The Chairman Editorial Board of Penpushing Media, Olufunke Fadugba, has spoken on the need for Nigerian media practitioners to stand firmly together for the realization of effective and genuine freedom of the press in the country.
Penpushing reports that Fadugba made the call as a panelist at the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) conference ANEC) 2024 with the theme, ‘Economic Growth and Development Strategies in Resource-Rich Country’ held at DSP Alamieyesigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Yenegoa, Bayelsa State
The veteran journalist and two-time Chairperson of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos State Council while addressing the topic ‘Navigating Challenges to Press Freedom in Democratic Society’, pointed out that the media should desist from celebrating misfortune of each other.
Penpushing further reports that she emphasized that only the truth can sustain and safe the practitioners in any system of government, while being cautious of the importance and relevance of ethics of the profession and taking into consideration the laws that are anti- free press
‘Media should collaborate, don’t celebrate the misfortune of others or each other. Don’t work alone. We must stand together to defend each other, and the person being defended must stand by truth. Be appropriate. Don’t sacrifice the truth. Press freedom comes with responsibility’, Fadugba emphasised.
Penpushing also reports that she said the colleagues who find themselves on the other side of the divide working with the government should not be carried away and should always help their colleagues in the face of seeming deliberate attack on the media
‘Ethics of the profession is very important. Avoid the banana peel and such laws mitigating free press. If you are in government now, don’t be carried away, still help your colleagues against attack on the media’,Fadugba stated.
‘We need to hold government accountable to not only run after journalists seen to have stepped on big toes but to also prosecute those who could have taken advantage of their position to abuse journalists’ rights. If there is a need for advocacy, we should all rise up to it as stakeholders. In your little corner, rise to the rights of press freedom’, she concluded.
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