By Dada Ahmed.
Imagine a situation where you open your radio to listen to news and all you get is noise .Angered by the scenario and eager to catch up with goings on in your locality or beyond, you on your television for the same reason, all you see is blurr picture, no news still.
You then race to the nearby newspaper stand to buy newspaper, to know developments around you and again the vendor says,”Oga, no newspaper today sir because journalists refuse to write stories news for their houses for publication.
At this level, you feel the world has gone into total darkness, because information, one of the powerful instruments to measure the development of society is being threatened.
This scene typifies the importance of journalists in dissemination and management of information which keeps the world moving with the latest development.
You are then forced to ask the rhetoric question as to what sort of professionals are journalists and what makes their profession so important in the society and yet precarious.
In a simple perspective,journalists are media professors whose basic duty is to collect and collate information ,edited them to make news for broadcast in the electronic,print and online media for the purpose of informing,educating and entertaining the people about the goings on in the society.
They cherish and champion Press Freedom,the pillar of any democratic society that shapes public opinion and empower the people to challenge anomalies such as corruption, infringement of human rights and bad government to put leaders in check among other roles.
Journalism as succinctly defined by Merriam Webster dictionary is the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media as well as being an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium.
The dictionary elucidates us more on the profession by describing it as a writing, designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine or
a writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.
This is coupled with the fact that, journalism is synonymous with writing, designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest as the dictionary says.
Marked by compact precise expression without wasted words, demonstrated by the dictionary, experience has revealed that journalists are one of the most endangered professionals, globally, as they continue to step on toes in line of duty to unearth the truth of events being reported.
This is in spite the crucial role they play to keep the world educated, informed and entertained about the social, economic and political development in the wheel of progress of any society.
Statistics from.Google indicates that the total of journalists killed since 2000 is 1,787, adding that the figure gives an average of more than 80 journalists killed every year.
“Behind the figures, there are the faces, personalities, talents and commitment of those who have paid with their lives in 2022 for their information gathering, their search for the truth and their passion for journalism.
They include: Armando Linares López of Monitor Michoacán,March 15, 2022, Arshad Sharif, October 23, 2022,Audrey Gaid Estrada,101.3 Grace Covenant FM, March 17, 2022 and Aye Kyaw,Freelance,July 30, 2022.
No doubt, many more Journalists have encountered violence as well as intimidation in the course of exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution in the world.
Media analysts note that the range of threats journalists face include murder, kidnapping, hostage-taking, offline and online harassment, intimidation, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture among others.
On September 17,2023,Ilorin,the
Kwara State capital, north central Nigeria,was thrown into mourning as the lifeless body of 27-year-old Yusuf Mubaarak, a promising new media personality, was discovered under mysterious circumstances.
The shocking incident prompted Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to demand a thorough investigation by security agencies into the tragedy.
Sources added that Mubaarak, a native of Ilorin, went missing on Wednesday night, a development that left his family and friends deeply concerned.
However, his remains were eventually located around the Unity area of Ilorin,on Saturday evening and was laid to rest in Ilorin amidst tears from friends, associates, and acquaintances.
As if the negative experiences confronting journalists are not enough, sixty-seven members of the press were said to have been killed in 2022, the highest number since 2018, according to the annual report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The committee added that at least,41 journalists or more than 60%, were killed in retaliation for their work and described 2022 as deadly for members of the press.
Late Hamisu Danjigbam.
Recently, the media space in Nigeria was hit by the news of the gruesome murder of the Voice of Nigeria, VON,reporter in Zamfara State, north west Nigeria,Hamisuu Danjigba.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Zamfara State Council gave the picture of the nature of death of Hamisu that sets tongue wagging as to the level of man inhumanity to man in the society.
In a statement signed in Gusau, the state capital by the union’s secretary,Ibrahim Ahmad Gada, Hamisu’s bodybody was found in a sock away behind his house, three days after missing.
