IDRIS MABADEJE
Media- Essentially, ,democrac in all its variants, is based on citizen participation.
And the most fundamental way to participate is to vote.
However, it is difficult for the electorate to know how to vote for, where to vote, or how to vote without the instrumentality of the media.
The Primary goal of democracy is to service the interest of the people through their consent.
The media, on the other hand, provide the platforms and channels attended to by the people for information on how they should be served and by whom.
Therefore, it goes without saying that for democracy to thrive and its gains sustained in a society, the role of the media must not be relegated to the background.
This perhaps informed why the proponents of libertarian theory of the Press ascribed a level of autonomy to the media as the “fourth estate” of the realm.
They postulate that the media are not expected to be subservient to the State or its political institutions, stating that competing power centres, groups and individuals should have free access to the media to articulate their views to enrich the political process.
For the promoters of social responsibility theory of the press, decorum, fairness and the overall interests of society should be paramount in media offerings to the people.
They believe that journalists should use their profession to ensure the socio-economic and political stability of the society.
It is for the purpose of guidance, particularly in times of dilemma and conflict of interests, that ethical guidelines have been formulated for journalism practice.
The principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability, are common denominators in journalistic code of ethics.
Adhering to ethical standards enhances the credibility of the press and invariably contributes to the sustenance of democracy.
The media in Nigeria operate in an environment that demands journalism practitioners to stay on the path of objectivity as well as adherence to ethical standards.
There are many journalists, editors and media houses who have, in spite of many odds, continued to uphold ethical standards.
Yet for competing interests, ever present threats, harassments and intimidations, many journalists easily jettison ethics in exchange for survival and pecuniary gains.
The awareness that ethical standards are not often adhered to in journalism practice, as it is in many other professions in our clime must have informed the regular seminar and workshops on promoting professionalism among the practitioners by current leadership of the NUJ in Akwa Ibom, which of course are yielding the needed results.
With the many papers being presented by media scholars and practitioners, the sponsors and organizers of such workshops deserve commendation for staging the event which underscores the indispensable roles of journalists towards the sustenance of our hard-earned democracy and broaden their capacities.
Although journalists have continued to do their bit towards enlightening the people on the various aspects of Nigeria’s polity, it is common knowledge that operations in some sectors have been shrouded, to a large extent, in secrecy.
It is, however, commendable that the present state information boss’ approach towards journalists has enhanced strong partnership with the pen pushers in the state and this synergy is laudable.
With this partnership, it is expected that a new chapter of transparency and mutual trust will open up in media coverage.
Getting full credit for appropriate corporate social behaviours can only be possible when all stakeholders in democracy effectively partner with the media.
Then, the information requirement of the wide range of opinion leaders and other stakeholders will be met, through effective communication of appropriate messages, using the multifarious channels of the media.
