THE JUNGLE JOURNALISM OF SAHARA REPORTERS

By Dickson Adebowale

The history of journalism spans the growth of technology and trade, marked by the advent of specialized techniques for gathering and disseminating information on a regular basis. This is an agelong profession known for respectable and noble individuals who adhere religiously to the principles of journalism. These principles by which true journalists work include: truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability.


In a recalcitrant deviance to the principles mentioned above, Sahara Reporters, the online news platform created by Omoyele Sowore in 2006 with base in New York, has become notorious for unverified and unfiltered reports. This dissenting attitude of Sahara Reporters is obviously borne out of quest for cheap popularity by Sowore as the trademark of his online platform is unguarded attack against very important personalities especially those in the corridors of power. His morbid thirst for power which could not be quenched in 2019 general elections is surely the driving force for his jungle journalism. Journalism has never been practised in this manner for time immemorial.


As a freelance journalist with many years of experience, I have taken time out on many occasions to verify some of the reports published by Sahara Reporters, most of which turned out to be scandalous and lack elements of verity. From further analysis of some of the reports, it became obvious that the online news platform gets information from whatever unverified sources available, publishes it as received or deliberately embelishes it to appeal to the readership of some lurking antagonists.


To buttress the above discovery, a report published on 5th October, 2020 by Sahara Reporters about a purported NNPC official arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK for fraud was not only lacking in facts but also depicts incompleteness in its entirety. In the whole of the report, the date and place where Inuwa Ibrahim Waya was arrested were never indicated. Still, the report was published with vital questions of "when" and "where" left unanswered. Also, the headline of the report was in sharp contrast to the opening paragraph (expressing some sort of Waya's political ambition). This shows the angle from which the report was approached - highly sentimental.


Related to the above was the recent unbridled attack against the person of the Director-General State Services, Mr Yusuf Bichi over the recruitment done by the organization. A verification of the figures thrown up by Sahara Reporters as regards the number of candidates being trained were authoritatively found to be fictitious. It still amazes one why Sowore has not been subjected to serious litigation by the individuals he publishes untruths about. This is the only way the wild publications of jungle journalism by Sahara Reporters can be tamed.