Precious Oham

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ekiti State Council, has expressed worry over the unpaid salaries and poor remuneration of Journalists by Media Owners.

The union made the disclosure in a 10-point communique issued in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, at the end of a Roundtable Discussion on Profering Solutions to Media Challenges.

According to the union, media owners must place high priority on the welfare and well-being of their employees to dissuade them from opting for gratifications being offered by the public.

They urged the National Assembly to enact laws that will guide against infiltration of the profession by quacks and prevent unprofessional conducts among Journalists.

While calling on Journalists to imbibe the culture of investigative journalism, they tasked them to be objective in their reportage describing it as one of the core values of Journalism.

The communique read in part: “To tackle some of the challenges in the profession headlong, participants agreed that objectivity as one of the core values of Journalism, must be upheld at all times, regardless of the situation.

“There is need for Journalists to go beyond the surface and dig deep in their reports, as well as imbibing the culture of Investigative Journalism, which will be beneficial to the society.

“It was agreed that Media organizations and their proprietors must place high priority on the welfare and well-being of their employees, so that Journalists will not be distracted with gratifications being offered by the public.

“There is need for collaboration among stakeholders including the National Assembly, for proper legislation to guide against infiltration of the profession by quacks and as well prevent unprofessional conducts among members.”