“Media should avoid sensationalism in electoral reporting” LASIEC boss

The electoral boss made this known while speaking at the second in the series of the Stakeholders’ Fora being organized by LASIEC in Lagos, with the theme; Election Observation and Election Reporting: A responsibility in election process. According to Adeyinka, it has become imperative for media practitioners to avoid hitting up the polity at a […]

The electoral boss made this known while speaking at the second in the series of the Stakeholders’ Fora being organized by LASIEC in Lagos, with the theme; Election Observation and Election Reporting: A responsibility in election process.

According to Adeyinka, it has become imperative for media practitioners to avoid hitting up the polity at a time the tension is already heightened among the populace.

“The media can actually raise the bar far above what obtains now. The media needs to be mindful of hypersensitive news reporting, sensationalism, junk reporting, propaganda and other issues that heat up the polity. We need to be more responsible and responsive in our news reporting and be mindful of the fact that the society can be shaped by what the people read in the newspapers,” Adeyinka said.

The LASIEC boss further charged the practitioners to be objective and brave in their reportage. He added that media efforts should be geared towards confronting and analyzing issues to assist the public to form correct opinion.

“The media as the 4th estate of the realm in a democratic environment has the mass medium of education and therefore has a big responsibility in terms of measure to the development of democracy and best democratic tenets. We enjoin the media to see LASIEC as a partner and hereby extends our hands of fellowship to work together,” Adeyinka said.

In his speech, Sina Odugbemi, the National Coordinator of Democracy Volunteers (DV) and the guest lecturer at the event highlighted a number of challenges which he said hamper unbiased reporting from the media. According to Odugbemi, factors such as partisan politics, declining professionalism, ownership bias, and poor welfare and remuneration packages, among others are the inhibiting factors.

The guest speaker advised that the media should improve on coverage of activities in rural areas. He also recommended that regulatory agencies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) should enforce laws and guidelines to ensure media compliance to regulations in respect of equal opportunity and access to government-owned media. Odugbemi also advocated for media commission that would serve as a transitional body to monitor and receive complaints on media access, fairness and responsibility.