By Jimoh Sulyman
Journalists have been advised to be more objective and make their reports devoid of sentiments.
This advice was given last Tuesday by Mr. Stephen Olufemi Oni at a one-day seminar for media practitioners, organised by National Orientation Agency Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The seminar which was well attended by members of the fourth estate of the realm, was held at the NUJ press centre in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.
Speaking on news reportage, the former chairman of the state NUJ, Oni urged journalists to be objective in news writing and reportage, charging them not to interject personal opinion and sentiments in their reportage.
He, however, said, “Fake News still remain a very potent, big and disturbing problem, which can cause huge political upheaval and dire consequences” he noted.
Also speaking, another Guest Speaker, Abdulrahman Malik (Esq) in his paper titled “Investigative journalism emphasised on the importance of investigative journalism to the thriving of the practice of journalism.
He stated that, “Investigative journalism is about digging deep into issues in order to bring out hidden facts for the benefit of the public”.
He, however, urged Journalists to be more proactive in their duties and always put in more efforts to bring the truth to their readers and listeners.
The Patron of NOA chapel, Alhaji Tunde Akanbi, in his remarks, lauded the initiative of the NOA chapel to organise such seminar which he described as a wake-up call to other Chapels of the NUJ.
He bemoaned the lack of personal development of some media practitioners and their inability to progress with time and modernity.
Tunde Akanbi also lamented the discouraging remuneration of media practitioners, citing lack of pay as the main reason journalists compromise their integrity for “brown envelope”.
In his own remarks, state Director of NOA, Segun Adeyemi in his remarks, thanked the participants at the gathering that he described as what the country need at the moment, citing one of the themes, investigative journalism, as what will help the country in the premise of security and intelligence.
He also expressed concerns over fake news and its detrimental effect on the peace of the state and country.
