Post on 04-Feb-2023
Towards aCo-regulatory FrameworkFor the Nigerian print Media
BEING A SEMINAR PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ARTS UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA. IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A PHD IN MEDIA ARTS MARCH 2013
BY: AUSTIN MAHO NO.09523018
Abstract
Purpose –The problem of media regulation iscontentious and often divisive. Generally, there isagreement that the media needs some level ofregulation; it is the type and manner of regulationthat has remained a burning issue over the years.While some stakeholders have rooted for internalregulation others have called for externalregulation. This paper explores the problem ofregulation in the Nigerian print media; Withreference to the standoff between NUJ and NPAN asregards the NPC Act. The paper proposes a co-regulatory framework as a way of getting round theimpasse.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper combinesnarrative and analysis of interview data with keystakeholders. Examines the sundry arguments that haveled to a deadlock in the attempt by stakeholders toagree on a common regulatory framework for the printmedia in Nigeria.
Findings – the data suggests that the print media inNigeria since the return of democracy in 1999, isunregulated. Attempts to regulate the media are atbest ad hoc and have largely failed. Unprofessionalconduct by practitioners is hardly sanctioned. Thishas given rise to a lot of unethical conduct in theindustry. The tripartite squabble amongst criticalstake holders in the industry has not help matterseither. NPAN, NUJ and the government through the NPCover the years have been unable to agree on the best
way to professionalise and institute ethicalstandards within the Nigerian print media.
Originality/value – An exploration of the issue ofmedia regulation and ethics following the impasseamongst stakeholders in the Nigerian print media. Thestakeholders identified are the: NUJ, NPAN and thegovernment owned NPC.
Keywords: News media, print media, press publicTrust, public interest regulation.
Paper type: Seminar
1.1. Introduction
Regulation refers to the whole process of control or
guidance, by established rules and procedures,
applied by independent bodies, governments and other
political and administrative authorities to all kinds
of media activities. Thus regulation especially of
the print media, which is our focus in this paper, is
always a potential intervention in ongoing activities,
usually for some stated "public interest" goal,
Regulation takes many forms, ranging from statutory
to the non- statutory to the administrative.
Regulation can be internal as well as external. In the
former case, we are usually speaking of `self-
regulation', where internal controls are the norm,
sometimes in response to public pressure or criticism
from outside. External regulation on the other hand
is usually applied by an independent body usually set
up by government.
In Nigeria attempts to regulate the print media can
be traced to the colonial newspaper ordinance of 1903
and subsequent legislations put in place by the
colonial administration to fetter the press. The
lndependence constitution guaranteed press freedom in
Nigeria, in line with global democratic standards.
Since 1960, when Nigeria gained sovereignty, the
print media has remained largely unregulated except
during military regimes when some obnoxious laws were
promulgated with the aim of regulating the press. The
return of democracy in 1999 has seen a repeal of many
of these laws and a renewed call for the regulation
of the print media in order to check alleged
excesses. However desirable, the impasse between
critical stakeholders has not allowed for the
effective institution of a regulatory framework for
the Nigerian print media.
1.2 The historical background and media regulation inNigeria.
The history of media regulation begins with the
application of the printing press to book production
from the mid-15th century onwards in Western Europe.
Initially, printing was simply a more productive
alternative to the copying of manuscript texts by
hand, which had not been formally regulated, although
in practice it took place mainly under the oversight
of authorities of church or state. As the printing
trade and industry expanded, especially after 1500,
both church and state took an increasing interest in
the content of what was being printed and published,
especially with a view to combating heresy or
dissent. Between the 16th and 19th centuries in
Western Europe and North America, the history of
media regulation was one of struggle against
restrictions on publication waged in the name of
political freedom and human rights, but also on
behalf of the printing trades and industries,
including the rights of authors.
The first amendment and the American bill of rights
guaranteed freedom of the press in the USA. The
freedom to publish was achieved by gradual change in
Britain and by revolution in France at the end of the
eighteenth century. For most of the world during the
modern era, repressive and punitive media regulation
in the interest of state power has been the norm.
In Nigeria the history of media regulation dates back
to the colonial newspaper ordinance of 1903. The Lord
Fredrick Lugard led Colonial government is accused of
using the Newspaper Ordinance of 1903 to regulate the
media. which was further strengthened in 1907 to
control the articulate anti-colonial and anti-Lugard
Local Press which were later supported with the
Seditious Publications Act of 1909 and solidified with the
introduction of the Criminal Code in 1916 with specific
sections of it making any form of criticism of the
government a seditious offence.
