Journalists in Nigeria covering the COVID-19 pandemic now have access to an advisory launched by the International Press Center, IPC, Lagos-Nigeria, on Wednesday.
The advisory, divided into three parts – Safety, Ethics and Professionalism and Social Responsibility is to guide journalists in reporting various aspects of Coronavirus.
The Executive Director of IPC, Mr Lanre Arogundade, in a statement, said that generations of Nigerian journalists were covering a pandemic for the first time and therefore needed as much professional support as possible.
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He also said as front men and women in the effort to disseminate information that would help combat the pandemic, journalists were being exposed to heath and security risks, which must be addressed through diverse means.
According to him, the advisory had also become necessary because the Covid-19 infection was spreading to more states and all journalists, whether on the field or not, should benefit from relevant knowledge.
“The advisory derives from and complements existing national, regional and media standards for crisis reporting”, “he stated.
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The IPC Director said the release of the advisory would be followed by capacity training for journalists in partnership with other media and communication professional bodies in the next couple of days.
“The training would enable journalists to share information and ask questions based on their experience on the field and in turn receive more professional support “, Arogundade added.
According to him, the advisory was developed pursuant to the objectives of Component 4b: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria, although the responsibility for the content was solely that of IPC.
Get the PDF Version here COVID-19 ADVISORY FOR JOURNALISTS
