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Media Roundtable on The Working and Welfare Situation of Journalists in Nigeria : a report
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Journalists who find themselves in such organizations often face difficulties in their duties and at times in order to guard against victimization or other unpleasant consequences, they impose self-censorship or slant media reports in favour of political or group interests. This is unethical and has negatively affected Media practice and quality of the press in our country, and in many countries of the world. Let me borrow a leaf from the history of the press in America to drive home my point. In 1785, Mr. John Walter established the Times et al with the sole aim of supporting the party in government. And the medium towed that path and alienated the society it was supposed to protect until 1817, when the son of the proprietor, John Walter II hired Thomas Barnes as the editor. He refocused the editorial policy of Times with the support and understanding of the new owner and today the Times has a rich legacy of service. Journalists should always differentiate between commercial or political interest and the interest of the society wherever they find themselves because anything short of that is unprofessional. And often the drive to satisfy or promote certain interests leads people to establish media houses without proper preparation. This has affected the condition of service of media workers in such organizations. Media professionals in such organization sometimes work without any formal condition of service. They are simply let loose on the society and forced to survive through unethical practices that bring reproach to the hallowed profession of journalism. It is the duty of media professionals and stakeholders to correct this situation. No investment in the media can succeed without proper investment in the welfare and development of media professionals and workers. The International Press Centre should collaborate with media practitioners, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Newspapers proprietors Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Press council and training schools to instill strict observance of professional standards and ethics in the media. I will implore journalists to report from the standpoint of fear of God and good conscience because no matter the quality of training and welfare of professionals, without the fear of God and passion to serve, observance of ethics will still be affected. Although the media have done well under this democratic dispensation, the observance of ethics and accuracy of reports still remain a major challenge.