The independence constitution of 1960 gave some
leverage to the press in line with global best
practices. Section 24 sub- section (1) provides for
freedom of expression and states inter alia:
Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, includingfreedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas andinformation without interference.
(It should be noted that this same provisions was
replicated in subsequent constitutions: section 36
sub- section one of the 1979 constitution and section
39 sub- section one of the 1999 constitution as
amended).
However the military incursion in government changed
everything. As with despots the world over General
Yakubu Gowon who succeeded General Aguiyi-Ironsi in
1966 promulgated the Emergency Decree of 1966 which made
arrest and detention of Citizens without warrant,
lawful and also empowered the Inspector - General of
Police and other Officers of the same or higher rank
to search any Newspaper Office or Premises in Nigeria
without warrant or notice;
The administration also proceeded in 1967 to
promulgate another Decree titled the Newspaper
Prohibition of Circulation Decree 1967 which empowered the Head
of Federal Military Government to restrict from
circulation of any newspaper in Nigeria where he
satisfied that it is detrimental to the interest of
the federation or any State thereof within the
federation which may subsist within 12 months unless
restricted or extended by the Head of State as the
case may be and refusal to comply entitled such
journalist to 6 months imprisonment and or N500 fine.
Trade Disputes {Emergency Provision} Amendment Decree No 53 of
1969 was also promulgated which made it an offence for
any person to publish in a newspaper, television or
radio or by any means of mass communication, any
matter which by reason of dramatization or other
deflects in the manner of its presentation was likely
to cause public alarm or industrial unrest.
The Military administration of General Olusegun
Obasanjo promulgated a Decree on 8th April 1979
titled the Newspaper Public Official Report Decree which
provided that any person who published or reproduces
in any form whether written or otherwise; any
statement, rumour or report alleging that a public
officer has in any manner engaged in corrupt
practices or has in any manner corruptly enriched
himself or any other person being a statement, rumour
or report which is false in any material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2
years without option of fine.
The civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari
gave the media some respite. The 1979 constitution,
as stated above provided for freedom of expression
and of the press. However, with the coming of the
General Buhari government on 31st of December 1984
through coup d’état, the media once again came under
draconian regulation. Decree No 4 of 1984 orderwise
known as the Public Officers {Protection against False Accusation}
was promulgated. The Decree made it an offence for a
Newspaper or any Wireless Telegraphy Station in
Nigeria to publish or transmit any message, rumour,
report or statement which is false against any Public
Officer.
The Decree also made any person found guilty of this
offence to be liable on conviction to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding two years without the option
of fine and in the case of a corporate body to a fine
not less than N10, 000. The Decree also provides
that where the offence is committed by a Corporate
Body, every person who at the time of the commission
of the offence was the Proprietor, Publisher, General
Manager, Editor, Secretary or other similar Officer
of the Body Corporate or was purporting to act in any
such capacity shall be deem to be guilty of that
offence unless he proves that the offence was
committed without his consent or connivance and he
had acted to prevent such an offence. Nduka Irabor
and Tunde Thompson of the Guardian Newspaper were
jailed under this Decree and the paper was ordered to
pay N50, 000 as fine.
The regime of General Buhari was brought to an end
on 27th of August 1985 by General Ibrahim Babangida
led administration which in a populist move released
Messrs Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor that were
jailed during General Mohammed Buhari’s
administration.
Barely a year after this populist posture the
Babangida administration began its own regulation of
the press. The administration repealed Decree No 2 of
1984 and re-introduced another Decree titled the State
Security {Detention of Persons} Decree 2 of 1984 which was used to
deal ruthlessly with the Press. Newswatch Magazine
suffered immensely from this decree.
The administration also promulgated the Nigerian Press
Council Decree No. 85 of 1992 which established the Nigerian
Press Council to deal with complaints by members of
the public against the conduct of Journalists in
their professional capacity.
