[size=14pt]IBB, Sahara Reporters, and the press [/size]
By Lanre Idowu

Five months ago, a friend of mine, who edits a national daily, sent me a text message agreeing substantially with my column, ‘The Punch and the rest of us’, except the generalised conclusion that “all (journalists) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”. There are still some journalists, he submits, who toe the narrow path of integrity. Of course I knew where he was coming from, but I also knew the context in which I had made that statement.

I revisit that statement in light of the stories spewing out of the political beat, specifically on the race for the 2011 presidential elections and how it affects the integrity of news.

As part of the effort to sell his candidature for the presidency, former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) invited as many as 40 journalists to his Minna home on August 14 for an interview. I have heard questions asked about why he should invite journalists to his home instead of a public place if he didn’t have an ulterior motive, and why he should offer monetary gifts to the journalists in the name of paying for their transportation.

One news medium, which has championed this opposition in the open, is the online agency, Sahara Reporters. According to SR each of the journalists received N10 million for heeding Babangida’s call on his presidential ambition. That is N400 million just for one night’s interview from an aspirant yet to win his party’s nomination if it were true. But it was not. When some of the journalists complained about the fictional sum, SR changed the story on August 19, saying it was just “a paltry N250, 000 each”. Rather than admit its initial error SR simply said, “our accountants have told us that going by the number of 40 journalists in attendance, we are still around the same ballpark of N10 million”. So much for credible reporting!

Three days later, SR followed up with ‘IBB and his Rogue Journalists’, accusing the journalists of roguery and professional misconduct; roguery, because they collected money from two sources—their employers who presumably authorised and funded the trip and their news source, IBB; misconduct because it is unethical for them to demand/receive gratification from news sources for their services.

And on August 23 in ‘IBB Nocturnal Press Parley: Punch fires Editorial board Chairman’, SR stayed on top of the story by reporting that Adebolu Arowolo, editorial board chairman of the Punch, had lost his job for going on that trip without his management’s approval.

I find five things striking about this development:

One: too many things are taken for granted in Nigerian journalism so that the strange has become the accepted. Many journalists see nothing wrong in accepting money to publish stories. Take for example the age-long practice of facility tours when Governor ‘A’ or Company ‘B’ invites the media and pays for the journalist’s passage and accommodation in expectation of coverage. While the facilitators see it as opening doors to better media access, the journalists, sadly, find such trips augmenting if not guaranteeing their pay for the month. In their thinking new contacts have been cultivated; new horizons are waiting to be explored. The result is a pattern of tainted reporting far from the envisaged professionally processed news served to the public.

Two: both the publishers and the operators must re-evaluate their mission in this business. A trade that thrives on intelligent sourcing of news, credible processing and creative delivery cannot place its personnel in the awkward position of depending purely on the goodwill of outsiders to perform their professional duties. Too many are in journalism with a poorly developed notion of personal, professional and organisational responsibility, which leaves them with exaggerated expectations of their privileged access, and results in unethical conduct.

The publishers need to protect their investment better by providing a setting conducive to ethical journalism, which ultimately is useful to the media organ, the public and the journalist. This includes shopping for, and nurturing committed disciples through regular training and retraining in the organisation’s news management culture and exposure to professional challenges. It extends to prompt reward of enterprise and flushing out the Judas in every dozen. For ultimately, a media organ lacking in credibility is of no value to its stakeholders.

Three: the seeming vindictive bent to convict some persons interferes with the smooth narration that a news story requires. Too often SR twists details to suit its conclusions, thus limiting the respect that its crusades should normally attract.

Four: IBB as a newsmaker has the right to choose the venue and time of his media interactions; it is left to a self-respecting media with a keen sense of history to decide which invitations to honour. Receiving monetary gifts in the name of transport reimbursement, no matter how popular it is, compromises the integrity of news. No serious candidate concerned about the moral health of the country should encourage it.

Five: the loud silence of the mainstream media on the Sahara Reporters expose re-echoes, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Columns/5613382-184/story.csp

I av always said this thing. SR never has a balanced judgement on virually all of its articles. It is everfly biased to suit its purpose (attract more readers).