Speakers at the workshop.

INTRODUCTION

The two-day workshop was held as part of the project titled: Media Capacity Building, Mentoring and Monitoring for Conflict-Sensitive, Public-Issue and ICT-Driven Reporting of 2015.

The workshop had in attendance twenty-five male and female broadcast and print journalists, who report political issues and will be on electoral duty for the 2015 elections.

The project is being implemented by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria with the funding support of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Democratic Governance for Development (DGD 111) programme and its partners including the European Union (EU), UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

 The workshop featured presentations, realistic deliberations and interactive sessions on the germane issues of conflict sensitive, public interest and gender supportive reporting of the 2015 elections.

The topics addressed by the Resource persons include: “Media coverage of elections since 1999 lessons, issues and challenges as well as strategies for compliance with regulatory framework for media during elections.” by Prof Umaru Pate , Bayero University, Kano; Gender as fundamental issue and public interest factor in election reporting and Professional Standards and Imperatives for Election Reporting by Mrs Tamani Yusuf, Managing Director, Kaduna State Media Corporation; and “Conflict sensitive journalism and safety of journalists” by Mr. Shuaibu Leman, National Secretary, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

In their various presentations, the three resource persons:

i.    Stressed the need for strict adherence to code of ethics of the journalism profession ahead of the 2015 general elections.

ii.   Observed that for journalists to play a vital role in the electoral process and the development of the nation’s democracy there is the need to ensure an unbiased coverage of the electoral process for.

iii. Highlighted some of the challenges faced by journalists to include: inducements, lack of logistics, lack of enabling environment, interference by owners/managers, insecurity, and behavior of politicians among others.

iv.  Emphasized the need for media to play an influential role in promoting the active involvement and participation of women in the political process and gender issues in election reporting in 2015

The workshop also featured a stories clinic session during which participants presented the election stories they plan to work on using the knowledge gained in the course of the workshop.

OBSERVATIONS

At the end of the workshop, the participants observed that –

• The media need to adequately enlighten the electorate, to minimize voter’s apathy, check violence and promote peaceful conduct of elections.
• The media establishments should train journalists on safety and security measures as well as adopt deliberate policies to reduce the prevalent rate of impunity against media professionals.
• The lack of proper funding, unequipped  media stations and the adequate workforce are impeding the successful coverage of elections
• Male journalists have continued to dominate media coverage and reportage of politics and the electoral processes to the detriment of the females.
• The media need to emphatically differentiate between a political campaign by incumbent government officials from official engagement
• The poor attention to gender issues in media coverage and reportage of politics and the electoral processes is largely due to discriminatory socio-cultural, religious and political practices, while undue commercialization of political news also aggravates the disadvantages the females face in access and use of media.
• The Media reports on political parties and candidates rarely focus on manifestoes during campaigns and fulfillment of electoral promises after the elections.
• Reporting of the political and electoral processes usually derives more from press statements by Parties while there is general undue focus on so-called internal party crisis.
• The media has the tendency to play up personality clashes and the negative aspects of the private lives of female politicians during campaigns while neglecting issues of concern to common peoples.
• Journalists are not making adequate use of investigative tools and instruments, such as the Freedom of Information Act, in reporting on political party finances

RECOMMENDATIONS

The workshop recommended as follows:

For Journalists

• Campaign and report should be issue-based including achievements and failures and not personality dominated
• Journalists  should  be continuously  trained on gender-sensitive reporting strategies
• Political Reporters and Editors, as well as all other categeories of journalist should give greater prominenece to women voices and particularly recognise women politicians during elections.

• Journalists should, beyond day-to-day reporting of happenings and exercise oversight on electoral institutions especially the Electoral Mangement Body  – INEC
• Journalists should be abreast of the electoral law and regulations.
• Journalists should adhere to the provisons of the Electoral Act, the National Broadcastng Code and the Code of Ethics of Journalists in Nigeria by uphoding the principles of fair access for parties and candidates, accuracy, balance, conflict and gender sensitivity in political and elections reporting.

For Media organizations and bodies

• Media pressure groups should  regularly engage with media owners and managers on the imperatives of mainstreaming gender into media editorial policies
• Media organizations adopt guidelines that affirm  commitment to ethical values and principles in political and election reporting.
• Media organizations should integrate gender issus into their editorial agenda in genral and during elections in particular
• Media organizations should invest more resources in capacity building for their employees on professional and ethical reporting of election and governanace issues.
• Media organizations should accord deserved priority to the welfare of their employees by regularly paying reasonable salaries; they should indepedently fund employees reporting elections so that politiciasns do not pay for journalists covering them
• The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other media stakeholders should continue to uphold ethical journalism and act in the defence of press freedom and journalists’ rights; they should in particular explore legitimate means to ensure the prompt payment of wages and expand the scope of the insurance policy for members.

The participants expressed gratitude to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Democratic Governance for Development (DGD II) Project which is funded with contributions from the European Union (EU), UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the UNDP for supporting the workshop.

Participants and speakers at the workshop

Cross section of participants at the workshop.

Additional Papers Presented:

Professional Standards & Imperative For Election Reporting [wpdm_file id=18]

Gender As  Fundamental Issue & Public Interest Factor In Election Reporting [wpdm_file id=19]

Media Performance in Nigerian Elections, Lessons Learned since 1999 [wpdm_file id=20]

Tips & Strategies For Compliance With Regulatory Frameworks For Media During Elections [wpdm_file id=21]

Conflict Sensitive Journalism and Safety of Journalists [wpdm_file id=22]