By Meletus EZE
A veteran journalist, Mr Ali Hakeem, has called on the Nigerian media to be professional in their coverage of the forthcoming general elections.
Hakeem, a former Editor-in-Chief of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), made the call at a national media dialogue in Abuja on Friday.
NAN reports that the forum, tagged “National Media Consultative Meeting on Violence-free 2019 Elections”, was organised by Search for Common Ground (SFCG), an international non-profit organisation.
In a paper presentation titled, “Mitigating Electoral Violence: The Role of the Media”, Hakeem noted that responsible journalism was critical to the success of the exercise.
He urged media practitioners to resist the temptation of being used as tools by desperate politicians seeking to propagate their selfish agenda.
“The average Nigerian politician cares only about his pocket and at the end of the day, the interests of the larger society are pushed aside.
“Our role as media practitioners is to bring sanity into the media space by ensuring that we focus on the issues only.
“It is our responsibility not to heat up the polity no matter the pressure from our employers most of whom are politicians.
“When we are reporting, we should mind our choice of language so as not to heighten tension,” he said.
Hakeem also stressed the need for journalists to verify information before publishing, and refrain from giving ethnic and religious colouration to their reportage.
Another veteran journalist and pro-democracy activist, Mr Richard Akinola, advised the media and other stakeholders to place the nation’s interest above all other considerations.
Akinola urged reporters and editors to play down on casualty figures and avoid identifying affected sides, especially when they had to do with religious or ethnic groups.
Earlier in her address of welcome, the Senior Programme/Policy Analyst of SFCG, Bukola Ademola-Adelehin, said the forum was organised to engage media practitioners on how to avert and mitigate violence in the elections.
“This is a forum for us as a civil society organisation to dialogue with you as media practitioners on how we can combine our strengths to mitigate violence and engender peace in these elections.
“Our aim is to see how we can use the media space to address divisive rumours, hate speech and ensure that reporting of the elections is done in a conflict-sensitive way.
“Things can be said in a way that could lead to violence, and the same message could also be passed in a way that would contribute to the opportunity of deepening peace in the electoral space,” Ademola-Adelehin said.
NAN reports that journalists from 45 media and civil society organisations from across the country are taking part in the two-day event.
