“I implore you to Continue your excellent journalism, and to also retrospectively factcheck. What seems true from the angle of a public relations officer may turn out laced with innuendos after process of journalistic fact checking.”
By Uzor Odigbo
Iju Tony Nwabunike, patron of Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) in his address to the Association’s 2022 annual conference and awards, said the media should be more professional in its approach to important national discuss.
He said that the theme for this year’s conference which touches on blue economy and automation aligns very much with present reality facing Nigeria and the global maritime sector, hence the need for more research based on professionalism, investigative and data driven reports.
He said that it could come in form of port by port and country by country comparative analysis on issues such as cabotage financing, port regulation, modernisation, concession, trade supporting infrastructure, recognition of Certificate of Competency (CoC) and others.
Adding that the critical thinking advantage and agenda setting duty of journalists will be lost when practitioners rely only on press releases as their only source of reports, he stated that even though he is not in Nigeria presently to physically participate in the event, he has always followed up on activities through stories and updates on various news websites and social media accounts.
“While commending you for keeping the beat abreast with information, I also find it imperative to urge you on the need for more research based, investigative and data driven reports.
” I implore you to Continue your excellent journalism, and to also retrospectively fact check press releases to confirm their veracity even after reporting the content. What seems true from the angle of a public relations officer, may turn out laced with innuendos after process of journalistic fact checking.
“Please as you step into 2023, imbibe the culture of fact checking. This will enhance your credibility, improve the quality of your followership and make you a more dependable source of information. Not just copy and paste all year round, like some unprofessional journalists that found their ways into this noble family.
“Nevertheless, I doff my cap to all members of AMJON for their contributions and efforts in balancing stories at all times in this maritime industry and beyond. 2023 is again an election year in Nigeria. It is important you continue to place national interest above narrow objectives.
‘As reporters, you have a moral obligation of reporting all sides fairly, truthfully and neutrally as you always do. Keep this in mind because you are like judges on the pages, websites, blogs ,airwaves and visual space you control.
“We often refer to you as fourth estate of the realm because you are critical to democracy and your function promotes accountability in governance.
“As individuals handling sensitive functions of information, education , entertainment and history(because the news you write today becomes history in future), you have a moral duty to show good examples.
“I implore you to conduct yourselves in the best behaviour acceptable by law and our society, in open and in secret. Do not touch or promote falsehood, sensationalism or blackmail.
“Where you publish anything later discovered to be untrue, please retract immediately you realise the mistake. Don’t wait to be reminded by individuals , governments, or corporations, It may be costly.
“I am a regular reader of news here in the US.I keep myself abreast as part of my personal development agenda. Despite the US promotion of democracy and free speech, the American press retracts regularly to be fair to it’s news consumers.
“No individual, institution or country is perfect. I have shown a few examples with New York Times , Washington Post and NBC retracting on recently published articles. This is a norm in your noble job. Utilise it where and when necessary.”
