Insurance cover options journalists should have

INSURANCE FOR JOURNALISTS: A RISK MANAGEMENT OPTION

BEING A PAPER PRESENTED TO THE MASTERCLASS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS MASS COMMUNICATION ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (UMCAA) ON SATURDAY, 26TH SEPTEMBER, 2020

BY AKINDAYO AJITERU, MSC (UNILAG), FIHFMN

It is trite to say life is full of risks. This is because living, itself, is a risk. From when you go to sleep, all through the night, waking up, and getting out of the house for the day’s activities, all the way till you return home, daily, we all live within and interact with, a risk ecosystem called life. Depending on your chosen endeavour, your risk profile may be tempered or further accentuated. We know life has happened to many people who were not prepared for it and so were not able to withstand the vicissitudes that life threw at them.

Many vocations are known to pose no real danger to the welfare and wellbeing of its practitioners. However, the same cannot be said about journalism. Being a practising journalist is among the most dangerous jobs that anyone could engage in not in the least because of the environment in which journalists operate. Just to underscore this point. A 2018 report of an interview authored by Kourosh Ziabari & Robert Boynton titled “It’s a Dangerous Time to Be a Journalist” and posted on www.fairobserve.com, quotes CareerCast, a job search engine, as noting that “the role of a newspaper reporter is the sixth most stressful job in the world”. It goes further to say that “so far this year, at least 45 journalists have been killed in the line of duty, as reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists”.

Closer home here, the risks and challenges that a journalist faces in the daily practice of his profession are all well documented. Because journalists go to any length to investigate and unearth truths and report same, some of which may be sensitive and at variance with certain vested interests, they often find themselves in situations that pose great risk and danger to their wellbeing and, even, lives. This is not to talk about the pressure of meeting deadlines to file reports and stories to their organizations. A research work by Agidife-Philip Stella Oghenerobor and published in Journal of Social Science, 2019 (https://www.sumerianz.com/pdf-files/sjss2(11)223-230.pdf) found that “the Nigerian journalist is indeed exposed to a number of hazards that have impeded on his or her daily reportorial activity, which include threat, molestation, verbal warning and poor welfare package amongst others”. Furthermore, a UNESCO report of The International Programme for Development of Communication (IPDC) titled “Journalists’ Safety Indicators (JSI) – related Project in Nigeria 2014-2015”, which undertook a study called “Baseline Audit on State of Safety of Journalists in Nigeria” (https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/jsi_report_for_nigeria_ipdc_project_0.pdf)  indicates that “a total 47 attacks against journalists were documented during the period; the attacks affected journalists from 22 national and international media outlets; 4 of the 47 attacks were directed against female journalists”.

In another instance, www.rsf.org (Reporters Without Borders) in a 2012 report titled “Daily abuses suffered by Nigeria’s journalists” chronicles various forms and dimensions of challenges faced by journalists in the practice of their profession either working as freelancers or as employees of their media organizations. These range from harassments, threats, arrests, assaults, incarcerations, seizure and damage of equipment and other assets including premises, to killings, and civil suits for libel and slander.

Many media organizations are also known to have poor or even no welfare package for their journalists despite the hazards of their calling. Journalists are made to work for months without their salaries being paid with management expecting them to “fend” for themselves and forgetting (or ignoring the fact) that journalists have families to feed. For example, on May 16, 2020, Premium Times Online reported the case of a journalist with the Imo State government who was suspended indefinitely from her job for taking to Facebook to request her three months unpaid salary and the wages of her co-workers. Also, on May 22, 2020, another online news platform, nairametrics.com, carried a report with the headline “Newspapers owners slash salaries by 50%, reduce print pagination by 45%” and with the rider “Covid-19 is not sparing the 4th Estate!” Incidentally, the NUJ had as far back as October 2019 indicated its readiness to partner with newspaper owners to sponsor a bill that would penalize media establishments that owe journalists. I am not sure of what has become of that readiness.

With the above in mind, the risk environment is clear, present and without question. The real question is what can be done to manage or minimize the risk. To be sure, there are many approaches that may be and are indeed being, deployed at individual, group, organizational and governmental levels. Thankfully, our topic today has helped to narrow our focus to a well-known and acceptable risk management tool, which is insurance. So we put the question- how can we use insurance to mitigate the various risks faced by journalists in the practice of their profession?

