Medical centre cautions journalists on code of ethics

THE management of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jalingo, Taraba State, has advised journalists on the need to uphold the standard and code of ethics of their profession by desisting from being used for “dubious purposes.”

The hospital management, which made the call yesterday in a press statement made available to journalists, called the attention of media organisations nationwide to an ongoing plan by some few persons to use journalists in the state to run down the hospital management.

Citing one of the “negative publications” in one of the national dailies (not in The Guardian), the management expressed dismay at the way and manner some media organisations have dumped the ethic of the noble profession for something else.

The statement, which was signed by the Director of Administration, Alhaji Sule Tagali, said the management would not hesitate to tread the path of seeking justice should any media organisation failed to cross-check facts with the hospital before going to the press.

Stressing that there are a lot of good work going on in the hospital and that patients are getting quality service, the management, according to the statement, is “appealing to other media outlets to uphold the standard and code of practice of true journalism for which they have come to be known for.”

Calling on whoever that is doubting the hospital to “come and see for themselves,” majority of Nigerian journalists, according to the statement, “still practise with impeccable integrity and are thorough in their jobs as they stand for fairness and justice.”

Sad that “a few would allow themselves be used for dubious purposes” the management made known that “certain interested parties are waging a campaign of blackmail” against the leadership of the hospitals.

The hospital management, which stated that this “campaign of blackmail” is politically-motivated, advised journalists in the state not to allow themselves to be spoon-fed by “ill-information” but to go extra miles in cross-checking their facts before publication.

It said that what they published in the said national dailies were not the true picture of what happened in the hospital.

“The picture of sick patients shown is not from FMC Jalingo. There are no tile floors in patient areas of FMC Jalingo as shown in the purported picture. Our floors are terrazzo.

“The bed arrangement shown in the picture is not practised in FMC Jalingo. Plans have been uncovered by the hospital on the mapped out plans by some ‘interested persons’ to make use of journalists to achieve their ‘selfish aims’”, the statement added.