NPAN, NGE, NUJ, Others Seek Co-regulation For Media Practitioners

The Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ), Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) among other media stakeholders, Monday, converged in Lagos to discuss framework for co-regulation to deepen media practice in the country.

In his opening remarks at the event which held at Protea Hotel, Alausa, Ikeja with the theme “Deepening Media Professionalism Through Co-regulation,” former governor of Ogun state and life patron of NPAN, Chief Olusegun Osoba, described the Nigerian media as one of the most vibrant and respected in the world despite the suffocating environment under which it operates.

“I can say clearly that the Nigerian press has been highly responsible over the years. We’ve been taking the interest of the nation as our own interest too. And part of our duty is to act as a watchdog not only on the government, but on both private and public institutions,” he said.

According to him, there is the need for the practitioners to come together and have a framework that would guide the industry, stressing that the media, being the Fourth Estate of the Realm, shouldn’t be subjected to the whims and caprices of the government.

Presenting one of the proposals, titled ‘Co-Regulation – Pathway to an Effective Media Ombudsman,” Azubuike Ishiekweme, Editor-in-Chief at LEADERSHIP Media Group, who is a member of the NPAN Committee on Media Self-Regulation, said the session was motivated by the conviction that the media needed to do some introspection and reposition itself for accountability and for the public good.

According to him, the committee which has Gbenga Adefaye, the Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard media as chairman; Executive Secretary, Newspaper Proprietors ‘Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Feyi Smith as Secretary, Kadaria Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of RadioNow 95.3FM and himself as members was given the mandate to fashion out a framework for a generally acceptable, workable and trusted self-regulatory platform for the media industry, both at the local and central levels.
Source: www.blueprint.ng