THE 2012 Senate Press Corps retreat took place last week in Umuahia, capital city of Abia State. Preparations for the two-day event began in the first quarter of the year, when the leadership of the Senate Press Corps realised the need for journalists covering the upper legislative chamber to raise their game and be alive to emerging challenges of reporting law making dynamics.And the government of Abia State, through the effort of Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, accepted to host the retreat.President of the Senate, Senator David Mark led a powerful team of the lawmakers including Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze; Abaribe and Nkechi Nwaogwu to the event that also attracted the participation of members of Abia State House of Assembly.With the Role of the Media in Promoting Good Governance as theme, Senator Mark, while declaring the retreat open, underscored the strategic role of the media in a democratic dispensation. According to him, for the media to effectively perform its role as public watchdog, it should be willing to bark or bite as necessity demands.His words: 'the media can arouse the consciousness of the people from their complacency to assert their rights and demand accountability from those in authority.'In a nutshell, the media provides the channel and platform for the people to know what is happening in their environment and beyond. It is akin to holding a mirror so that the society, including the leaders and the led, can see their reflections.'Senator Mark also cited Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which recognises the media as one of the organs mandated to hold government or public officers accountable. He said that any responsible medium, aside from its education and information role, must also be able to create agenda for agencies of government on how to improve the living condition of the people.To perform this role credibly therefore, he urged practitioners to be of good conduct and posses high level of responsibility. 'As media men and women working towards the common good of all, you must pause and ponder over your performance. I believe this retreat will serve that purpose,' he said, adding that the passage of the the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill last year by the National Assembly was to in recognition of the important of free information flow to the quest for good governance.The lawmaker however regretted that sometimes, conflicting information from the media create confusion in the polity, while urging practitioners to uphold the tenet of the profession in the discharge of their responsibility with emphasis on the journalism maxim that: 'When you are in doubt, leave out.'As part of the measures to address some of the issues highlighted, Mark urged the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) and the National broadcasting Commission (NBC) to live up to their duties by effectively regulating the media and ensuring that respect for national security is maintained at all time.While acknowledging the positive roles of social media such as Face book, twitter as well as BlackBerry in information dissemination, the Senate President noted with concern the degree of threats they pose to journalism ethics. To reverse this negative trend, he suggested that schools of journalism should review their curricula to reflect the present day realities.The deplorable condition under which many journalists now work did not escape the attention of the Senate President. He likened the situation to unleashing terror on society. He hoped that relevant stakeholders would collaborate with a view to addressing the situation. On the part of the government, he called for import duty waivers on media equipment to reduce cost of publishing and broadcasting in the country.'We would need to work together with media owners and regulatory agencies to find a way out of this through strong legislation', he assured, just as he acknowledged the contribution of the media to engendering democratic culture in the country.In Reporting Nigeria's Legislature: The Reporter's Challenge, Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze, observed that attention and interest in journalism have been sharply divided between developmental journalism and yellow journalism models. According to him, the later appeared to have subsumed all the others, resulting in a situation where serious minded media outfits that focus on human development record highest casualty rates.'The penny Press era focused on human interest stories with scant attention to developmental and informational journalism while the Yellow Journalism era dwelt mainly on commercialism and mindless sensationalism, reporting essentially the seamy side of life.'From then on, the practice has swung between these two models and it has over the years and across all civilisations and societies tumbled from one extreme to the other, sometimes settling temporarily somewhere in between the two models.'In the paper, reference was made to how undue emphasis has always been on emoluments of the lawmakers to the detriment of phenomenal transformation in the legislature. Admitting however that the press has risen to its founding principle of setting agenda for the society, he said the legislature often goes beyond its constitutional role as stipulated in section 88 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and engages in meddlesomeness.He also pointed out that some declarative statements often made by both the Senate and House of Representatives on the conduct of affairs, which remain outside the consideration of are often caused by the Press.He went further to blame the situation on dearth of resources considering the young age of the legislature. He therefore called on journalists covering the National Assembly to set agenda for the kind of democracy that Nigerians desire and while discharging their duties, investigate stories very well before going to the press.Earlier in his welcome address, Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, expressed joy that the retreat was held in Abia. He assured his guests of their safety, stressing that his administration has been on top of the security situation through partnership with the federal government.Speaking on the media and good governance, Governor Orji concurred with others on the fact that the media can make or unmake and as such, should be diligent in the discharge of their roles, criticise when necessary but objectively in order to encourage political officers, especially those that are not performing to make amends.Chairman of the occasion and former Deputy Leader, House of Representatives, Hon. Mao Ohuabunwa, noting that the role of the media is clearly captured in Section 22 of 1999 Constitution (as amended), tasked journalists to live up to expectations by holding leaders accountable.Also speaking, Chairman, Senate Press Corps, Cosmos Ekpunobi, thanked the governor for accepting to sponsor the retreat and called on the South East governors to address the dilapidating condition of Abia/Okigwe federal roads.Two other papers: Journalism in the 21st Century Series: Covering the News in a Dangerous and Fast Changing World; as well as Implementing the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act for Good Governance, were delivered at the retreat by Abuja Bureau Chief, The Guardian Newspapers, Martins Oloja and Emeka Omeihe, a public analyst/columnist, respectively.Oloja, who has always emphasised the glaring insecurity in Journalism Practice in Nigeria, reviewed the fast changing world of the profession, especially with the advent of social media.He underscored the fact that forces of globalisation have significantly changed the face of journalism. Thus, he admonished journalists to be aware of their place in the global context; do something about their apparent complacency and ignorance; know where they are going and why they may be jobless in the nearest future.He also urged his colleagues to place journalism in a proper perspective in the Nigerian economy, devise means of surviving the threat of globalisation if they must remain alive to continue in the profession. For him, journalists should be abreast of the threat of globalisation on journalism profession, the economy, polity as well as the flashpoints.Oloja noted that the way out of the increasing threat of globalisation to journalism is for journalists to scale up, square up to the challenges and remain on top of the game.Omeihe's presentation underscored the significance of FOI Act in promoting openness, transparency, accountability and good governance.He was of the opinion that a dutiful implementation of the Act will lead to a substantial reduction in the malfeasance. He regretted that the implementation of the Act so far has been largely handicapped.
Click here to read full news..
