SAN FRANCISCO, May 06, (THEWILL) – In commemoration of the 2019 World Press Freedom Day, the U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Russell Brooks, has charged the Nigeria media to hold the government more accountable in its reportage with a view to promoting democratic tenets in the country.
Speaking at a forum in Lagos organised by the U.S consul at the School of Media and Communications, Pan-Atlantic University, Brooks reiterated that one of the goals of the US mission is to promote democracy and strengthen democratic institutions here in Nigeria and around the world.
Brooks said that it was important to utilize the World Press Freedom Day to honour colleagues in the media and know what they were doing to uphold democracy.
“The media is under enormous pressure around the world such as physical intimidation and violence which includes paying with their lives.
“For that reason, we ought to honour them at least once in a year for what they are doing to preserve democracy.
“A free and responsible press is part of promoting democracy and the media represents the fourth estate of any democracy.
“We are all familiar with the executive, judiciary and legislative branch therefore, it is crucial that the media plays a significant role in holding the other three branches accountable,” he said.
Delivering a keynote address titled, “Are we really Free? How the Media Landscape Impacts the Mission of Today’s Journalist,” to an audience of journalists and students of the institution, a Professor of Broadcast Journalism at Howard University and a former CNN reporter and producer, Prof. Jennifer Thomas said safety in journalism is paramount.
She urged the members of the press to double check information source to avoid promoting fake news because what they do is important to democracy for every nation around the world.
Calling out the government to ensure safety of journalists doing their jobs, Thomas lamented that too many journalists die in the line of duty doing their jobs to defend democracy, saying such disheartening.
Thomas said that journalists were the defenders of democracy, freedom fighters of the first amendments as well as savvy and sophisticated story tellers.
“Journalism is a calling, let us collectively on this World Press Freedom Day renew our calling,” the professor said.
“There are a lot of things journalists can do to stay away from promoting fake news. The first thing is to consider the source of the information and check the URL of the website to ascertain the authenticity of the person who is being quoted in the article.
“Often times, such quotes come from a satire site where somebody is trying to deliberately deceive with disinformation.
These are some of the things journalists can do that will help us start to poke a hole in some of these fake news outlets.
“It is hard because social media is everywhere and news is out instantaneously which makes it difficult to tell what is real and what is not.
“A tweet can quickly become world headline, and a rant on social media may be repeated as a lead story on news cast without the news network or outlet doing its due diligence.
“It is, therefore, important to be sure of our sources before publishing because what journalists do is important to democracy for every nation around the world.”
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