2015 World Press Freedom Day: Aligning journalism to public peace, unity and development

 

BY PARICK ALBERT

It is with a profound feeling of happiness that I rise, on behalf of the State  Working Committee (SWC) and the State Executive Council (SEC) of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council to welcome all Guests, Media executives and journalists to this epochal event marking the 2015 World Press Freedom Day. 

We are happy that 22 years after the proclamation of World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly in 1993 following a recommendation adopted at the 26th Session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) General Conference in 1991, the momentum of the decision and the significance of the Press have continued to bubble on an impressive note.

The World Press Freedom Day creates an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of Press freedom; assess the state of Press freedom throughout the world; defend the Media from attacks on their independence; and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in their line of duties.
It also brings a reminder to authorities of Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights which states that everyone “has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

This year’s programme, as lined out by the United Nations’ (UN) through UNESCO – the agency mandated to promote and protect Press freedom worldwide, kick-started on Friday, May 2, 2015 and climaxes today, Monday, May 4, 2015 with the theme “Let Journalism Thrive! Towards Better Reporting, Gender Equality, and Safety in the Digital Age” 

It would interest us to know that UNESCO has named renowned journalist and CNN Chief International Correspondent, the sagacious Christiane Amanpour the 2015 Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and Journalist Safety. As captured in the theme, 2015 celebration is focussing on three key areas:

·  The need for “quality journalism” against the backdrop of constant concern for reports to be based on accuracy and being uncompromised at a time the media landscape is changing due to technological and commercial developments. 

·   Bridging of “Gender imbalance” in view of apparent limited leadership opportunities for women in the media, 20 years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Change. It is noted that few women journalists are able to reach decision-making positions in the media. 

·   Digital safety to preview growing concern as digital communications makes it difficult for journalists to protect themselves and their sources.

The Keynote speaker, Mr Paul Arinze, General Manager, Government and Public Affairs, ExxonMobil, Lagos and other Guest speakers, Dr. Ibia Ibia, Associate Professor of Education in the University of Uyo and Mr. Ibanga Isine – Senior Editor, Premium Times will surely take us through the whole gamut of the theme for the 2015 World Press Freedom Day as well as X-ray the Press for the collective benefit of journalists, the Government and the society.

It is therefore our delight to commend the world body and its agencies for championing not just a better perception of the Media by the Governments and the Societies across the world, but for efforts it has made to galvanise the Media through constant Workshops and also outlining ways in which the Media can be successfully utilised to advance development and global peace.
 Unarguably, the media drives development in all spheres. More than 200 years ago, one of the founding fathers of America, Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) who became the third President of the United States (1801–1809) rightly expounded on the significance of the media.  In the building of the nascent United States of America, that has today grown to become the greatest democracy and most powerful nation in the world, Jefferson theorized thus “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the Press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”

It suffices to say that the state of development of every society is largely a reflection of the thought pattern of its citizenry. What is more, one of the invigorators of the thought pattern of the citizenry is essentially the Press. This is the premise of Jefferson’s summation. As the Press is the market place of ideas, it should therefore act as an enlightened agent to drive peoples thinking positively and to also leverage on the management of the State.

 In a joint statement, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein further amplified that “Quality journalism enables citizens to make informed decisions about their society’s development. It also works to expose injustice, corruption, and the abuse of power. For this, journalism must be able to thrive, in an enabling environment in which they can work independently and without undue interference and in conditions of safety.”

Let me be quick to add that free press places a huge responsibility on practitioners. This informs strict ethical compliance as enunciated by the Code of Ethics for journalists. As a responsible professional body, we have in furtherance of our Constitution, set up Ethics and Disciplinary Committee to arbitrate on complaints bordering on professional misdemeanour and acts of indiscipline by members.

In Akwa Ibom, activities of online writers and some local tabloids with no identifiable addresses have tended to blur public perception and appreciation of the media industry in the State. We hasten to say that they are not our members.  

Genuine journalists, who are our members, have respect for the norms of the profession.  We have seriously taken up the issue of decorum and any member who falls short of professional expectations will be sanctioned. We have to align our professional duties to public peace, unity and development. This is the pursuit of our leadership. 

However, we have engaged our members on a number of training and retraining to keep abreast with the challenges in the profession. Our limitations have been on securing required sponsorship to implement our programmes. We hope that Government and multinational firms will rise to support us in order for us to keep pace with demanding realities.

Journalism as a profession is intellectually demanding and takes lot of man-hours input. Regrettably, the welfare of journalists is not commensurable with the work load of having to news-feed the world round-the-clock. We therefore remind the State Government of the need to implement the 22.5 percent Weigh-in allowance for journalists in its employ as already being implemented by the Federal Government and many States of the Federation. 

We wish to once again commend the Akwa Ibom State Government for giving consideration in the appointment of qualified journalists who are in Government employ as Permanent Secretaries. We still ask for two more of such appointment within the tenure of the outgoing administration as it will avail Government of the experiences and expertise of these officers at that level of management and to further engender professional confidence and interest among media practitioners. As the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the NUJ deserves increased attention and support to cope with maintenance of facilities, personnel and administrative cost as well as training and re-training of members. 

We wholehearted commend Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, CON in maintaining a favourable relationship with the Press in the State. As our friend and Grand Patron, we congratulate him on his electoral victory as Senator-elect for Akwa Ibom North West. We know that he will surely make good representation for the area and work for the general interest of Akwa Ibom State. We are assured that construction of the Godswill Akpabio International Press Centre will soon be on course. 

We also congratulate the Akwa Ibom State Governor-elect, Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel on his victory at the poll and pledge our support and loyalty to his administration come May 29, 2015. 

We fully identify with all other winners of the National and State House of Assembly elections. We encourage losers to be gallant in defeat by congratulating winners but if they are dissatisfied with the outcome, they should seek legal redress rather than instigating political strife.  

Once again, we thank all our Guests for honouring our invitations and to particularly appreciate the Hon. Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Aniekan Umana for relating very well with us and performing his duties diligently. We appreciate our members and the Planning Committee and wish to reiterate that “together, we will do the unbelievable.” God bless us all.

-Being an address of welcome by Elder Patrick Albert, chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council on the occasion of the 2015 World Press Freedom Day at the NUJ Press Centre, Information Drive Off IBB Way, Uyo on Monday, May 4, 2015.