Chief executive officer of Control Television and Radio Gimba Umar has implored journalists to ensure balanced and fair reporting of the forthcoming general elections in the country.
He spoke at a press conference in Lagos tagged, “Leveraging on the ethics of reporting ahead of the 2023 general elections,” where he also advised journalists to uphold professionalism while covering the elections.
The country, he said, is currently faced with a critical situation as the All Progressives Congress, the People’s Democratic Party, Labour Party, and New Nigerian Peoples Party jostle for the number one seat in Nigeria.
Journalists, he advised, must resist the ultimate temptation to be cowed, forcing them to tilt towards one party reporting it favourably against the other; denying the Nigerian people the right to know the truth.
He said: “Having said this, the onus now lies on us to ensure that professionalism is displayed and exemplified in our reporting of the 2023 general elections; for it is this period that the true test of the media shall come to bear… Without mincing words, we stand a chance to be celebrated or criticized at the end of the day.”
He also tasked journalists to shun fake news and professed loyalty to truth and accuracy and a concern for fairness and good taste.
He further tasked Nigerian journalists to be credible,socially responsible and ethical in the coverage of the coming general elections in the country.
“Let me at this point narrow down to the parties the candidates and their conduct in the build up to the 2023 general elections… As newsmen we must see and report what we see, away from what is fast becoming a copycat situation where one media house or reporter picks up a story from the web and copies word for word the same report and publishes it. We must strive to be original, factual, and well researched to deliver our stories accurately.
“For Instance, the candidate of the APC must be given equal media coverage as given to the candidate of other parties PDP, Labour Party, NNPP and others. This is a critical backend influence of the outcomes of election which the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) frowns at.
Speaking on the station’s latest win of Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA) as the best reporting media organisation in Nigeria, Umar attributed the development to the promotion of ethical reporting practices by Control Television and Radio.
He said his team has acquired a combined 45 years of experience in the media/ broadcasting spectrum winning laurels, including clinching 11 awards of the NMMA.
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