As part of efforts to equip journalists with skills to advocate for good governance, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre in Collaboration with Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER) has concluded arrangements to train journalists on ethics and professionalism in the coverage of corruption.
 
The training will hold on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at The Colossus Lagos, 4/5, Sheraton Opebi-Link Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Expected at facilitators at the one-day training are the Weekend Editor, The Guardian Newspapers, Dr. Kabir Garba, who will speak on “The Media as a tool for Transparency in Governance: Sustainable Tools for Investigative Reporting’ and Mr. Sam Olukoya of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who will present ‘Broadcast Media in the Age of Global Campaign against Illicit Funds and Corruption.’
 
The organisers stated that with about 250 ethnic nationalities, there was a growing tempo of extremism, ethnic and religious intolerance amid intermittent faith-induced conflict and violence. It added that at the root of this is corruption in Nigeria at all spheres of human lives.
 
They said: “While reporting corruption, the media stories are often skewed for so many reasons, including but not limited to lack of adequate media consciousness on the negative consequences of corruption, influence of politically exposed persons on the media itself, manipulation of media reports by corporate interests and self censorship.
 
“Critical challenges in reporting corruption in Nigeria include but not limited to poor media ideological training, lack of a well cultivated anti-corruption network of media practitioners, the absence of a nursing bed for anti-corruption media practitioners, and lack of follow-up mechanism on critical corruption issues.
  
“As a result, the call for journalism training on ethics and professionalism in the coverage of corruption in Nigeria has been on the increase.  It is considered to be the last hope for media practitioners to reduce if not totally curb politically exposed persons in preventing the strategic role of the media as anti-corruption watchdog, stabilise the political and economic environment through mobilisation of the print, electronic and social media against corruption.
  
“It is against this background that HEDA Resource Centre, in collaboration with Journalist for Democratic Right (JODER), is organising this journalism workshop training on ethics and professionalism in the coverage of corruption for Nigerian journalists, online media and bloggers.”
  
The organisers observed that the Nigerian media has a long but tortuous history beginning from 1859 when the first newspaper, Iwe-Irohin was published.
 
They added: “In the totalitarian military spanning 27 years, the media played a crucial role, including members paying the supreme price of death in the campaign for democracy.
  
“With the advent of constitutional government in 1999 and the consequent liberalisation of the media space, the Nigerian media has continued to blossom.
  
“The country has no fewer than 10 national dailies, 42 privately owned radio stations and about 89 government owned radio and television stations. Also, there has been a boom in online media with over 300 of such mushrooming mediums that have taken over the communication space.
  
“Most of the online publishers have no media training and have never had any newsroom culture. While this has strengthened pluralism and enriched the democratic horizon, associated with this is the lack of professionalism. This has given credence to the emergence of yellow journalism, some with the conscious design to promote hate, ethnic and religious prejudices.”