The media has been at the forefront of the struggle to enthrone democracy in the country. During the military era, it came under serious threat as journalists had to endure numerous onslaughters. Many reporters killed in the course of doing their job, while others were detained. Stakeholders at a recent workshop in Abuja said the survival of democracy in the country still rest on the media. TONY AKOWE reports
The media was one of the agencies that fought for the return of civil rule in 1999. Working with organised civil society groups and individuals, the media fought hard to ensure that the military returned to the barracks and allow politicians to take charge of governance in the country. But several events since the return to civil rule, particularly in recent times, have cast aspersion on the ability of the political class to sustain the current democratic dispensation. These include corruption, economic downturn, political violence, banditry, kidnapping and terrorism have threatened the very existence of the nation.
At a recent capacity-building workshop for members of the House of Representatives Press Corp, participants challenged media practitioners on the need to sustain democracy and not allow it to die. These concerns arose mainly because of the deluge of fake news in the media space which tends to threaten the very foundation of the country. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said the media must do more to ensure the survival of democracy. He described democracy as a fragile construct which depends on the support of the electorates and requires the active participation of an informed citizenry.
Gbajabiamila believes that if the media fail to protect the current democracy and it fails, “nothing else will matter, nothing else we do will count in our favour when the tally of history is settled”. He stressed the need to ensure the survival of democracy, which requires careful tending and robust defence. He said: “the role of the press in a democracy is multi-faceted. You inform the public and you educate them about the law and government, politics and governance. You record history as it happens and preserve the national memory as a guide and warning for the future.”
But, there has been a technological growth over the years, he added, that has affected the media. His words: “Through the years, technological advances, the rapid increase in access to internet services, and the growth of social media has changed the way we receive and interact with news and information. What we understand as the professional press – newspapers and magazines, television and radio – are now in competition with every member of the public with a smartphone, access to the internet and the inclination to participate in the public discourse. While the landscape within which the press operates has changed in dramatic ways, the duties of the press and the public expectation of them remains the same.
“We expect journalists and media organisations to maintain a high level of professional conduct; we demand accurate reporting and detailed analysis of public policy and expect the media to continue to defend citizens’ rights, hold the powerful to account and promote the public good through the honourable practice of journalism. Often lost in the conversation is the fact that after all is said and done, media is a business. Quality journalism doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it requires resources to train and equip staff, and invest in technology to improve content quality and broadcast capabilities, amongst other things.
Gbajabiamila argued that there has been a proliferation of online sources in the last two decades, which has decimated sales and precipitated a rapid decline in advertising income. He added: “Like all other businesses, the imperatives of commerce and profitability cannot be ignored as they are critical factors affecting the quality of service and the utility of outcomes. Consequently, we are called to confront an existential question – how do you finance a quality press without access to the income sources that ensured viability for so long? This is a question that media managers all over the world are struggling with, and are trying to answer through innovation and experimentation, with different degrees of success and inevitable failure.
“However, the essential functions of a free press in a democracy, demand that all of us – citizens and leaders alike – must participate in helping to find answers to this question. For us in Nigeria, the obligation is ever more powerful, and the consequences of failure are potentially too high to contemplate. Ours is a complex and complicated country where an inaccurate public broadcast, whether done maliciously or carelessly, can just as easily spark public debate, or lead to blood on the streets.
“Broadcast doesn’t need to be false to lead to bloody conflagration. Sometimes, it is merely a matter of timing or misunderstanding. The surest safeguard against such dire outcomes is to have media organisations that are unbiased purveyors of objective truth. We need journalists we can rely on to be our islands of accurate information and context in a sea of misinformation and propaganda manifesting as journalism. The media is the fourth and last pillar of democracy. It is the role of the press to ensure that the exercise of state and economic power is fair and proper and in service of the greater good. Unfortunately, far from giving voice to the aspirations of our nation, or holding the powerful properly to account, sections of journalism in Nigeria have become an endless pursuit of clickbait through the careless writing of falsehoods and malicious publication of half-truths.”
