Journalists x-ray the Digital era’s impact on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and access to information at Press Freedom Day programme.
One of the major highlights of the month-long programmes to celebrate the 2022 World Press Freedom Day organised by the Media Career Development Network with the support of the United States Consulate in Lagos was the panel discussion on the theme of the Journalism Under Siege.
At the panel discussion held at the US Corner Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday, May 24 2022, the four panellists and journalists who attended x-rayed the Digital era’s impact on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and access to information.
The Consulate’s Public Affairs Officer, Steve Ibelli who welcomed participants stated that the United States believes that a free press is the core pillar of democracy with fundamental liberties.
“This is why we make press freedom a key component of our key policies. We respect individuals’ right to express themselves openly without fear or intimidation. The World Press Freedom Day gives us the privilege to remind ourselves of the fundamental principles of press freedom.”
Ibelli noted that 2023 would be a milestone in Nigeria and urged journalists to begin to devise practical ways to protect the voice of journalism. He also commended Nigerian journalists for the work they have been doing and the risk they take to bring the truth to the Nigerian people.
The discussants at the event were Dr Tunde Akanni an associate professor of journalism at the Lagos State University, Sola Aderenle, former Online Editor of The Punch Newspaper, Fisayo Soyombo an investigative journalist and founder of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Kunle Sanyaolu, Editorial Page Editor of The Guardian. Wemimo Adewunmi, a broadcast journalist with Nigeria Info FM, moderated the session.
Aderenle who was the first to respond to the issue of the safety of journalists in the digital space reasoned that the online medium is more fragile for journalism for so many reasons.
“It is possible to post your work and someone tries to discredit you. You need to fight for your professional life to stay by the truth. Dismissing one’s work has this damaging impact on the world of the journalist,” she said.
She noted that people can hardly distinguish between journalists and bloggers adding that most bloggers don’t operate ethically.
According to her, the online medium is also a veritable ground for the female gender to be bullied “There is a way the discussion changes when a woman is contributing to the digital space. ”
Sanyaolu in his submission noted that some of those who publish online do so to survive. “Some were disengaged from the regular media and had to find a living. They go into digital journalism to learn. They try to copy one another. They go for news and don’t take the patience to investigate before publishing.”
“For the print media, it’s a tough issue as you know. Before you process the information so many people have seen it online. So what is proper to do is to do follow-up and do analysis. The digital era has helped the print media to innovate because they have to survive.”
Taking the issue from another perspective, Soyombo noted that we are in the era of many news items being branded as fake when such news may be true. He cited the case of the recent bomb blast in Kano, Nigeria.
When the blast happened, Soyombo said a reporter from his organisation, FIJ, got in touch with the wife of the founder of a school close to where the blast occurred. The woman according to Soyombo said it was a bomb explosion by a suicide bomber.
” But the police had told the world that it was a gas explosion. A lot of people initially did not believe the bomb angle until later when there was evidence to show it was actually a bomb explosion by a suicide bomber.
” The lie almost sold immediately. The police in Kano had lied it was a gas explosion. This happens time and time again. Government makes a lot of effort to discredit news. We are in an era where if you have not been called a fake news purveyor you’re not a journalist.
“The social media is filled with people who want to clean up the image of government officials. It’s tough for journalism. Agencies are not interested in the truth. It makes it really tough to practice. “
Soyombo added that “most sites face the danger of being shut down by service providers because of alleged breach of community standards. Sometimes the sites are jammed with artificial traffic so that those who are meant to read the news don’t get to read them”
Akanni recalled the early years of the internet which brought so much excitement. He however described the internet age as the age of technology of freedom over true professionalism. “What we are experiencing is a kind of loose freedom the digital age has brought Freedom for charlatans. It is easier to pollute facts online” he submitted.
He noted that Wikipedia is not a reliable online information gathering platform because it could be edited indiscriminately .”People dump all kinds of things on it. A number of politicians have had to lie about their age and get it updated on Wikipedia.”
He however observed that most innovations have their other sides. “We have to be skilled enough to determine where to go for the kind of information we want. The internet has been helpful but you have to be very smart. You have to look at credible platforms to get information.” he counselled.
“Bloggers don’t feel ashamed. They plunge deeper into the dirt for which they are being blamed. The professionals have to hesitate and do due diligence before going ahead with a news item. But out there if you can afford a smartphone and internet you can be a journalist. That is unfortunate “
On how difficult it is to get information from the government, Soyombo suggested that journalists should be smart enough to beat the government to their game. He said for instance journalists can present different requests supposedly from different institutions if they really want to get information from the government.
Sourcing for data according to Aderenle is a lot of work on its own. “Whether they respond or not is news. We are grateful to online sources. Like UNESCO. Beyond dealing with data you need authoritative sources. But when you can’t get credible information it makes journalism cumbersome. Faceless sources make stories look fake. Be a step ahead. Journalists have to be a step ahead in their practice.”
Akanni insists that accessing reliable facts online means you don’t go to just any platform to acquire them. “There are credible sources. You have to be wary of sources that go for anything. But it’s up to you to use your professional skill to turn it around. For those of us in academia, we subscribe to reliable electronic libraries.”
Sanyaolu submits, “Journalists are mindful that govt doesn’t like to give information because they engage in unholy things and they want to keep safe. They don’t appreciate the value of the right information. The journalist must have a way to balance this. You have to be enterprising. You need to go to the scene of the event to gather facts. The reporter must find a way to verify his facts. In presenting information you need to be careful. By and large, it’s an unending struggle to get information.”
A lot of issues cropped up during the question and answer session. The panellists took time to address the questions bothering on the ethics of the profession and how the journalists can practice despite limitations.
Akanni posits that media literacy is key. “You have to learn to live with the odds in the industry. We need to understand the workings of the media.”
Sanyaolu believes freedom is never gotten on a platter of gold and urged journalists to persevere.
The question of who is a journalist also came up and there was no consensus as regards whether the journalist has to have formal training before being called a journalist or he could learn on the job.
The issue of the credibility of the media was also brought to the fore. Aderenle argued that some of the mistakes in the media are not peculiar to journalism in Nigeria. Journalists were however encouraged to be enterprising.
One of the issues that generated protracted debate was the correct terminology for citizens who report news. They are often referred to as citizen journalists. But one of the panellists argued that it will be wrong to use the word journalist for them since they were never trained. There was however a suggestion among many suggestions that such people should be called Informants.
At the event, Angela Onyegbulam of Paradigm Initiative took a session on the digital safety of journalists. While noting that Journalism is a bridge for all, she said journalists can’t afford not to use digital tools and there are lots of threats surrounding these tools.
She put participants through the use of two applications: Ayeta and Repoti which have proved to be effective in ensuring the digital safety of internet users.
The apps according to her help in the control of digital violations “A lot of violations are not documented. We provide solutions to people whose digital rights are being violated.”
“Feel feel to use repoti, report digital rights violation to www.ripoti.com. Illegal use of personal information, cyberbullying, and all manner of digital rights violations are taken care of with the use of the apps.”
The workshop ended with a closing remark by a member of the Board of Trustees of MCDN, Hajia Sekinah Lawal who thanked the resource persons for their time and the invaluable information they shared with the participants.
He appreciated the Consulate for the support in organising the discussion and other programmes to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.