Risk, simply put, is the chances of anything going wrong or against plan and expectation. The businessdictionary.com defines risk as “a probability or threat of damage, injury, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused by external or internal vulnerabilities, and that may be avoided through preemptive (sic) action” So the risk is made up of two parts: the probability of something going wrong, and the negative consequences if it does.

Please take special note of the phrase “…and that may be avoided through pre-emptive action” in our businessdictionary.com definition. That is the lifeline that we are holding on to today having established that we all, and especially as practicing journalists, are exposed to one form of risk or the other. We can take pre-emptive, intentional and deliberate actions to protect ourselves and insurable interest from total financial loss.

Typically, to be able to develop an appropriate response to a risk situation, one will need to understand and possibly apply the following risk management processes: risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment or management and, risk monitoring and evaluation.

Risk identification deals with the question of what can possibly go wrong. Four main categories of risk are hazard risks, such as fires to equipment or premises or injuries to self and employees; operational risks, including income loss due to business failure; financial risks, such as loss of income due to non-payment of salaries; and strategic risks, which include legal suits and loss of brand reputation.

Following identification of the risk, you may want to analyze the effect, impact and implication of the risk for your personal/professional capability and sustainability. Risk evaluation is when you then assign value or ranking to the identified risks and their potential impacts or effects on your personal, professional or organizational outlook based on the criteria that are specific to you and your reality. This will then lead you to the risk treatment or management strategies that you wish to adopt. Some of the common alternative strategies include accepting the risk, avoiding the risk, controlling the risk or transferring the risk.

We will focus on the strategy of transferring the risk also known as risk-sharing which simply means sharing or transferring the responsibility of the negative impact or effect of risk occurrence or outcome to another entity. This is the crux of this paper. It is what insurance is all about. Simply put, insurance is a way to manage your risk. When you buy insurance, you purchase protection against unexpected financial losses. Insurance is a buffer against perils. When you take any type of insurance cover, you are inadvertently protecting yourself- and your interests- against unredeemable loss. It is the focus of insurance to restore you, well, almost to the pre-loss situation.

Before we look at the various classes of insurance that are available to a journalist, let me quickly mention some of the benefits that you derive from taking an insurance cover:

• Ensures financial stability- all insurance covers seek to compensate financially for a loss suffered by the insured. A peril or loss situation can really put someone in a catastrophic situation. Just this week, we heard the news of the explosion of a fuel tanker in Lokoja and that of a gas tanker in Iju area of Lagos. Without adequate insurance cover, anyone and everyone affected by the sad incidents are likely to experience some degree of financial setback and may struggle to bounce back. However, an insurance cover in place for such types of losses can stem the loss tide and even give them the bounce.

• Gives peace of mind- one of the greatest sources of motivation that someone can have is the confidence or assurance that whatever happens, I am protected, I am covered. Ultimately, it is God that protects, however, taking an insurance cover surely can help to minimize the impact of a loss or even restore to the pre-loss situation. There is a peace of mind that comes with this.

• Helps to cope with stress during the time of loss- the period of occurrence or loss can be a time of great stress. Much physical and emotional drain owing to unexpected and unplanned occurrence can lead to confusion and uncertainty. Sudden illness requiring urgent but expensive medical intervention can be stressful physically, emotionally and financially. However, adequate health insurance can at least take care of the financial demand thereby relieving other anxieties.

• Enhances better planning and future outlook- an insurance cover no doubt makes for good planning. It is not leaving things to chance and hoping that things would sort themselves out. If the stake is high for you personally, professionally or in business, then it is advisable you put insurance covers in place as part of your planning. This way, your future outlook is more confidently assured.

Really, there are no insurance covers in Nigeria that specifically speak to the professional need of the journalist unlike what obtains in other climes. However, I believe that with the willingness of insurance companies to innovate and take on more risks, insurance covers for journalism as a profession such as media liability insurance can be developed and offered.

Nonetheless, there are many types of insurance covers or products that are available to individuals, groups or organization. Some of them are statutory and so compulsory to have e.g. motor vehicle insurance, group life insurance, etc. We will discuss briefly those that are relevant to a journalist whether he is operating as individuals or as a business:

1. Professional Indemnity Insurance– In the absence of the more specific Media Liability Insurance, this perhaps is the most important insurance cover available to a practicing journalist in Nigeria. The policy covers the insured in respect of any loss arising from any claim which may be made upon them by reason of neglect or error committed in the conduct of the insured’s business in its professional capacity.

