By Ive Gulu
The media is often regarded as the fourth estate of the realm owing to its critical role in the society it operates.
Some simply regard it as the fourth tier of government, meaning after the executive legislature and judiciary is the media.
The media has played a key role in shaping Nigeria’s evolution and In view of its sensitive and critical role, the media can make or mar a society.
Experience has shown that many societies have witnessed violent conflicts following pronouncements in the media.
If there was ever a time Nigeria needed a sensitive and responsible media, it is now, given the fragile nature of the country owing to insecurity and threats to peace in many parts.
Though the media has been doing its best in safeguarding the unity of the country, it has however come under intense scrutiny following the role some of its members have played through their operations which seem to rubbish the gains.
For the avoidance of doubt, the social responsibility clause that governs the operations of the media provides that it ought to operate in a manner that guarantees peace, social cohesion and unity of the various segments of the Nigerian society.
Furthermore, various sanctions have been recommended for erring media houses whose operations seek to deviate from this philosophy.
It is a well established fact that under the tenets of the media, stereotyping and profiling on the basis of tribe, ethnic or religious inclinations are prohibited.
However, in the wake of recent skirmishes in Plateau State, the media seemed to have jettisoned this well established timeless principle.
For instance, a certain tabloid captured in a screaming banner front-page headline the name of a tribe said to be responsible for killing travellers.
In the same vein, a television station in its headlines mentioned a particular religion as the killers of the adherents of another religion.
When this happens, the implication is that it stirs emotions, sentiments and most unfortunately, the quest to revenge.
In the wake of this, many analysts feared it may result to reprisals from the adherents of the other faith which members are said to have been killed, while also exposing the tribe fingered as the aggressors to attacks.
True to these fears, many unguarded utterances reverberated from sections of the country, threatening vengeance on certain tribes and adherents of a particular religion which may have contributed to escalation of the crisis in Jos.
The media cannot be fully absolved of blame in this regard, as it ought to be sensitive in its operations.
It beats one’s imagination that such reports could be heard in the Nigerian media given the enormous trainings and sensitization of journalists on conflict sensitive reporting.
Even when the media gets its stories from the police or other law enforcement agencies, discretion and tact ought to be applied in reporting, since the spokespersons of those security outfits may not have been trained in the art of managing sensitive information.
It is sad that despite having several layers of scrutiny, sensitive stories such as this, with tendency to cause disenchantment in the public could still make their way through the media.
Ethics and codes of journalism provide that a journalist would refrain from making pejorative reference to a person’s ethnic group, religion, sex, physical or mental disability.
Rather, a journalist should strive to entrench national unity and public good through the promotion of the universal principles of human right, justice, equity and peace.
Failure to do this as in the cases cited is a violation of the principles and ethic of journalism and social responsibility.
The Nigeria press council and the national broadcasting commission, saddled with the duty of regulating the conduct of those in media should rise to the occasion to forestall these kinds of narratives by applying the recommended sanctions on erring members to serve as deterrent to others in line with provisions in the acts establishing them.
Furthermore, those who feel aggrieved by the conduct of the media have a right to approach these regulatory bodies to seek redress.
Also, media processionals must ensure balance and fairness in their reportage while detaching themselves from their stories no matter the temptation to do the bidding of their tribe, religion or creed.
Ive Gulu is a media practitioner, writes from Jos, the Plateau State Capital.
