Ahead of the November 11th Governorship election in Imo State, the International Press Centre (IPC) in collaboration with the Center for Media and Society (CEMESO) has ended its 2-Day training of journalists to ensure effective coverage and unbiased reportage.
The training sponsored by the European Union, which saw the gathering of a large number of journalists cutting across the Print, Electronics and Broadcasting media was held at the RockView Hotel Owerri, capital of Imo State
Welcoming the participants at the training, the IPC Programm Officer Melody Akinjiyan said that the event is organized to critically examine the interconnections between the public, the media, and elections towards developing an agenda that seeks to strengthen the role of the media in facilitating a credible electoral process
She said that the workshop is one of the activities being implemented by IPC, as lead partner, and the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) under Component 4: Support to Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII) project.
She expressed her belief that the media has a critical agenda-setting role to support the integrity and credibility of elections.
She said: “Not only must they take a lead role in ensuring that citizens are adequately mobilized, but they should also ensure that the entire process is open to public scrutiny”.
The Program Officer urges journalists to endavoures to bring the required professionalism and inclusivity to bear on the coverage and reportage of the on-going electoral process in the state in order to enable the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver on free, fair, peaceful and credible Imo governorship elections come November 11, 2023.
According to her, doing this will require them not only to focus on the campaigns and the legal battles of the gubernatorial gladiators but to provide an appropriate education for the voters so that they can be well enlightened on the electoral and campaign issues, the candidates and their programmes and the voting processes.
In a paper presented by the CEO of Omalicha Radio Station Owerri, Ms. Angela Agoawike, titled “Bringing Gender Perspective to Bear on Imo Governorship Elections”, she advised journalists to always project the different voices in the society such as the men, women, girls, boys, kids and albinos because of the outcome which affects everyone differently.
She said that as journalists, they should give attention to gender representation, specifically female gender in election reporting describing it as important.
According to her the physical attributes of a woman should not be indicative of her leadership capabilities.
Ms. Agoawike advised the media to take safety precautions in the course of covering the elections the state state.
In his own paper Presented by the Executive Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade represented by Mr. Ayo Aluko-Olokun, he enumerated some of the ethical conduct which a journalist must uphold in the coverages of the Governorship election in Imo State which include integrity, credibility and endorsement.
The paper titled “Media and Election App, The Code of Election Coverages and Other Issues of Safety”, Arogundade advised journalists to embrace the best professional practices, especially in the coverages of the November 11th election in the state.
He said that it is the responsibility of the media to give equitable access to all political parties participants in an election.
The founder Journalism Clinic, Mr. Taiwo Obe while on his paper titled “Impactful Reporting of The Elections: Focusing on People-Interest Issues and Telling Stories that Matter”, said that the essence of Journalism is to give people the information they need to make their decisions about their lives and society.
According to him, the business of a journalist is to find answer to questions.
Obe regretted that the challenge to Journalists is that they don’t provide necessary information adding that Journalists only speculate when it is not their job.
He said: “Every Journalist to always strive to diligently ascertain the truth of every event”.
While advising them to focus on issues concerning women and persons with disability and other vulnerable persons in society, Mr Obe reminded Journalists of the need to broaden their knowledge through reading.
He said: “as a journalist, you must read widely on history and geopolitics . These would help you ask questions”.
IPC/CEMESO officials in a photograph with Journalists during training in Owerri recently.
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