Also the administration under the Newspapers Publication
{Proscription and Prohibition from circulation} Decree No 14 1992
proscribed several newspaper. Prominent amongst which
is the concord newspaper and other publication in its
title. The administration also proscribed the
publication as well as prohibit from circulation the
following Newspapers around 1993. The Punch, Saturday
Punch, Sunday Punch, Daily Sketch, Sunday Sketch and Nigerian
Observer. All these was in response to the June 12
crisis.
The subsequent Abacha regime did not rely much on
promulgation of any draconian Decrees to regulate the
press, instead he relied on brute force and
intimidation of journalists.
A major highlight of the General Abdulsalam Abubakar
administration, which took over from the Abacha
government, was the amendment of the Nigerian Press
Council Decree No. 85 of 1992, few days to the end of
the administration. The new Decree titled the
Nigerian Press Council (Amendment) Decree No. 60 of
1999 empowered the Council to be in-charge of
registration of journalists and newspapers as well as
magazines annually and also provided for the
imposition of heavy sanctions on the proprietors and
publishers of any newspaper and magazine which fail
to register in accordance with the provisions of the
Decree.
Legislation has played a major part in print media
regulation in Nigeria as evident from the analysis
above. However the first major attempt at developing
a structural or institutional framework for
regulation in the Nigerian print media can be traced
to the Ekineh Committee on the print media which was
set up by the Yakubu Gowon administration in 1968.
Although the work of the Committee was never made
public (Momodu,2000) it is usually seen as the
precursor to the coming into being of the Nigerian
Press Council Decree 31 of 1978.The Decree eventual
birthed the Nigerian Press Council. An institution of
government for print media regulation.
1.3 Summary
On the basis of this analysis we can conclude that
the history of print media regulation in Nigeria has
been largely negative and reactive. Most of the
regulatory framework developed by government starting
from the colonial newspaper ordinance of 1903 through
decree 10 of 1984 to Abdusalami Abukabar’s
resurrection of the Press Council Decree of 1999,
were designed to counter threats to press freedom and
diversity, just that some where more draconian than
others.
No wonder media stakeholders in the country have
always viewed external regulation by government with
suspicion. However this is not to discountenance the
fact that regulation can be positive and be a tool
for enhancing public trust in the media.
2.1 Why are media regulated?
There is an incongruity inherent to the notion of
regulating what are supposed to be the free means of
expression and information in a democratic society.
Regulation by its very nature sets limits to the
constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and
the press, which is a basic principle of modern
societies. At the very least, there have to be clear
and convincing reasons for regulation, and although
we can give general justifications for regulation
that help to reconcile it with principles of freedom
and democracy, we cannot escape from this underlying
tension.
There is no single or simple answer to the question
“why regulate the news media?” and often the surface
reasons given conceal their actual purpose, which is
often not in the public interest but rather to
protect the state institution.
Following Feintuck, M. (1999), six general reasons
for media regulation can be identified as follows:
1.The management of what is arguably the key
economic resource in the emerging “information
society” with a very high dependence on all forms
of communication.
2.The protection of public order and support for
instruments of government and justice.
3.The protection of individual and sectional rights
and interests that might be harmed by
unrestricted use of public means of
communication.
4.The promotion of the efficiency and development
of the communication system, by way of technical
standardization, innovation, connectivity and
universal provision.
5.The promotion of access, freedom to communicate,
diversity and universal provision as well as
securing communicative and cultural ends chosen
by the people for themselves.
6.Maintaining conditions for effective operation of
free markets in media services, especially
competition and access, protection of consumers,
stimulating innovation and expansion.
We find the points raised by Feintuck in number 2,3
and 5 of particularly relevance to our discussion.
This is because they not only highlight the public
interest function of the news media but also the
protection of the individual, group and the society
from the unrestricted freedom of the media.
2.2 Types of Regulation
Regulations are formal and compulsory instructions
about the structure, conduct or content of the media.
(source). Regulation comes in different forms it can
be formal or external regulation or informal or self
regulation. Regulation is all about accountability
which Dennis McQuail has defined as "all the
voluntary or involuntary processes by which the media
answer directly or indirectly to their society for
the quality and/or consequences of publication"
(McQuail, 2005). Voluntary in this sense equates self
or informal regulation while involuntary denotes
external or formal regulation.
Available literature suggests that media regulation
takes an ascending order. At the highest point of
regulation is government regulation this is followed
by other forms of regulation, like NGOs, pressure
groups and others. At the lowest level is self
regulation.
The legal system provides an important category of
formal or external regulation for the news media.
