Digest,
Shuaib Welcomes Guests to CJA
Fani-Kayode’s Gaffe and the Rot in the Media, By Gidado
Shuaib
Of late, the Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has
come under heavy media flogging from various persons, journalism
unions and top columnists, condemning his attitude towards a Daily
Trust journalist, Eyo Charles, during a press conference.
Without attempting to belabour the issue, I wish to recall how
the incident happened as well as the attendant media backlash.
First, it is instructive to know that a press conference, in other
words, is a platform on which a journalist and newsmaker interact
through a question-and-answer parley. It is a form of drilling to
which a newsmaker is subjected for onward transmission to the
public.
However, Fani-Kayode, during one of such parleys, turned down a
journalist’s question and, as if that was not enough disservice to
the intent of the platform, this fellow had the effrontery to call
this benign journalist all sorts of names. Well, thanks to Social
Media. Fani-Kayode’s assault against the journalist would have been
history.
An archetypal precedent has long been set. Although, it was not
in our clime. At a press briefing in the White House last year, US
President Donald Trump used somewhat unprintable adjectives to
describe and ‘disparage’ the personalities of both the CNN and NBC
White House Correspondents.
Both Peter Alexander of the NBC and his CNN colleague, Jim
Acosta, were not spared the verbal ‘missile’ of the
utterly-rambunctious US Number One citizen.
Mr Trump repeatedly blasted the two US reporters, reminiscent of
the Femi Fani-Kayode and Eyo Charles’ ‘fiasco’ in Calabar
penultimate week.
Trump never minced words in telling the CNN reporter, at a
point: “You are very rude, and a terrible person. CNN should be
ashamed of having you as their reporter.”
As for Fani-Kayode, who is a self-acclaimed activist, his
reaction only exposed him as not being different from every other
person he condemns.
On the heels of the sad incident, one of the foremost Civil
Society Organisations in the country, Civil Society Legislative
Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), came out to unequivocally condemn
Fani-Kayode’s belligerent assault against the reporter, reiterating
that press freedom and freedom to do journalism could not be joked
with, especially at this time when COVID-19 had taken its toll on
the journalism practice.
“While we are not unaware of the Fani-Kayode’s regular
antagonistic reaction and response to issues, we uphold our
position that Press Freedom and journalism must be respected and
protected at all levels.
“We express total discomfort not only in thoughtless use of the
word “stupid” but also reported threat and intimidation of the
journalist during and after a press conference held in the
state.
“We also find the reaction of the Former Aviation Minister
worrisome and tantamount to silencing the media freedom; as he is
known to hitherto leverage the media in expressing a personal view
and opinion on issues without fear or intimidation,” CISLAC’s
Executive Director, Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, had said in a
statement.
Now, although Fani-Kayode has regretted and apologised for the
public gaffe—an afterthought anyway; what remains befuddling is the
fate of journalism in Nigeria. Remember that the journalist, after
the incident, had come out bruised and tattered. Nobody was saying
anything about him, not even a word of encouragement to make him
stay put in the course of objective journalism pursuit.
Sadly, we live in a society where journalists are constantly
killed, harassed and intimidated for doing their job, but little or
no care has been shown to address this rising menace.
It should be noted that most journalists in the country are
either unpaid or underpaid, leaving most of them to be bootlickers
of one politician or the other. Until media owners pay journalists
well and promptly, enforcing the ethics of the profession will
remain a major problem.
As at this moment, only a few publishers constantly pay what can
truly be described as a take-home package. Many Nigerians are now
discouraged from joining the profession, thereby now exploring
other sectors they find lucrative.
Recent reports have revealed that newsroom employment has
significantly decreased. The COVID-19 outbreak has also led to a
rapid scaling back of advertising spending, which has inadvertently
led dozens of newspapers to cut budgets and furloughs.
Similarly, a dozen media think-tanks in the country like the
Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Enough is Enough,
International Press Centre, the International Centre for
Investigative Reporting, and Premium Times Centre for Investigative
Journalism had commissioned surveys, following perceptions that
journalists were being exposed to danger in the course of covering
the pandemic.
One of the surveys, filled by 463 journalists – correspondents,
reporters, editors, freelancers, and presenters from 73 print,
broadcast and online media across 33 states and the Federal Capital
Territory – revealed that there had been poor attention to the
needs, safety and welfare of journalists covering the pandemic.
Drawing from these responses, media proprietors were urged to
prioritize the welfare of their reporters.
The media, especially in Nigeria, and at this particular
juncture, must step up its game by doing everything necessary to
protect the inalienable rights and privileges of members of the
fourth estate in the country.
Against this backdrop, it is my humble submission that media
owners should come up with innovative ways to generate revenue for
their platforms as the present advertising model can no longer
work, in as much as such finances are needed to sustain the
business.
Also, as far as I am concerned, it will not sound too ambitious
for politicians and other elites in the country to emulate the best
practices of developed nations and begin treating journalists like
kings and not dregs.
Only then, will the media and Nigerian journalists take its
pride of place in the heart of the masses, and even become
society’s true watchdog.
Gidado Shuaib, a media researcher, is the editor of The News
Digest. He can be reached on [email protected][1]