The discovery of the deceased’s corpse followed an unpleasant odour perceived from a soak away by pupils of an Islamic school situated directly behind Danjibga’s home, in the evening of Wednesday September 20,2023, he further disclosed.
According to the union’s scribe, the terrible development prompted the pupils to draw the attention of their teachers,necessitating the removal of Hamisu’s remains for burial.
“After residents of the area removed the slaps used to cover the soak away, a dead body was found which family and neighborhood confirmed to be that of Danjibga, Ibrahim lamented.
As the media family in Nigeria and the world over bemoan the appalling death of one their own,Non Governmental Organisations like Upriver Needys Empirical Solution Center, Universal Migration Enlightenment Centre and Global Migration Research Institute, USA, have enjoined the security agencies to unravel the killers and the motive behind it.
The horrific death of Hamisu has again brought to the front burner, the imperative of ensuring the security of journalists in Nigeria and globally.
The Executive Secretary, Universal Migration Enlightenment Centre, an NGO,Chief Barth Ikiebe, who questioned the rationale for the killing of Hamisu Danjigba, urged Journalists to always think safety first while discharging their duties.
Beyond Chief Ikieba’s appeal to journalists to ensure the security of their lives while in line of duty lies the need to look at the Issue on a broader perspective.
The then General Manager of Radio One, Lagos, Funke Treasure Durodola,in an article written by Margaret Mwantok, on the security of journalists,advised media owners to create enabling environment for journalists to practize,through newsroom mentoring.
She added that impunity must give way to the rule of law to check rampant cases of harassment and kidnap of journalists.
She, however, advised journalists to tell the truth about the stories being covered and be transparent about the method and motives of the story and, most importantly, being alive to tell the story.
Treasure further emphasised the need for journalists to be open with the supervisor or editor, on what transpired on the field in order to identify red flags and put adequate measures in place for their protection.
On practical ways to ensure safety of journalists, she asked, “how many journalists have gone through the safety drill and how many of us have learnt from the past?”
She called on the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to investigate safety issues, adding, “We must continually agitate and hold the government accountable by keeping the issue in the news. “The newsroom needs to be restructured to change the negative perception about journalists,” she further urged.
Treasure is also of the view that disciplinary measures must be put in place to deal with moles in the newsroom, adding that where a journalist is being molested by law enforcement agents, the guild of editors should come in.
The former general managet,who was the lead speaker at the International Press Centre’s Media Roundtable on ‘Advancing a Culture of Safety for Journalists in Nigeria,’ as indicated in the article,described “journalism as a discipline of verification, which separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction or art.”
She further emphasised the need for journalists to be open with the supervisor or editor on what transpired on the field in order to identify red flags and put adequate measures in place for their protection.
On practical ways to ensure safety of journalists, she asked, “How many journalists have gone through the safety drill and how many of us have learnt from the past?”
“The newsroom needs to be restructured to change the negative perception about journalists,”she said.
He advised media owners to regularly train and retrain journalists, including security tips, for them to navigate and safe their soul from trouble spot According to her, journalists must also be provided with better working environment for them to practice effectively without recourse to lean on lures that will predispose them to danger.
In all, it must be stressed that journalists, given the precarious nature of their profession, are prone to professional hazards, including paying supreme price in the course of discharging their responsibility to the society as members of the fourth estate of the realm.
Information experts however caution journalists on the need to be sacrosanct on their safety in public and private responsibilities, for them to tell their story alive, because only the journalist who survives tragedy of life lives to celebrate cheating death.
However, despite the hazard of the profession, the general among media experts is that, journalism remains a noble profession to beat in where in the world.
Therefore,as the world awaits the outcome of investigation to unearth the killers of Hamisu and Mubaraak may the Almighty Allah forgive his shortcomings,grant them aljanah firdaus, give journalists and the bereaved
families the fortitude to bear their great loss.
For other journalists beyond the shores of Nigeria, who paid dearly for the cause they believed in carrying out their duties, may their souls respect in peace.
Dada Ahmed publishes The Reporters.
