Mr Alake implored the media to practise responsive journalism, saying this was critical to avoid heating up the polity and misleading the public.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, has said that the Federal Government does not see the mass media as an enemy, but a tool to put the administration on its toes.
“If we are practising adversary journalism and we create problems in our society, where are we going to practise?” Alake asked during a meeting with media executives on Friday in Abuja.
He said the meeting was to seek the understanding and buying-in of the media to ongoing fundamental policy initiatives of the Tinubu government that were necessary for the country’s development.
Mr Alake implored the media to practise responsive journalism, saying this was critical to avoid heating up the polity and misleading the public.
“When there is genuine course to criticise the government, do it constructively and also suggest and proffer solutions to issues affecting the country.
“It is important that even when we are angry at what is going on in the country, we should still apply that sense of responsibility in our reportage so that even after venting our anger, we will still have a society to live in to practice our profession and thrive,” he said.
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Alake explained that government did not see the media as enemy because of its criticism, saying that criticism was part of democracy.
“Criticism you must do because it is an integral part of democracy; however, what is obnoxious is destructive criticism, you have to engage in constructive criticism.
“When you engage in constructive criticism, the person you are criticising will enjoy that criticism because you will be proffering solutions to challenges at the end of the day.
“The language of criticism should not be repulsive as some of our colleagues do, we can always criticise in decent language and make very good points that the recipient will take you very serious,” he said.
On the removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration, Alake said without confronting the rot and naughty issues in the petroleum sector, Nigeria would just be groping in the dark as a country while feeding a few to the detriment of the larger majority.
Director, Media and Publicity of the defunct Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the APC, Bayo Onanuga, called on Nigerians to support the Tinubu administration to enable it to deliver on its campaign promises.