As part of bid to ensure violence free election come February, the International Press Centre on Tuesday organized a seminar (Tweet-a-thon) to sensitize journalists.The seventh tweet-a-thon themed: ‘Making use of Media Code of Election Coverage for Credible Reporting’, generated several tweets which reached 134,853 accounts, thereby making 173,975 impressions through hashtag #Media4Elections.
Speaking at the event, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Femi Adeshina who was represented by Executive Director, Special Duties Guardian Newspapers, Bolaji Tunji, said "every Journalist in Nigeria should have this book"‬
‪Tunji said, “Bearing that in mind, stakeholders in the media had worked hard over the past many months to articulate what is now called The Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage, which has now been formally presented to the public. ‬
‪"What are some of germane issues in the code? Equitable access of parties and candidates to the media; the responsibilities of media organisations, how to conduct opinion polls impartially and responsibly, how to do endorsements, does and don’ts of political advertisement, avoiding hate speech, conflict sensitivity, and others. Many of these things constitute the bane of electoral practice in our country, and if journalists and media houses can play their roles effectively, the impact could be tremendous."‬
‪Also speaking at the event, Assistant Editor, Vanguard Newspaper, Mrs Funmi Komolafe stated that the media code is the first book that will guide Journalist on election coverage in the Country.‬
‪Komolafe said “I am concerned about the protection of Journalist. At some point Journalist become intruders, without us information.‬
‪"I am also worried about the issue of ownership interest. Owners of media organization have interest, they have their mission statement.‬"
‪"The media is suppose to focus on underrepresented groups, people in the grassroots should be represented."‬
She added that journalists should not place much trust on politicians and other sources, as this might be a way to buy the over.
‪Also speaking, Secretary, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos Chapter, Abimbola Oyetunde, added that Journalist should be objective when reporting election.‬
"Journalist are bound to report credibly, we must not be subjective. To much prominence should not be given to one side." She said. NEWSNOWAFRICA.COM

BY: SAMSON ADEYANJU

Tell that to the APC who are hoping to win by hook or by crook and worst will come to worst they will form parrarell govt to steal peace from nigeria