Why media must not fail in its obligation on insurgency – Dr Shehu

He said it should be careful not to be used by government in its propaganda.While speaking to our reporter in his office at the weekend, Dr Shehu said the press as the watchdog of the society cannot allow itself to be used as the propaganda arm of government to misinform the public on the insurgency […]

He said it should be careful not to be used by government in its propaganda.
While speaking to our reporter in his office at the weekend, Dr Shehu said the press as the watchdog of the society cannot allow itself to be used as the propaganda arm of government to misinform the public on the insurgency issue.  Dr. Shehu, who berated a section of the Nigerian media for what he described as aiding  government to spread exaggeration on  insurgency in the country, maintained that the press must perform its basic journalistic duties.
He said: “A section of the media has allowed itself to be used for propaganda purposes by the government. Several things that were not true have been exaggerated and put in the media and thereby allowed Nigerians to be deceived. How much does it take the media to go to the Russian embassy in Abuja,  to the French embassy and Chadian embassy  also in Abuja and get clarification on what has happened in respect of the Russian aircraft that was intercepted in Kano?. How much does it cost the media to talk to the Nigerian ambassador  in Central African Republic or talk to freelance journalists in Bangui? How much does it take the media to find out whether there is a French peace-keeping operation in Bangui and in Ndjamena?” .
The media teacher posited that the media failed in all these and allowed itself to be used for all kinds of speculations. “For instance, the presence of Ali Modu Sheriff at the Kano airport was not scrutinized by the press. Did he go to inspect, did he actually go into the aircraft or was he in transit? The media did not find out all these and it has not been helpful in respect of the poor information management by the government. The fact that the media has not lived up to its responsibility in a challenging time like this has worsened things and made it possible for Nigerians to be hysterical about the whole issue,” he added.  
He regretted that till now, the media has not made useful efforts to correct the impression that government  information management has created. “And so wrong perceptions fill the minds of people because the  media has not done its basic journalistic demands.  This does not help anybody particularly in this period of insurgency,” he said.      
He argued that government has not come out to make a categorical statement in respect of the Russian cargo plane that was intercepted at the Kano airport for carrying ammunitions last week.