Uyai-Abasi Etido
…urges journalists to shun fake news
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Ekiti State Council, Comrade Rotimi Ojomoyela has bemoaned the poor payment of renumeration to media practitioners in the private sectors.
Comrade Ojomoyela raised this concern when speaking with Newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, on Wednesday, in commemoration of the 2023 World Press Day.
He stated that salaries are not paid as at when due, noting that most media practitioners, especially in the private sectors are stranded because of low salary and most government workers are being subjected to minimum wage.
Ojomoyela described the Nigerian Press as one of most freest press in Africa that is embedded with enormous power, level of independence and mandate through the constitution.
He also noted that the government through Nigerian broadcasting Commission tends to hamper press freedom by monitoring the media and call to order any form of media that steps out of line.
Ojomoyela further said that the press council should be controlled only by the media while the government should appoint those to represent their interest in the press council.
In his words: “The media fail to cooperate with the press council because of the press council because of the way it was set up.
“We feel that it should not be the press council should not be a government parastatals.
“We feel that if the government has given us a press council and the government is appointing the secretary. We feel it is an avenue for the government to control us.
“The government should allow the media to appoint the secretary of the press council and the government should appoint people to represent their interest in the press council and in the present commission.
“They will control themselves not government telling us what to do and what not to do”
Ojomoyela also noted that the major challenge of the media is fake news, which has become the order of the day through the use of new media which can’t be controlled, censored as press freedom is sequential with freedom of speech.