Legal requirements that de facto help to regulate the
media include laws against libel and defamation, laws
protecting privacy, laws concerning intellectual
property rights, and prohibitions against incitement
to violence or racial hatred, pornography or
obscenity or the Child Right Act. Generally the
justice system protects itself by law against media
activities that might pervert the course of justice,
otherwise generally referred to as contempt of court.
Sanction can be achieved through fines and in some
cases jail terms.
Most informal or self mechanisms of regulation on the
other hand, rely on voluntary compliance, and usually
achieved through a code of conduct. Sanction carries
a lighter weight, does not carry any material penalty
and in the print media it is usually through
retraction and or apology.
While regulation can cover a wide range of issues our
focus is on conduct of journalists or print media
organizations with emphasis on journalistic ethics.
2.3. Theoretical Framework –What is Co-regulation?
While regulation falls into the two broad categories
of formal and self regulation as highlighted above,
there is a third dimension in the literature which is
generally referred to as co-regulation.
Co-regulation is the combination of “intentional
self-regulation” with the state sanction in reserve
which results in self-regulation which is “regulated”
by the possibility of state intervention. J. J.
Boddewyn, (1988) Advertising Self-regulation and Outside
Participation.
At the Birmingham “Audiovisual Assizes” in 1998,
schulz and Held used the formulation as: “Self-
regulation that fits in with a legal framework or has
a basis laid down in law”.
The term “co-regulation” also gives a sense of the
joint responsibilities of market actors and the
State, short of outright command-and-control, in the
activity under evaluation.
The term also has been used by the UK’s telecom
regulator to suggest a state role in setting
objectives which market actors must then organize to
achieve – with the threat of statutory powers invoked
in the absence of market self-regulation. (Richard
Thomas 2004)
Schulz and Held also suggest that “regulated self-
regulation” can be any of these categories: co-
regulation, intentional self regulation, or a third
category – “audited self-regulation”.
Also drawing from the European Commission (2004)
second evaluation report on the protection of minors
and human dignity as it relates to co-regulation, the
commission notes that: “A co-regulatory approach may
be more flexible, adaptable and effective than
straightforward regulation and legislation.” It went
further to observe that:
co-regulation can often better achieve the given
aims. Co-regulation implies however, from the
Commission’s point of view, an appropriate level of
involvement by the public authorities. Co-regulation
expresses a dialogue process between stakeholders,
which results in a form of regulation which is
neither state command-and-control regulation in its
bureaucratic central, but is also not “pure” self-
regulation
Evidently , co-regulation is used in such a wide
variety of circumstances that its specific meaning
must be adapted to suite specified purpose. From the
literature we can deduce that the State and
stakeholder groups, including consumers, form part of
the institutional setting for co-regulation. Co-
regulation therefore constitutes multiple
stakeholders, and this inclusiveness results in
greater authority and credibility.
The most important element in co-regulation however
is that stakeholders come together to develop an
agreeable framework for regulation.
3.1 Situation Analysis
The return of democracy in 1999 gave a lot of respite
to the media. In a democratic setting Media
regulation is largely frown at because the very
essence of any democracy is freedom of expression and
of the press. However there are still pocket of laws
in the statute books whose status is uncertain by
virtue of section 39 of the 1999 constitution which
guarantees freedom of expression and of the press.
A prominent one is the Nigeria Press Council Decree
No. 85 of 1992 as amended by Nigerian Press Council
(Amendment) Decree No. 60 of 1999.
The existence of the Press Council Act has since 1999
pitched key stakeholders in the print media industry
against one another. The battle has been between
those who are in favour of external regulation as
provided for by the Act and those who believe that
press freedom has been settled by constitutional
provisions and as such should be allowed to regulate
itself.
The battle has been between the Nigerian Union of
Journalists,NUJ, who favours external regulation as
provided for in the NPC Act and the duo of the
Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria and the
Nigerian Guild of Editors who believe that the print
media should regulate itself and the law setting up
the NPC be scrapped forthwith because it is
antithetical to the provisions of sections 39 sub-
section (1) of the 1999 constitution as amended which
provides for freedom of expression and of the press.
The Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria
(NPAN), in 2003 challenged the constitutionality of
the Act setting up the Nigerian Press Council, by
taking its case before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The body among other demands had asked the court to
declare null and void the NPC Act in view of Section
39 of the 1999 constitution. The court decided in
favour of the NPAN in line with the constitutional
provisions, of section 39 in a judgement it
delivered in June 2011. The court judgement did not
go the whole hog in repealing the NPC Act, what the
judgement did was to largely curtail the powers of
the NPC to register print media practitioners and
organisation as required by the Act.
With this judgement the NPAN in response to growing
calls for print media regulation instituted the
office of the Ombudsman, a self regulatory mechanism,
as a way of addressing and redressing unethical
conduct by media practitioners and media
organisation.
While the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE) gave its
tacit support to the establishment of the office of
the ombudsman, the Nigerian Union of Journalists
(NUJ) kicked against it. The NUJ based it argument on
the premise that the NPAN cannot be a judge in its
own case. In the views of the NUJ, the media would be
better off with an external regulatory body. To this
end the NUJ threw its weight behind the NCP Act
albeit with a little amendment to the Act, to remove
grey areas on the basis of this, interviews were held
with representatives of the main actors to elicit
their views on the controversy.
4.1 Summary of interview data /comments and responsesto interview questions.
The data for this paper was derived from primary
sources. Interview sessions were held with key
players in the Nigerian print media. They are the
National secretary Nigerian Union of Journalist, the
Executive Secretary Nigerian Press Council and the
National News Editor Daily Trust Newspaper. They were
selected because they represent different perspective
as it relates to print media regulation in Nigeria.
Some review and condensation has been done to the
original text of the interview for ease of
understanding of the key issues of discuss.
The three respondent that were chosen for the
interview sections represents three shades of opinion
that reflects the three group of principal
stakeholders in the Nigerian print media. Liman
Shuaibu the Secretary of the NUJ represented the
views of the Nigerian Union of Journalist. Adebayo
Atoyebi, the executive secretary of the Nigerian
Press Council represented the views of the government
established Nigerian Press Council and by extension
the views of government which supports external
control. Abdulahi Idris, the National Editor of the
Daily Trust stood in for his boss and by extension
represented the views of the Newspapers Proprietors
of Nigeria and the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
4.1.1 Shuaibu Usman Leman, National Secretary NUJ
On unethical practice in journalism:
Journalists are not isolated from the general culture
of corruption in the country. Journalists are corrupt
because there is no enabling law to punish journalist
who engages in unethical conduct. NUJ cannot stop
anyone from practising even if that person violates
ethics, even if that person is not properly trained.
Enforcing ethical violation is difficult, together
with us the NPC the body that is suppose to regulate
ethics is handicapped , Our only point of
disagreement with the NCP is the constitution of the
board
On the NPAN Ombudsman:
you cannot be a judge in your own case. NPAN cannot
set up an ombudsman and appoint a retired judge who
has never practise journalism to head it., and they
attach monetary condition to petition, an aggrieved
person needs to pay the sum of 10,000 to process his
petition. The petition is suppose to be rooted
through NUJ and we said no we support the NPC as an
instrument of regulating journalism practise. We now
said the areas of contention should be amended for
instance appointment of the chairman of the board. We
insist it should be a seasoned journalist. And the
appointment should emanate from the stakeholders, The
Guild, NUJ, NPAN, we should submit the names of three
qualified professionals to the president for
consideration. We also identified the Act that
criminalise libel we said you don’t need to
criminalise libel, rather there should be sanction
for the violation of ethics. There is also the issue
of funding we believe government should be allowed to
fund the council, if you allow the stakeholders they
are likely not to fund this. Even when we went to the
senate to defend the NPC Act these are areas we
disagreed on. That is where we were and NPAN went to
court to challenge the entire NCP Act, since then the
Act has not been amended. The NPAN set up the
ombudsman and our view as a union is that journalist
should not patronise the ombudsman as set up by NPAN.
On why the NUJ would not support the Ombudsman
The union will not support it because as we
understand it the NPAN and the Guild of Editors came
together to establish it to substitute the NPC Act
because according to them it emanated from government
and there is too much government control of the
entire press council, but if you look at the
formation of the board, the NUJ has like 4 members,
the guild is equally represented by 4 members and
NPAN I think has 2 members. If you look at it
generally a board of 15 members or so and you
discover that already you have 10 journalist on the
board, the Executive Secretary is also a seasoned
journalist, l think we can now make a case for the
Nigerian Press Council, with little amendment. The
present chairman is a seasoned journalist although
the former one was an accountant. This is our augment
why we support the NPC Act, just as you have the BON
taking care of ethics in the broadcast media we
believe that the NPC should take care of ethics in
the print media.
