By Our Correspondent

Umuahia

Journalists in the South-East geo-political zone has been advised to shift emphasis from routine and sensational reporting to investigative development journalism in other to give voice to the people and publish stories that will help to promote accountability and transparency, in governance plus development of the region.


Resource persons proffered the advise during a one-day workshop on investigative journalism in Umuahia, Abia state.


In his presentation, titled “Fundamentals of news investigative reporting/fact-checking”, Dr Uche Uwaoma argued that society would be better served  if media professionals in the country would focus on development communication.


“It is my opinion that journalism should shift from negative sensational reporting to development communication,” he said.


Dr Uwaoma, an  Associate Professor, in the Department of Mass Communication, Gregory University, Uturu,  Abia state, therefore, called for the establishment of more regional and community-based media outfits that should focus on community-development issues and human interest stories.


He further urged media professionals to concentrate efforts on local issues that would have direct impact on the people’s wellbeing.


“We should strive to de-emphasise Arghanistanism – focusing on foreign issues at the expense of issues within our local environments,” he said.


He listed some of the challenges against investigative journalism to include insecurity, the lack of modern equipment, poor remuneration and lack of incentives.


Others, he said, were media owners/religion/ethnic/political influences, legal constrains and unfriendly sources, amongst others.


In his presentation, “Ethical issues: What kind of news is news.”  a former Secretary to the Abia Government, Mr Ralph Egbu focused on the dos and don’ts of  journalism.


Egbu, a former journalist and currently a newspaper columnist described ethical issues as  dealing "... with the dilemmas of rights and wrongs in the practice of journalism”


He maintained that the principle of objectivity, fairness, accuracy, balance, factual and truthful reporting are  the hallmark of credible journalism.


Egbu further explicated on reward and gratification in the media, and submitted that  “A journalist should neither solicit nor accept bribe, gratification, or patronage to suppress or publish information.


“To demand payment for the publication of news is criminal
to the notion of news as a fair, accurate, unbiased and factual report of an event.”


He further highlighted other issues  considered to be violation of ethics in journalism and the implications of such violation, including credibility loss.


The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Godfrey Ogbonna, spoke on “Safety first: Is the information worth the risk of news coverage – what are the red flags”.


Ogbonna advised journalists to take safety precautions anytime they planned to embark on investigative assignment.


“In the event that you are to accompany a security agency to the scene of a crime, ensure that you wear protective vest (bullet proof),” he said.


In a presentation via zoom, Mr Sampson Ademola from WSCIJ said that the centre was sponsoring investigative journalism in some parts of the country, including Bauchi, Borno and Adamawa.


Ademola spoke on the need for collaborative media efforts to hold government accountable.


He urged media professionals to focus their investigations more on the state and local governments than the centre.


Earlier, the Coordinator and Editor-in-Chief of IMCAI, Dr Chido Onumah and Uche Ugboajah, respectively, said the primary objective of the platform was to project issues bordering on the development of South-East and holding the political leaders accountable.


“Our region is the most backward in terms of good governance.


“This is because we are not holding our governors and other political office holders accountable,” they said


The workshop was organised by an Owerri-based media outfit, called Ikenga Media and Cultural Awareness Initiative (IMCAI).


It was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).


additional reports from NAN