Editors under the aegis of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), on Thursday, expressed their opposition to fake news and hate speech.
Acting President of the Guild, Mustapha Isah, stated the group’s position in Sokoto at the opening of the 15th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference (ANEC).
”The Nigerian Guild of Editors is not in support and will never support fake news and hate speech.
”Our members are trained professionally.
” It is true that the social media space, like any other ecoystem, is being abused by some people,” he said.
He, however, said the guild was not in support of any move to “surreptitiously ”curtail press freedom.
Isah also advised government to work with critical stakeholders in the media industry to address the challenges relating to fake news and hate speech.
He said the Guild chose the 2019 theme of the conference, “A Distressed Media: Impact on Government, Governance and Society,” with a view to focusing on the media as a business.
Isah added that the theme was also meant ”to focus on Nigeria and the sustenance of our democracy because without a robust media, democracy suffers.”
He said the current economic challenges had affected the business of journalism, warning that practitioners must survive first to perform their constitutional responsibility of holding government accountable to the people.
“The constitution gives the media an enormous responsibility of holding governments accountable to the people without providing for us the economic and the constitutional protection to do our duty.
” The media is passing through a tough phase. We are going to survive and we must survive. We will find solutions to our problems,” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian media has a rich history, having been in the forefront in the fight against colonialism and the struggle for democracy.
Isah also commended Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State for his consistent show of friendship to the media and the guild in particular.
Over 200 editors from various media houses across the country are attending the conference.
Tambuwal also urged the media to remain vibrant in spite of the huge financial challenges it was facing.
According to Tambuwal, the media is also feeling the heat of the harsh economic environment.
“I urge you not to despair, keep faith and remain unbowed.
“The difficult times will give way to a better and prosperous future but there is serious work to be done.
“The media may also initiate a serious conversation on the place of the media in the age of information technology.
“People now prefer to read newspapers online.
“Online publishing may need to be prioritised. You may need to strategise on how to aggressively canvass for advertisement online, ’’ the governor said.
According to him, our television and radio stations must reposition in order to compete favourably in a globalised world.
“I also urge the media to beam the searchlight on some untoward developments in our polity.
“While the Judiciary remains the last hope of the common man, the media remains the first place of call of any distressed citizen,’’ Tambuwal said.
He suggested the need to search for creative and innovative ways to boost Internally Generated Revenue in order to keep afloat
He noted the threat by Hate Speech and efforts to regulate it through a law.
Tambuwal added that there were enough provisions in our laws to deal with people whose actions could undermine national unity and cohesion.
The governor urged the media to remain vigilant, saying that the media had a responsibility to educate and mobilise Nigerians to defend democracy.
“We must join hands to checkmate anti-democratic elements and return our country to the path of constitutionalism, progress and development,’’ he added.
He said the media occupied a special place in the history of Nigeria, noting that the media was in the forefront of the struggle for independence.
“It (media) waged a relentless battle against military authoritarianism. It has continued to serve as a check against the excesses of those in power.
“The media keeps us on our toes and ensures that we remain accountable to the people.’’
In an opening remarks, former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, noted that the media did not deserve the Hate Speech Law.
“I don’t think anybody will want to make the law to punish some of us who fought for democracy.
“We must all fight with anything that we have. I offer myself to lead you as a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress to lobby the lawmakers.
“We are trained journalists; we have our Code of Conduct instituted by the Nigerian Press Organisation.
“We have our standards. The social media is not part of the mainstream media. We are not part of the social media,’’ Osoba said
He thanked Tambuwal for hosting the Guild of Editors in his state.