On Regulation
NUJ is at the vanguard of that: it always lies with
the union that journalist practise according to the
rule of the game., anytime we receive a complain we
try to investigate it, and every State Council
ideally should have a standing committee on ethics.
The moment we receive a complaint we investigate and
liaise with the respective media owners to report
that so and so have done this which we consider is
wrong and that the management should take action. We
have had cases where many journalist have been
suspended or placed on suspension, infact there are
cases were journalist lost their jobs.
We need a regulator, as it is now people benefit from
an unregulated industry that is why we have a lot of
quack journalist in Abuja going about extorting money
from people and blackmailing people. They are
criminals and that is why we said state councils
should set up committees to tracks this. If you
remember sometimes ago in Abuja about 9 of them were
arrested. But by the time you go to court that is
where the problem starts. The secretary of the union
said he would not go to court again and l asked him
why he said the judge asked him what right has he to
stop somebody from gathering information. They even
asked who is a journalist, is it only someone who
read mass communication. All these have made
regulation difficult people do a lot of things and
get away with it which is not supposed to be. That is
why we want the NPC.
4.1.2 Summary of interview with Mr. Adebayo MudashiruAtoyebi. Executive Secretary Nigeria Press Council
On the structure of the Nigerian Press Council (NPC)
The Nigerian Press Council came into existence by
Cap, 123 Laws of the FRN, Decree 85 of 1992, and
subsequently decree 60 of 1999. It has an
adjudicating body that comprises of a chairman who
must have practised journalism for 20 years, 4
journalists from the NUJ, 2 from the Nigerian Guild
of Editors, from NPAN one, from NAN one from ministry
of Information one , BON has 2 and 4 from the public
one of whom must be a lawyer and one a woman.
Mandate of the council
primarily is to ensure that journalism is practised
on purpose, that journalists also give quality
information to the public, quality education to the
public most especially the print medium, make sure
that we periodically monitor all the Newspaper to
ensure that they comply with the codes of ethics of
journalism, we research into the media industry and
advise the government properly on the direction to
go. Normally journalist are suppose to be given
access to information, where such information are not
given it becomes the duty of the Nigerian Press
Council to intervene and ensure that this is done. on
the other hand if members of the public complain of
the content of a publication, they have the right to
seek redress in a court of law or they could take the
option of writing to the editor of the medium and
where this fails the aggrieved person can come to the
council, that is where our ombudsman comes in.
Has the Council achieved its mandate?
The council have achieved its mandate, so far since
inception we have received about 240 complaints from
members of the public which we have attended to. Also
in the area of capacity building we have trained many
journalist especially on election coverage and code
of ethics, we have also had sensitization workshop on
the FOI Act, it will surprise you to know that many
journalist are not familiar with the content of the
Act.
On the promotion of ethical standards in journalism
We do this in many ways like l told you we have been
have capacity building workshop for journalist
We also collaborate with media owners to promote
ethical standards in the profession.
The code of ethics was agreed on at a conference in
1998 at Ilorin by all stakeholders so the NPC expects
all stakeholders to abide by this code.
On sanctions when ethics is breached
Sanction is an area that is mute, we are still
working on this area because once there are codes
there are likely to be breaches of the codes and
where there is no sanction there is likely to be a
lacuna. For instance when the phone hacking scandal
broke in the Uk the UK government said look this is a
sign that self regulation is not working. So let’s
have a regulatory body that can apply and enforce
sanctions, so we are going to collaborate with the
NUJ, NGE, and NPAN to learn from the UK experience.
Relationship with NPAN ombudsman.
You are well aware of the law setting up the NPC. The
NPAN went to court claiming that Decree 60 of 1999 is
a violation of the constitution and that the NPC
ombudsman was not effective. They formed their own
ombudsman and NUJ said no you cannot be a judge in
your own case and they directed their member not to
attend, you know a house divided against itself
cannot stand. There are nagging problems in the
profession. And stakeholders must sit and look for a
solution to the problems.
