THE PUNCH NEWSPAPERS FLOUTS MEDIA CODE OF ELECTIONS
,ABUJA ACCORD
………………………leadership Newspaper is also a culprit
………………………violence escalates in Lagos at Orile Agege,Abule
Egba areas
……………………….Jonathan humiliated severally in his trips up
North
………………………Tension in Port Harcourt still.
………………………Nigerian Press condemns Fayose in reportage over
offensive advertorial gives The Punch Newspapers pat on the back for fomenting
trouble.
……………………….Nigerian Press neither criticize nor like to expose
each other for wrongs thus encouraging years of decay.
THE OFFENSIVE ADVERTORIAL BY THE PUNCH NEWSPAPERS IS STILL CAUSING RIPPLES IN THE LAND
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU
The Punch Newspapers ,Nigeria’s number one newspaper
brand recently flouted the Nigerian Media Code of Elections Coverage
for 2015 and the recently signed Abuja Accord by the two top candidates in the
2015 General elections to Hold in Nigeria.
Checks by Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,Nigeria shows
that a new booklet provided for electoral coverage to guide reporters is now in
circulation.
The 32 page booklet which is handy and pocket sized for
reporters was prepared by such agencies
like the Broadcasting Organization of
Nigeria [B.O.N]Nigerian Union of Journalists [N.U.J],Nigerian Guild of
Editors[N.G.E],Newspaper Proprietors of Nigeria ,Media Rights Agenda,The
International Press Centre ,Nigerian Association of Women Journalists
,Radio,Television ,Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria.
It was discovered that for the love of money and without
giving a hoot for whose axe was gored,The Punch Newspapers published a front
cover advertorial on the 19th January,2015 leading to verbal
fisticuffs in the polity as politicians threw tantrums at each other.
The advertorial published under the instructions of Governor
of Ekiti State,Mr Ayodele Fayose promoted hate speech as it incited Nigerians
against each other shortly afterwards.
As at press time, opinions sampled by Paedia Express Multimedia
on the heated subject on the person of General Muhammadu Buhari ,All
Progressive Congress Presidential Candidate shows that the nation’s is divided
on the health status of the Daura Born Former military Head of State.
Some Opinions were of the believe that it was not cultural
for governor Ayo Fayose to pronounce death on a man that was still alive ,others were of the
opinion that the Ekiti born political strongman had hit the nail on the head
and that since truth was bitter there was nothing anybody could do about it.
In the Nigerian media code of elections coverage page
22,section 3.5 titled political advertisement, the responsibility of media
firms are clearly stated for all to see, read and digest .
Section 3.5,sub-section 1 clearly states that a media firm
should identify political adverts, advertorials
and refrain from presenting as independent news or opinion of the
organization such advert messages.
Section 3.5,sub section 2 of the code Paedia Express
Multimedia gathers shows that a media company should not publish or air
political adverts, advertorials and sponsored political news that seeks to
create hatred or incite violence.
Paedia Express Multimedia reliably noted through the manual
in section 4,sub section zero that hate speech and other forms of incitement
could lead to violence and threaten the democratic fabric of a society hence the social obligations of the media
during elections therefore includes the prevention of hate speech in every
forms in its publication.
In the manual,the stakeholders advised that a journalist
should make use of temperate language in reporting election while a media firm
should reject any material intended for publication or airing by parties
,candidates and other interests that contains hateful or inciting words and
messages.
The media stakeholders also urged all media firms without an
exception to meticulously monitor the content of its social media platform so
as to stop the spread of hate and inciting messages.
Recently a consortium of civil society groups among which
includes the policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid
Nigeria, Centre for Democracy and Development ,Enough is Enough Nigeria,
Wangonet, Partners for Electoral Reforms ,Youth Initiative For advocacy, Growth
and Advancement, Development Dynamics, Human Rights Monitor, Election Monitor,
Reclaim Naija,Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law,CITAD,CISLAC, and
several others numbering over 60 took a swipe at The Punch Newspapers over the
promotion of hate speech in its advertorial.
It said:”The advertisement negates the Abuja Accord recently
signed by the Presidential Candidates and leaders of political parties for the
elections and we advice politicians to be cautious in their campaigns and
conduct ahead of the February polls and
allow peace to reign in the country”
The group expressed
condemned The Punch Newspapers for accepting to publish such
advertisement in clear violation of its duty to promote national cohesion at
all times
In a related issue,The Leadership Newspapers published an equally hate messaged advertorial of
General Buhari on page 44 of January,21st ,2015 .
General Buhari was presented to the public in a message
sponsored by the Nigerian Integrity and Justice Forum as an ethnic jingoist and
religious fanatic without substantial facts to back up the claims in the said publication as more Nigerian
press firms continue to run foul of the media code on elections and Abuja
Accord.
It will be recalled that recently ,President Goodluck
Jonathan whose office represents every
single Nigerian irrespective of political affiliation,tribal or ethnic
differences was attacked by misguided youths while on his way to visit the
mother of Late President of Nigeria ,Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua ,Hajia Dada at
her Katsina Country Home.
It took a combine unit of soldiers and anti-riot policemen
to disperse of the irate youths who
heralded the presidential entry into the area with chants of “Sai Buhari” and some calling Jonathan “arna” ,a Hausa
Derogatory word for unbeliever or an idolater.
There has been further skirmish in the North against the
campaign team of Dr Goodluck Jonathan in Maiduguri,Bauchi among other places as
violence escalated in the after math of The Punch’s publications of the 19th
of January,2015.
The Punch Newspapers lust for money has surely set Nigeria
on fire as at press time.
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