Our fears over new media bill – NUJ President

We’ve studied the bill. There are areas we are not comfortable with, but there also are areas that we feel are in the interest of our members and the profession. We see the bill as an offshoot of Journalism Enhancement Bill, presented to the House much earlier, in 2004; of course with a number of […]

We’ve studied the bill. There are areas we are not comfortable with, but there also are areas that we feel are in the interest of our members and the profession. We see the bill as an offshoot of Journalism Enhancement Bill, presented to the House much earlier, in 2004; of course with a number of modifications. This Bill is talking of an Act to provide for the repeal of the Nigerian Press Council Act of 1992, and subsequently establish the Nigerian Press and Practice of Journalism Council.

Broadly speaking what does the NUJ think of the Bill?

The purpose of the Bill, according to the sponsors, is to promote high professional standards for the Nigerian press and deal with complaints from members of the public about the conducts of journalists and media houses in their professional capacities, or complaints emanating from the press, persons, organisations or institutions of government towards the press. Those are the bases of the Bill. Our hope is that this bill will not be a substitute to the Freedom of Information Bill. We believe strongly that the Freedom of Information Bill is vital to democracy. Passing the Bill is supporting the success of democracy. Access to information is crucial for democratic norms as it helps transparency and accountability. So, as much as we support the new Bill for its strong points, it can’t be a substitute to the Freedom of Information Bill.

Your impression of the new Bill contrasts with the reputation it has acquired. How so?

Yes. Some stakeholders, even before reading the Bill, condemned all aspects of it completely. I am aware that most who spoke during the public hearing on it believed there is need for us to sanitize our profession. The Bill has done one good thing, among others. It has generated interest and consciousness among the stakeholders and people are speaking their minds on the issues the Bill has raised. It makes me believe that at the end of it all, the stakeholders will look at the Bill critically and come up with the grey areas that do not serve the interest of the job and not in the interest of the media and should be expunged, as well as areas that will promote journalism and enhance its practice which should be adopted. I am happy that after the public hearing the National Assembly formed the technical committee under the chairmanship of  Prince Tony Momoh with representation from all the stakeholders of the media, including the NUJ, the Guild of Editors, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Ministry of Information, among others. And the committee has started sitting. We hope that all the issues will be critically analysed and mutually benefitting positions will be taken and the final result will be presented to the National Assembly. Meanwhile, I want to appeal once again that the Bill should be looked at objectively on its merits.

You talked of areas the NUJ is not comfortable with. What are they?

An example is the part that criminalizes offences by the media and proposes imprisonment and conviction for erring colleagues in the media. We cannot support this because it doesn’t happen elsewhere. We will also have to take a good look at the issue of remuneration for the practitioners, and it is an aspect which many employers are ignoring. Poor pay packages encourage corruption and unethical practices and pose serious threat to the progress and survival of the media in Nigeria. The Bill is asking for legislation on salary, at least a benchmark, a minimum which an employer in the industry must pay. The situation is bad because some media houses do not even pay any salary at all. I am made to understand that staffers of only a few media houses are sure of their monthly salary. It is a situation which we must all sit down and address comprehensively.

The new Bill proposes a Media Practitioners Complaint Commission in all the states of the nation. The NUJ believes that instead of all the states of the federation, it should have branches in each of the six geopolitical regions, which will make it less wieldy and easier to coordinate than if you have it in all the 36 states.