On government regulation through NPC
The complain of the NPAN is just a fallacy, do we
control their editorial content? Do we tell them what
to publish? We only come in when you ignite the fire,
we never say don’t ignite the fire. So where lies the
censorship? Lets get serious the president appoints
the Chief judge of the federation, does he control
him? The president appoints the INEC chairman, does
he tell him what to do? We cannot close down any
newspaper, we cannot do anything that will be
detrimental to the profession, if the government
forms the Press Council it doesn’t mean the Council
belongs to government..
The Nigerian Press Council does not operate based on
any law by the National Assembly, they operate by the
code of ethics of the Nigerian Union of Journalist
(NUJ) . come to think of it, do you know how the
Press Council came about, it was never a brain child
of government, it was Alhaji Lateef Jakande who
brought the idea thst there was a need for a
regulatory body at a congress in Benin, i think in
1972 the NUJ ratified it, the NUJ and NPAn can be
said to be the fathers of the Press Council, so why
should they be afraid of their own child?
On who should watch the watch dog
The NUJ! The Press Council do not register
journalists but the NUJ do, the law does not allow
the Press Council to register journalists. The law
establishing the Press Council was put together for
government by journalists at the time the decree 60
of 1999 was to be strengthened to compel journalists
to register with the Press Council, there was an
uproar with the NUJ and it never worked as at the
last count we had about 427 newspapers and magazines
in the country, so the NUJ should register
journalists.
On the problem with the NUJ
The problem with the NUJ is simple, it is combining
the function of a professional body with that of a
trade union, ironically it has got both wrong, you
know sometimes ago they were threatening to close
down some places that is the function of a trade
union, but once they separate the two functions l
think they will get things right.
4.1.3 Interview with Abdullahi Idris, National News
Editor, Daily Trust
On how Media Trust recruit journalists
We have an arrangement with some universities and
higher institutions, the HODs of their Mass
communication department send two of their best
graduating students to us. A reporter is trained like
a child, so that he will grow well. When employed he
is given in-house training and then assigned various
desk by the editor. The company secretary talks to
them on legal areas to avoid libel after then he is
assigned to a senior reporter who they will go out
with to understudy for about three to six months till
he or she learns to write well after then he can
start filling reports.
On role of NPAN in the industry
NPAN is the association of media owners their aim is
to promote professionalism, to promote the print
media business to see how they will reduce the cost
of production by meeting the authorities for
assistance, they also see how editors are faring,
what can be done to maintain integrity in the
profession.
On the ombudsman principle
Just as we have the Public Complain Commission, the
Ombudsman takes complaints from the public against
newspaper and magazines. If a member of the public
feels aggrieved by the treatment he received from a
reporter, editor, newspaper or magazine, he can write
the ombudsman about it. The ombudsman is a
professional man who knows the job, in and out. He
receives reports/petitions, evaluates and invites the
disputants; question, and thereafter, he writes his
report or recommendation to the body that sets it up.
If the report is against the newspaper, the editor is
sanctioned.
On sanction
Various type can be applied: retraction, apology. It
has no fine as it is not a law court. The ombudsman
can recommend cost to the petitioner and disciplinary
action against the practitioner or newspaper. The
ombudsman is an arbiter. In our day to day
activities, we offend people and the ombudsman comes
in.
Views on the Nigerian Press Council
The Press Council was set up by government to
regulate the conduct of media practitioners. It is a
form of government control over the media, and that
is why newspapers and editors disagreed with it.
On the way forward
We need to go back to our roots. Newspapers and
Editors should be ethical, fear God and work for the
public interest. It is not going to be easy because
of the rotten environment, that breeds unethical
conducts, but l believe with the commitment of every
one it can be achieved.
Summary of interview data
4.2. Areas of agreement.
Regulation of the press is usually contentions
because of the constitutional provision of
freedom of the press.
Unethical conduct is prevalent in the Nigerian
media
There is need for regulation to address the trend
4.3. Areas of disagreement
The mode of regulation
Who the powers of regulation should be vested on.
The NUJ supports external regulation and the NPC
Act
The NPAN supports internal regulation through its
own ombudsman mechanism
The Nigerian Press council, however believes the NUJ
should act as a professional body rather than a trade
union, and since it is the custodian of the register
of members should regulate the profession
4.4. Summary
Form all indication the contention among the
stakeholders is not unexpected. There is age long
mutual suspicion among all the players. The NUJ on
the one hand and the NGE and the NPAN on the other
hand.
