From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
Media owners and stakeholders have been charged to give priority attention to welfare of journalists to minimise incidence of undue influence.
This was contained in a communique issued on Thursday at the end of a one-day Media Training Workshop organized by Stallion Times Media Services in collaboration with the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism under the collaborative Media Project held at Hilltop Paradise Hotel Lokoja.
The communique attributed frequent interference of major stakeholders and politicians with the Media practitioners to lack of adequate care for journalists in the country.
It stressed the need for a periodic training and capacity building for practicing journalist for enhanced professionalism in the industry and to ensure that right attitudes are properly introduced to form a basis for entrance into the profession.
This according the communique is to ensure consistency in engenderiy sanity and propriety in the professional practice.
“For enhanced professionalism and adherence to the ethics guiding the practice, the incidence of quacks should be checked by regulatory authorities like the Nigerian Press Council and other regulatory bodies.”
It also called on Government agencies to work with the media as watchdog and punish/sanction any public figure that perpetuates acts of misconduct exposed through investigative reports.
“This is to deter perpetrators and to encourage good conduct, especially in governance, to engender growth, accountability, decency, discipline, transparency and probity in governance.”
The communique therefore called on Journalists to apply the principles of truthfulness, “Seek truth and ensure accuracy and objectivity by reporting all sides to a story.
The communique which was signed by Isiyaku Ahmed, CEO/Editor – in chief, Adeiza Momoh Jimoh NUJ Chairman, Kogi state council and Stallion Times Media Services stressed that “Journalists, by their conduct, should act independently by putting public interest first and to ensure fairness and impartiality to minimize harm that could be caused by their reporting.”
