At the time Covid-19 is ravaging the countries without known cure yet, the media is also experiencing complex landscape with a lot of misinformation and attacks on journalists.
Media men around the globe are facing attacks on many fronts in different regions in the course of carrying out their professional duties. This therefore necessitated the international theme for the May 3, 2020 World Press Freedom: ‘Journalism without fear or favour’ to bring the world attention to the crisis journalists are going through. World
Some of the sub-themes for this year are: ‘Safety of Women and Men Journalists and Media Workers’; ‘Independent and Professional Journalism free from Political and Commercial Influence’; ‘Gender Equality in All Aspect of the Media’
In Nigeria, Ehi Braimah, CEO of Neo Media commended journalist, who in spite of challenging times have provided information on Covid-19 and other issues. “Sometimes they do this at the risk of their lives but their doggedness must be appreciated” he said. He called on the authorities to ensure protection of journalists in Nigeria.
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“The media has lived up to expectations of the public in the challenging circumstances it found itself”, says Charles Igbinidu, Managing Director of CFO and Associates Public Relations.
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) had highlighted a variety of attacks faced by Nigerian journalists in the course of carrying out their professional duties, including accidents, intimidation, assault and battery, arrests and detention, shutdown of media outlets, raids on media organizations and facilities, confiscation or destruction of work equipment, and abductions, among others.
The organisation in a recent report called on the Nigerian government to adopt and implement policies and laws instituting preventive measures aimed at eliminating or reducing attacks against journalists and ensuring routine but diligent prosecution of perpetrators of attacks against journalists.
The body had entered into a project aimed at finding solutions that ensure the safety of journalists at all times, particularly in the face of shrinking civic space in Nigeria manifested in sustained attacks on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and in the light of the failure of successive governments, law enforcement and security agencies to take meaningful steps to address the problem which has significantly affected the ability of the media to provide the public with accurate and reliable information.
Ayode Longe, MRA’s programme director, said: “It has become imperative that we call attention to this ugly trend of attacks against the media because of the negative effect especially when government is doing nothing to address the issue. We have consistently made the point that when attacks on the media go unpunished, perpetrators are emboldened and journalists are silenced in many ways. Invariably, the public is denied vital information that they would ordinarily be able to obtain through the media and which might be critically important for decision-making on many different levels.”
In the report, MRA made several recommendations to tackle the incidence of attacks on journalists targeting various stakeholders in the country including the Federal government; media owners and journalists unions/associations; media regulatory bodies; civil society organisations; security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies; and the general public.
The organization recommended that security, law-enforcement and intelligence agencies should train their personnel and agents on applicable human rights norms and standards as well as the vital role that the media play in society in ensuring good governance, among other things; carry out training and sensitization programmes for their personnel and agents on the rules of civic engagement; as well as investigate and prosecute cases of attacks against journalists and the media both to punish perpetrators and to send a message to would-be perpetrators that no attack against journalists and the media will go unpunished.
