Our Reporter

Editors of news media have asked the government to tackle the insecurity in the country with all that is required.

They expressed concern about the growing insecurity and advised the government at all levels “to activate their required structures in tackling the challenges”.

The editors gave their position in the communiqué of the 2021 Biennial Convention of the Nigeria Guild of Editors released on Wednesday.

The convention which held on Monday and Tuesday took place in Kano.

In its communiqué signed by President Mustapha Isa and General Secretary Iyobosa Uwugiaren, the NGE also spoke on the state of the media industry and the economic implication of COVID-19 on the business.

The communique said: “The Federal Government should  as a matter of urgency, expunge, repeal or amend as may be appropriate, all existing obnoxious media laws in the country that are inimical to press freedom. It urged editors and journalists to continue to subscribe to and uphold the journalism code of ethics  developed by the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO).

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‘’The Guild observes the need for the Nigerian media to exercise their freedom to operate freely with a sense of responsibility. And considering the spikes in the levels of insecurity across the length and breadth of the country, it is high time for the media to set the agenda and lead the country’s drive to sustaining national cohesion.

‘’While observing Nigeria’s consistent deterioration in the Global Press Freedom Index since 2005, the Guild notes that it is worrisome that the slide is happening in a democracy, whereby the Guild has had cause in recent times to issue three press statements on the threats of closure and imposition of fines on some broadcast stations by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).’’

The NGE strongly condemned the harassment and arrest of vendors in the South East for  selling newspapers that carry story on agitators, describing the action as a subtle way of emasculating newspaper and putting newspaper companies out of business as vendors may stop accepting and selling their publications.

The Guild noted the huge disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has created globally, saying that the disruption has also had negative effects on the Nigerian media industry, leading to significant drop in the media businesses’ revenues.

‘’For the media to respond to these challenges creatively, there is urgent need for the media managers to evolve diversification, designing of a dynamic management system, producing innovative contents, restructuring their production technologies and adapting new funding and business models.

‘’Considering that the role of information dissemination by the media is an essential public and social service, the Guild calls on government to consider mitigating the media’s operational costs and economic challenges by floating a national media subsidy regime, including tax holidays and waivers, lifting of license fees for the broadcast media and offsetting debts of government media agencies in the country”.

The Guild harped on the need for Nigeria’s media publics, particularly the youth whom the media must carry along, to use, decipher and rely on the conventional media for reliable and credible information in taking their decisions.

The safety of journalists also attracted the attention of the editors, calling on both the public and the private media operators to lift the media out of the current dangers by devising measures inclusive of guaranteed welfare and insurance schemes for the safety and security of journalists working for them.

The communique added, ‘’Against the backdrop of the assailing new media trends, the Guild highlights the essence of training and retraining of the Nigerian journalists to update their knowledge, skills and expertise of the profession – with a view to attaining the needed proficiency and competencies that are required to overcome the new media drifts that dragging journalism profession.’’

While commending Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for keeping the state safe, the editors also appreciated the state government’s phenomenal drive of infrastructure development.