The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) held a workshop for journalists, heads of newsrooms, and media executives on navigating legal challenges, laws that criminalise journalism, and Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPPs).

The workshop, which was held in the Premium Times office in Lagos on Wednesday, featured keynote speeches by seasoned professionals, including the likes of Deputy Director of Journalism Programmme at the CJID, Busola Ajibola; the President of the International Press Institute (IPI), Musikilu Mojeed; Co-Founder at Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative, Solomon Okedara, and a Professor of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, Professor Ismail Ibrahim.

As newsrooms struggle with operational costs and strive for sustainability, they face pushback and repression from state and non-state actors. Some of this pushback comes from lawsuits and laws that stifle press freedom.

A recent case of this was the N60 billion lawsuit filed against two northern journalists, Shu’aibu Mungadi and Tijjani Ramalan, by the Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle, for alleged defamation.

A participant at the workshop shared an experience of how she was slammed with a N2 billion lawsuit over a report she did.

While speaking on the implications of SLAPPS on journalists and newsrooms, Solomon Okedara, a lawyer, said they are often used to incite fear and embarrass journalists.

“SLAPPs are used to incite fear, drain journalists, render them stranded, embarrass and intimidate them and wear them out,” said Okedara.

The lawyer also noted that state and non-state actors who slam SLAPPs only against media entities do not often do it to win the lawsuit but to exhaust them financially, as they (newsrooms and journalists) will incur high costs on seeking legal representation in court.

CJID’s Ajibola explored press freedom violations from a gendered lens. She explained how female journalists and media executives faced sexual harassment in and outside the workplace.

Ajibola also advocated for laws penalising such practices against female journalists and media executives.

In his session, Mojeed introduced some operational strategies that journalists and newsrooms can adopt to avoid legal repression.

Some of the strategies he highlighted include newsrooms filing annual returns to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), paying taxes and levies, obeying property and building laws, and avoiding inaccurate and defamatory reporting.

According to Mojeed, failure to abide by these directions can predispose journalists nd newsrooms to legal repression from state and non-state actors.

“Failure to do these can lead to vulnerability and the government can use it against you. The subjects of your story can capitalise on the gaps in your story to launch vicious lawsuits that can kill you. A single word can damage a brilliant story,” said Mojeed.

He also advised journalists and media executives to shun unethical business practices. Mojeed noted that these practices can make journalists objects of blackmail.

“Unethical business practices can make you an object of blackmail. It can weaken your ability to do good journalism. Journalists and media practitioners should not accept transactions meant for their company into personal accounts,” Mojeed added.

The IPI President also took the journalists and media executives present through how they can avoid SLAPPs.

To avoid SLAPPs, he urged journalists to take responsibility for their mistakes, correct errors in reports, and take stories down if they eventually discover the contents are false or inaccurate.

He also advised newsrooms to set aside money for lawsuits, employ legal advisers, and have extensive knowledge of media laws.

“No matter what you do, SLAPPs will come even when you do the right thing,” he added.

“Accountability journalism is risky. You are the hunter. Dont become the hunted.”