because you are endowed with a potent instrument for change. You have tremendous energy for qualitative analysis through which you shall be measured by the extent to which you enhance the integration of the society”

Earlier in his address, the Kwara State Director NOA, Mr Olusegun Adeyemi, cautioned journalists and the general populace about menace of fake news and hate speeches which he said it is assuming dangerous dimensions and history has it that most of the uprisings, tribal wars, religious crises and ethnic clashes Nigeria has experienced came about as result of hate speeches and fake news which journalists and responsible citizens must guide against at every point in time.

In his remarks, Kwara NUJ chairman, Mr. Abdulwahab Umar, expressed his excitement about such collaboration between NUJ and NOA saying that the seminar was crucial to the success of 2019 elections coverage by media practitioners in Nigeria.