The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council, Mr Francis Nwosu has charged Journalists in the country to always put national interest above primordial sentiments and also avoid sensational stories which are capable of causing chaos among ethnic nationalities.
The NPC Boss made this declaration while delivering his welcome remarks at the workshop organised for Journalists from South West held at H3 Event Centre Abeokuta, Ogun State.
According to him, journalists must be conscious of their choice of words so as not to cause more harm than good when elections reports are published.
The 2 day Workshop which was tagged: Effective Coverage and Reportage of 2023 General Elections, was organised by the council in preparation for the 2023 General Elections.
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun who was represented by the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Waheed Odusile reminded Journalists to note that security and Safety of the country begins with them, charging them not to use their pens to talk Nigeria out of existence.
Also speaking, Professor Rotimi Olatunji from Department of Public Relations and Advertising, School of Communication, Lagos State University, in an interactive session delved into the imperatives of Journalism ethics in the coverage of 2023 General elections.
The university don emphasised the need for journalists to be versatile enough to master ethics of the profession so as not to run foul of the law of the land while on official duty,for it will rather guide members to find “moral compass” while on the job.
In his own words, Dr Raphael Abimbola of the Mass Communication Department, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko while putting Journalists through on how to report elections results and resolve election disputes advised journalists to have an indept knowledge of two major legal instruments for election in Nigeria so as to report within the ambit of the law.
He identified Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines as two major instruments which every journalists must possess and digest.
He further charged journalists to report accurately without bias in a fair and balanced manner.
The Director of Research and Documentation Department, Nigeria Press Council, Mrs Stella Jibrin, enjoined participants to explore the opportunity provided by the council to further enrich themselves while performing their professionals duties during the forth coming General Elections.
In attendace were former President, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr Lanre Ogundipe who presented a paper titled: Objective Reporting: A requisite for successful 2023 Elections and Mr Sola Imoru, Media Adviser (speech writing) to the Governor of the State of Osun who also talked about roles of the media in voters education.
