The publisher of Premium Times, Mr Dapo Olorunyomi has urged journalists in Nigeria to strive towards minimizing harms in their reportage.
Mr Dapo who spoke via zoom in Abuja on Wednesday during a 2-day workshop on Peace and Conflict Sensitive Reporting orgnaized by Premium Times Academy in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) appealed to media practitioners to strike a balance when reporting humanitarian crisis.
In his paper titled, “The Consequences of Injurious and Non Sensitive Reporting. The Examples of Siera Leone, Kenya and Rwanda” Mr Dapo said, “in reporting conflicts, journalists must bear in mind the dynamics, adaptability, impact and the transformative conditions of it”.
While stressing that decisions in journalism have ethical consequences, Mr Dapo advised journalists against name calling and ethnic profiling when it has to do with crimes.
Giving reasons why striking balance while reporting humanitarian crisis is very important, Mr Dapo said, “This means, journalists should go for the trigger or the under belly of the reality that surfaces afterwards.
“Triggers of violence could take political, religious and regional depending on the peculiarity. However, the cost of conflicts are enormious as they have draining effects on the psychology of humans.
“It is normal for brothers to quarrel but a complete metaphor when someones else carries the report to the outer world”.
Suggesting ways to minimize such media harms, Mr Dapo said, “Education of journalists beyond mere surface understanding of issues is very important. So the education of the educator is central to managing conflict situations.
“Non sensitive reporting is unprofessional reporting. In many areas of conflicts, we must measure how our reports have become sufficiently ethical. We must always ensure to measure our reporting in conflict through human rights protocols”.
Mr Dapo who advocated for media pluralism and independence to help advance descent reporting, further stresedd that, “Our ethics is central and to give value and meaning to it is equally very important. However sacrificing the truth on the alter of managing situation will rather worsen it.
“What accuracy therefore means is that you present the facts of the matter and later bring in the context. Ethics are mere norms but doesn’t overshadow the truth”. Dapo clarified.
