By Tayo Johnson, The Nation.
Nigerian journalists have been urged to cover issues of family planning as a civic responsibility to the citizens.
The Director, Development Communications Network, Mr Akin Jimoh made the call in Ibadan, Oyo State during a training for reporters on family planning reporting.
According to him, more lives would be saved if greater attention was paid to reports on family planning.
“There is need to raise family planning in the consciousness of the people as a civic responsibility equal to voting. As journalists, we need to manage our biases in doing our jobs in this regard.
“With voting, we choose today’s leaders but with family planning, we choose tomorrow’s society, ” Jimoh stated.
In his paper entitled, “Reporting family planning from the human perspective”, Jimoh noted that issues on family planning should be presented in a way that would stimulate further action from policy makers and consumers of media messages.
He said the report should be written in a way that would enable Nigerians to make informed decisions about their lives with respect to family planning and healthy living.
To achieve greater impact, Jimoh urged health reporters to include voices of parties involved in family planning stories through eyewitness accounts.
He said report should include human interest cases that could stimulate emotions and impact the public.
He cited suspicion on the part of authorities, low awareness level, media apathy, and cultural belief as factors responsible for apathy to family planning.