NUJ over the years has lost a lot of credibility in
the eyes of the public including stakeholders. It has
no structure and it has no clearly defined role as a
professional body. As Ayotebi of the NPC rightly
observed the NUJ has over the years been behaving
like a trade union rather than a professional body in
the mode of the Medical and Dental Council or the
Nigerian Bar Association. A clear case of the union’s
lack of structure is its inability to establish a
national secretariat 50 years after it came into
existence. This is irrespective of the fact that
several fund raising activities have been held over
the years by successive executive of the union for
that purpose! It is equally on records that a former
Military Administration gave the union substantial
sum of money and a parcel of land in the FCT for that
purpose but nothing was heard of the funds or what
happened to the parcel of land. How can such a union
hold any iota of respect in the eyes of the public or
practitioners?
It is a sad commentary and an irony on the other hand
that NPAN should be the body trying to institute
regulation in the print media through the ombudsman
mechanism. This to say the least is unusual as there
is no such model anywhere in the world that this
writer is aware of. Newspapers owners ordinarily are
business men whose concern should be the bottom line.
Their interest should be the profit motive and not
ethics. However we do know that the bulk of the
newspapers owners in Nigeria are politicians and not
businessmen, so the profit motive may not be of
primary concern. The editors, through the NGE,
expectedly are only replicating the interest of the
owners by their unalloyed support of the ombudsman
mechanism.
5.1. Recommendation
Key Recommendation. In view of the unending squabble
for supremacy between critical stakeholders in the
Nigerian print media industry, l hereby recommend co-
regulation as the best and workable option for the
regulation of the Nigerian print media. The co-
regulatory approach we are proposing is one that
encourages a dialogue process among stakeholders and
is neither state controlled nor self regulation in
the pure sense of it. This will allow for more
flexibility, adaptability and effectiveness than
straightforward self regulation or legislation. It
would in effect eliminate the current atmosphere of
distrust and mutual suspicion that has made
regulation ineffective in the Nigerian print
industry. This inclusiveness would results in greater
legitimacy for mediation and help restore public
confidence and trust in the Nigerian print media.
5.2. Recommended Framework
STAKEHOLDERS ROLE EXPECTATION OUTCOME
NUJ The professional
body of
journalists
Register and Keep
an up-to-date
register of
member
The NUJ would
become a truly
professional body
that members
defer to
NPC Government
established body
for print media
regulation
Provide the
framework for the
coming together
of the NUJ, NPAN
and NGE
Detached, but
Provides the
structural,
institutional
and finances to
support co -
regulation
NPAN Association of
Print media
owners
Be supportive of
the NUJ and NGE
and hires only
professional
journalists
With equal
representation in
a co-regulatory
framework the
NPAN would be
more willing to
work with the NUJ
and NGE.
PUBLIC report all
professional
misconduct
accordingly
The public would
have more
confidence in the
print media
the question of
who watches the
watch dog will be
provided for.
5.3. Advantages:
Eliminates problem of funding and structure.
The structure is outside the direct control of
either the NUJ or the NPAN or the NGE.
Government is not directly involved.
Ensure checks and balances.
Allows for the further development of standards
and codes of professional ethical
6.1. Conclusion
The Nigerian print media cannot remain unregulated.
Effective regulation is imperative to restore public
confidence in the media. With the phone hacking
scandal in the UK a key recommendation of the Leveson
Inquiry is towards more regulation rather than less.
The British parliament is even contemplating
legislation to regulate the media since the UK’s self
regulating Press Commission has seems to have failed
to address issues of ethics in the British Media.
In view of this the best stakeholders can do is to
adopt co-regulation as a way of dealing with
regulation in the Nigerian press. To his end the NCP
Act must be strengthened to bring about a convergence
of the interests of the NUJ the NPAN and the Nigerian
Guild of Editors.
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Note: The Leveson Inquiry is a judicial public inquiry into theculture, practices and ethics of the British press following theNews International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord JusticeLeveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A series of public hearingswere held throughout 2011 and 2012. The Inquiry published theLeveson Report in November 2012, which reviewed the general cultureand ethics of the British media, and made recommendations for a new,independent, body to replace the existing Press ComplaintsCommission, which would be recognised by the state through new laws.