Benefits: The benefits include legal costs and expenses incurred in the insured’s defence; and damages or costs that may be awarded if the insured is alleged to have provided inadequate advice or services that caused his/her client to lose money.

So, when you think of legal suits for slander or libel, and the potential legal defence expenses, this policy may just be your best bet.

2. Personal/Group Accident Insurance– this policy is especially suited for practicing journalists who by calling tend to be quite itinerant and exposed to violence. It offers cover, as an individual or a group, for bodily injury caused solely and directly by accidental, violent and visible means. Compensations are equally provided where such accident results in death.

Benefits: This is a welfare policy with benefits available including death benefits; permanent & total disablement benefit; medical expenses; and burial expenses. Additional benefit may include provision for cost and expenses of repatriating expatriate corpses; and also loss of persons due to disappearance.

3. Group Life Assurance– this is a compulsory insurance for an employer by virtue of the PENCOM Act 2014 (as amended). Every employer of labour with at least five (5) persons in the employment must maintain a group life assurance and pension scheme for the employees. The GLA compliments contribution pension for employees.

Benefits: GLA covers the death of an employee whilst in active service with minimum benefits of three (3) times annual emoluments (basic, housing & transportation allowances) prescribed by the Act. GLA may be combined with other insurance policies, i.e. GPA, employers liability insurance in order to extend the cover.

4. Health Insurance– this is another welfare insurance policy that everyone and organization need to have in place. It gives access to a wide range of medical benefits including access to a large network of primary, secondary and specialist healthcare professionals and providers in any part of the country. Sadly, Nigeria has one of the world’s highest out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on healthcare at over 70%. This means that many Nigerians are without health insurance thereby exposing themselves to the high cost of procuring medical care at the point of service or need. This is a major source of impoverishment amongst the people. I am sure we can all relate to situations where people make an appeal to various media for money to fund their personal and family health. The good news is that health insurance covers are widely available in the country and can be quite affordable especially when purchased as a group. Most health insurance companies will also allow some kind of flexible payment thereby further making subscription easy.

Benefits: the policy covers consultations with the general and specialist medical practitioners, laboratory and diagnostic investigations, provision of drugs, hospitalization, surgery, maternity care including caesarean surgery, dental and eye care including provision of lenses, treatment of chronic and critical ailments, treatment of injuries from accident and emergencies including intensive care room.

5. Travel Insurance: also known as “traveller’s insurance”, it is a type of insurance that many are familiar with as it is statutory for international travels. The main point to note here is that you are covered and compensated for the loss of personal items while in transit, delayed or cancelled flights, treatment of acute medical illnesses and also repatriation of corpses.

6. All-Risk (Equipment) Insurance: As journalists, the safety of our gadgets and data therein is important. An all-risk policy will cover material damage as a result of unforeseen and sudden physical loss or damage from any cause other than those specifically excluded in a manner necessitating or replacement; external data media inclusive of the information stored therein which can be directly processed in EDP systems which suffer any material damage identifiable; and increased cost of working additional expenditure incurred for the use of substitute EDP equipment not covered under the policy.

Benefits: the policy ensures that your data is secured and that you are compensated for the loss of or damage to your device. It will also provide compensation for expenditure incurred for use of substitute device as a result of the loss of or damage to a covered device.

7. Investment-linked Education Assurance Policy: this is a policy that journalists may want to consider especially in the face of irregular income from salary. The cover ensures that children education does not suffer due to the parent’s loss of income or even death. The policy protects pupils/students from abrupt stoppage of schooling as a result of death or disability of the parent before completing school. at maturity, the policy will pay the sum assured plus the bonus as a lump sum. Also in the event of the death of the policyholder before the maturity date, the amount in the policyholder’s account and the outstanding policy premiums will be paid to the beneficiaries

Benefits: parents are provided funds for the proper education of their children through the continued payment of the school fees. There is a tax rebate on the premium.

More details of the various types of insurance discussed above and many more not discussed for space constraints including sign up requirements and processes can be shared with interested members of the group.

As professionals in the information business, while we continue to pray for divine protection, it is also however essential that we are aware of the risks to which we are exposed and to be abreast of ways and means to protect those interests that are important and of value to us. One major strategy is the use of insurance to mitigate and or share the risk. With a collective approach to insurance, we can surely get the best of values available.

* Appreciation to UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS MASS COMMUNICATION ALUMNI ASSOCIATION (UMCAA) for granting us permission to publish this valuable presentation.