The cost of media coverage

The representatives of agencies that have been partnering with the Ministry were in attendance and they delivered good will messages. In her good will message, the representative of the UN system in Nigeria, Dr. Agatha Lawson said she was delighted that the Ministry was organising a workshop to build the capacity of journalists to report […]

The representatives of agencies that have been partnering with the Ministry were in attendance and they delivered good will messages. In her good will message, the representative of the UN system in Nigeria, Dr. Agatha Lawson said she was delighted that the Ministry was organising a workshop to build the capacity of journalists to report gender issues.

She also said her office received enquiries from journalists who used to cover the activities organised by UN agencies. They expressed concerns that they were not being invited to cover such activities any more. Dr Lawson said they had to limit media invitations to their activities because of the cost implication of media participation which the agencies have difficulty including in their budgets.

She urged the journalists at the workshop to devise a means of partnering with the UN agencies so that activities undertaken by them get adequate publicity at minimum cost.

Journalism Ethics and the cost of media coverage

This generated discussion in the corner of the hall where I sat with one participant and another who was not a journalist.

The journalist said it was the organisers of events who should be blamed because they always budget for “public relations” PR which they then give to journalists to motivate them to publicise their activities. She said organisers of events should stop budgeting for PR funds and bribing the media.

The other lady said the organisers of events want their activities covered by the media and if they do not give them something they will not report it. I gave the verdict that both the giver and the taker are guilty and drew attention to journalism’s Code of Ethics, it which states under a title on reward and gratification that: “Every journalist should neither solicit nor accept bribe, gratification or patronage to suppress or publish information.

i.    To demand payment for the publication of news is inimical to the notion of news as a fair, accurate, unbiased and factual report of an event.

COMMENT

This clause rules out any justification whatsoever for demanding and taking of bribe (either as ‘gift’ ‘goodwill’, ‘welfare’, ‘Public Relation’, egunje’, ‘qua’ etc) by every journalist.

An unfortunate situation develops when a professional journalist lives beyond his/her means that he or she becomes vulnerable to this dirty habit. The solicitation for bribe or the taking of same unsolicited, always compromises reporters in the eyes of their sources.

This practice should never be encouraged. It has the potential of undermining public confidence and trust in reporters. A reporter is either prepared in every material particular for an assignment or his/her is not. There is no room for half preparation as this is the condition that often results in soliciting support from the news source. Any such support, however it is seen, amounts to bribe and/or gratification which definitely compromises the recipient in the eyes of the giver.”

The Whistle Blower Initiative at Media Trust

To keep the Code of Ethics alive in media practice, the management of some media organisations have developed in-house policies that reward their reporters and bar them from collecting ‘PR’ from organisers of events.

The management states in well publicised advert that ‘It is the policy of Media Trust Limited that its editors, reporters and staff should not solicit for gift or gratification either through begging flattering, cajoling or blackmailing. Those they encounter in the course of their work. We have an in  house policy of rewarding staff who keep to the straight and narrow path. You can assist us by reporting anyone who claims to be our staff, yet engages in unethical conduct. Blow the Whistle. To blow the whistle on any unethical conduct please SMS 08035896941 and 08185691881 or send email to [email protected]

Why the Preferential Treatment?

Yes, that Media Trust policy of rejecting brown envelopes is good  but watch that your SMS page in Daily Trust. Whoever is taking care of the page I’m sure has some people whom he guarantees to publish their SMS messages, whenever it is sent. I will give you an example. Nearly every two weeks Ubale Bompai’s message will be published on that page. Some of us doubt whether the name is genuine and we suspect that it is just a pen name. So, maybe the writer is really one of your staff’s relative or friend and thus has greater advantage over and above your readers who are complaining that their SMS messages are not published when they send them.

Mohammed Nguru, Yobe State    07032353298

Editor Note:

There is no preferential treatment of any sort in selecting texts. The fact is, hundreds of text messages are received daily, but only few can be accommodated.

We will try as much as possible to take more.

Complaint About Daily Trust Reporters in Sokoto

I want to use this medium to lodge my complaint about your reporters in Sokoto. I have every reason to complain that they are taking sides with the state government in the sense that they do not report major political activities of the opposition parties.

Two weeks ago, there was an incidence when ACN had their political rally during their flag off campaign for governorship election in Sokoto where there was a serious clash between ACN supporters and PDP supporters, leading to the destruction of many vehicles and party offices, but the incident was not reported, neither the flag off of the campaign. It was only reported 10 days later and the published story did not reflect what really happened.

You will also note that political activities of CPC, DPP and ACN are not captured in Daily Trust reports from Sokoto despite being the major opposition parties. I also noticed that any other story that is not in the interest of the state governor is not reported, which helps the governor to give the impression to the outside world  that all is well in Sokoto and he has no opposition groups to contend with which is not true.

We suspect that your reporters in Sokoto are compromised. I have respect for Daily Trust and it is my favourite newspaper in Nigeria because of your objective reporting, but I’m having a second thought because of your reporters in Sokoto. I hope you will address this issue as soon as possible and call them to order or monitor them all the time.

Best regards

Isah Suleiman   isah bawa

Editor’s Response

There is no time Daily Trust takes sides in political reporting. I remember that the ACN/PDP clash in Sokoto was reported and a feature story – a full page -was published about the clash. We encounrage you to contact our reporters whenever you have events their you want journalist to cover. There is no policy in Daily Trust to support any governor against the opposition. Have faith in Daily Trust, please.