But, former Special Adviser to late President Umaru Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Segun Adeniyi believes lamented that there are some journalists today in the country promoting strife and regrettably, they are the ones who are popular and are regarded more in the public space. Adeniyi re-echoed the concerns of the Speaker on the need to stand up in defence of the nation’s democracy. The former presidential aide who spoke on the Role of the Media in National Development: the Legislative Perspective said: “If democracy fails, we will suffer most as media people. Some of us have our own stories to tell during the Abacha era. So, if democracy fails, politicians will not suffer as much as we will because the first institution they will go for after scraping the legislature is the media. So, it is also in our enlightened self-interest to ensure that democracy survives.”
Adeniyi believes that the survival of democracy in the country will depend on the survival of the legislature, stressing that the media should concentrate on promoting legislators who have been above board in the performance of their responsibilities as lawmakers. He is worried about the huge turnover rate of lawmakers. He said: “Media practitioners should begin to enlighten the people on the role of the lawmakers as distinct from members of the executive and we should call out those who are not doing their jobs. I know a lawmaker who was not known for promoting any sensible bill but was one of the most popular simply by clowning, singing and dancing on social media. Meanwhile, we have serious lawmakers doing the heavy lifting behind the scene without trying to stoke any controversy on social media. Those are the people we should begin to promote.
“We should be more rigorous in our approach to reporting, especially members of the National Assembly. If you go to the street to find out lawmakers that people recognise, you will discover that they are noisemakers. I subscribe to the notion that free and independent media is one of democracy’s most critical institutions. By enlightening the citizenry, the media seek to institutionalise the democratic process because the more diverse the information available to the public, the more accurate the social valuation they make.
“But, if an issue is distorted or muted in the media for whatever reason, not only will the quality of debate suffer, but it will also be difficult to accurately access society’s problems or proffer solutions. As media practitioners, we play our roles in many ways. We select topics, we distribute concerns, we frame issues and we filter information. Importantly, we must ensure that our interventions are for the public good.”
Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu described the media as the centre of successful governance overseeing the synergy of governance and communication. He said: “Very often we refer to the press as the fourth estate of the realm because the press is a vital component of our democracy with the explicit capacity of advocacy and the implicit capacity to frame political issues, not just for social discourse but also, for the information and consideration of the legislature and other policymakers.
“In the practice of policymaking, it is a standard rule that public policy must be evidence-based. The legislature, like all other policymakers, is guided by press reportage on the pulse of the nation when making laws. The media’s investigative reportage is often a tool for evidence gathering to help in the formulation of laws, policies and oversight of ministries, departments and agencies of the government. Simply put, media reports serve as a whistleblower whom we leverage for efficient delivery of our mandate.”
Clerk to the House, Dr. Yahaya Danzaria spoke in the same vein. He said: “Democracy is all about media and the legislature is the only institution where the people have a choice of who represents them, adding that the media is the eye and voice of the people in a democracy. The media is central to the success of any democracy and indeed any legislature because the media represents the people when it provides them with information and report on activities in governance and representation.
“Without the media, there cannot be a functional democracy or political participation in any democratic society. The media indeed owes the people obligation to report development in the polity, it is also important that such reports are not borne out of desperation for sensation that destroys the democracy that we intend to build and protect.”
However, Grace Ike, chairperson of the House of Representatives Press Corps emphasised the role of training to sharpen the skills of media professionals to deliver on their mandate to contribute to the success of democracy. Ike said the training and retraining of journalists cannot be overemphasized, especially in these critical times when several countries around the world are confronted with the menace of fake news and clickbait headlines.
However, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital/New Media, Tolu Ogunlusi said since the media is the ones that shape how people see things and decides what is discussed, they must be in a position to ensure that the right perspective is created of the nation’s democracy. He said: “When the context is lost from the beginning, it would mean that we have shifted the conversation away from what it should be and that is not accurate or factual. The media has an important job to balance, attempt to show the other side and challenge existing notions and stereotypes.
“The 9th assembly often gets dismissed as a rubber stamp. Everywhere you go, opposition parties dismiss the assembly as a rubber stamp. Is that a fact? Is there another angle that is probably not being considered? I think that the 9th assembly has been the most productive since 1999. The traditional media is today competing with blogs and other online platforms that don’t have any obligation whatsoever. It is a big challenge and I am not sure how it’s going to be solved. How do you compete with people who don’t have any obligation to ethics or whatever? It is a challenge that journalists must deal with.”