Technology management, collaboration critical for media survival, editors say at 3rd FrontFoot Media Roundtable
- L-R: Ikechukwu Amaechi, Dr Isah Momoh, Eze Anaba and Ken Ugbechie
By Jeffrey Agbo
Nigerian editors and media entrepreneurs have reached a consensus that collaboration and technology management are critical for the survival of the media.
This is even as they harped on the link between the media and government accountability, linking the widening web of corruption especially at state and local government levels to the emasculation of the Office of Auditor General by governors and local government chairmen respectively.
The consensus was reached at the third FrontFoot media roundtable which held in Lagos.
Forty-four editors gathered at the programme on August 15 to discuss “The Nexus Between Media and Government Accountability,” according to a communique signed by Eze Anaba, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE); Ken Ugbechie, Vice President (South), Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) and Emeka Izeze, former Editor, Managing Director of The Guardian newspaper and Director/Partner, FrontFoot Media Initiative.
The editors came from leading print and online publications in Lagos. Two editors came from the Daily Trust newspaper in Abuja, while FrontFoot’s Sonala Olumhense participated virtually from New York.
- Dr Nkanu Egbe, publisher of Lagos Metropolitan, stressing a point
Lanre Idowu, who reported on the work of the media ombudsman, said the body would enhance public confidence in the media by promoting higher standards of journalism ethics and defending the profession. He disclosed that the Media Complaints Commission has resolved one of the cases brought to it to the satisfaction of the parties involved and asked the public to take advantage of the forum.
FrontFoot Media Initiative organised the forum to provide feedback to the media community on its three-year training programme for journalists across the country on the rudiments of audit reporting for enhanced government accountability.
The media roundtable provided a forum for a wide-ranging discourse on the state of media practice by those at the forefront.
The communique said, “The senior media personnel observed that following the path of consistent reportage of the statutory government audit reports at federal, state and local government levels would enable the media to improve its ability to hold governments accountable; audit reports are mandatory for all levels of government per the 1999 Nigerian constitution; governments produce the audits, thus providing credible insight into managing state resources.”
- L-R: Dr Kabir Garba, Mr. Habib Haruna, Dr. Yinka Oyegbile, Dr Marcel Mbamalu, Mr. Ikechukwu Amaechi, Dr Isah Momoh at the workshop
They decried how governors have expanded their powers to emasculate the office of the auditor-general; the absence of official support of any kind to the media despite the growing and high cost of essential inputs in the industry; the many hindrances in the way of media scrutiny of governments as stipulated in Chapter 2, Sections 2 and 22 of the Constitution; and emphasised the imperative of collaboration among players and stakeholders for the sustainability of the media ecosystem.
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They called for enhanced cooperation among the media and civil society organisations such as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Media Rights Agenda and the FrontFoot Media Initiative to develop training and support programmes.
The editors expressed concern about the Intellectual Property scene and how Google currently deals with Nigerian media houses, resolved that the media must act in several positive ways to uphold its constitutional obligations and ensure its continued survival to serve Nigeria.
Also, they considered the establishment of a Libel Defence Fund to assist media houses facing legal attacks for defamation; improve the content and context of reporting of all issues, including government audit reporting; enhance professionalism within its ranks to minimise troubling trends such as wilful plagiarism, wrongful or non-attribution of story sources.
They also agreed to pay attention to technology’s paradoxical attributes for the media, noting that tech is an enabler and is growing in application in the industry. They noted that it has created a severe divide between tech-compliant personnel deficient in journalism know-how and experienced journalists who need more digital technical knowledge and ability. The media must bridge the gap between technology and journalism, they said.
- Mr. Emeka Izeze
The senior journalists further reasoned that the media must demand government support through tariffs and policies to create an enabling environment for sustainability; the media must prioritise capacity building and education for its new intakes and retraining for old hands; editors and supervisors must pay closer attention to the activities and output of outstation personnel and ensure compliance with organisational ethos; and editors must get correspondents to do follow-ups, as too many stories go unnoticed due to a lack of sustained reporting.
Decrying the absence of accountability in Nigeria, the media chieftains, who regretted that journalists were not interrogating public institutions and public office holders’ finances effectively, harped on the need for journalists to x-raying state governments’ audit reports.
This, they agreed, will enable a journalist to get stories that were not only factual but also impactful.
Some of those who spoke included Mr. Anaba, Editor-in-Chief of Century Media, Mr. Sully Abu; Mr. Izeze; and a veteran journalist, Mr. Sonala Olumhense.
They argued that audit reporting is a critical tool to pull the country out of age-long challenges such as corruption, poverty and under-development.
Insisting that Nigeria was at a tipping point Mr. Abu warned that if the situation was not checked, everything could go wrong.
- Mr. Sully Abu
He said: “The issue we should be looking at is how did we get here? Why are we here? If we look at that, then we might find out a way to get out of the mess we are in.”
He averred that Nigeria’s biggest problem was the lack of accountability at almost every level.
“In the First Republic, there used to be accountability. In those days, civil servants could look the premier in the eye and refuse to do a particular thing. Currently, governors are the single most destabilising element in our nation. And nobody holds them to account. Governors decide who gets into the legislature and decide who is impeached.
“They are either in Abuja or abroad. So, we (FrontFoot Media Initiative) are looking at how governance can be held to account. The procedures are there, the laws are there and the institutions are there. However, they are not being applied.
“Therefore, we zeroed in on the issue of audit reports, auditors-general reports because the Auditors-General are constitutionally mandated to probe state governments’ performance, concerning how far they have gone, how projects are done, why they are not done and the like?
Also speaking, the NGE president, Mr. Anaba, outlined reasons the media was not interrogating audit reports enough, saying the type of democracy that Nigeria currently practices was a stumbling block.
- Mr. Eze Anaba speaking at the event
Anaba said: “The democracy we have now, where the governors have captured their states, literally, and the auditors are their assistants is anomalous. So, the State House of Assembly reports to the Special Assistant to the Governor. Therefore, it is almost difficult for you to have a credible audit report from the states.
“The Auditor-General exists at the pleasure of the governor and will not issue a report that irritates the governor, not to talk of offending him. State finance is the personal finance of the governor. At some point in this democracy, a governor lived in Abuja, he never went to his state. After federal allocation, he goes to the state, shares the money, and goes back to Abuja.
“How do we keep newspapers alive to be responsible for interrogating our democracy? The truth is that critical audit interrogation, especially of a sub-national, is almost impossible. You will find out that you only have something on the interrogation of the state’s audit when there is a disagreement. Somebody goes up and digs up one file and says, look, ‘government did this last year.’ They flew private jets 10 times without approval, and we all celebrated that.
“The problem we are in is beyond audit reporting. Interrogating, and studying our democracy go beyond audit interrogation. We also have to look at auditing our institutions. Can we do it the way we should do it? It is difficult for us.”
Shedding light on the issue, former Managing Director of The Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Izeze, explained that without the press, Nigeria might have stopped existing, adding that it was the idea that stimulated them to start an initiative that focuses on audit reporting.
Veteran journalist, Sonala Olumhense, on his part, identified the roles of the Auditor General, who he said has the authority to undertake periodic checks of all government-certified corporations, commissions, authorities, and agencies, including all persons and bodies established by any law of the House of Assembly of that state.