2019 election: Adhere to journalism fundamental principles or quit ― Prof Okunna

Professor Okunna gave the advice to journalists during a two-day media workshop on best practices and professional reporting on the electoral process organised by the international press centre (IPC) and sponsored by the European Union Support to Democratic governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) in Enugu.

According to Professor Okunna during her presentation on “Ethics and Professionalism,” she advised media practitioners to always ensure they balance their report accurately, always be truthful, objective, in their reportage as she  encourages them to  abstain from impartiality.

ALSO READ: IPAC seeks support for INEC to tackle vote-buying

Prof Okunna urged them to always have confidence in themselves, to confirm the legitimate authenticity of every event.

The Professor advocated for a regular payment of practicing journalists in Nigeria, stating that irreparable damage would be inflicted on democracy if the media fails to report elections or the electoral process professionally and in accordance with ethical best practices.

She then called for the reforms, which sanitised the Banking Sector few years ago to be speedily applied to the communication sector in Nigeria so as to mandate all prospective media owners (including governments) to deposit in some kind of trust fund a substantial amount of money to be ‘forcefully’ used to pay salaries of journalists when their employers callously refuse to pay them.