Stakeholders in the media industry have attributed the difficulties and frustration faced by journalists and media workers in the fight against corruption to the deliberate efforts by politicians and government targeted at reducing the power of journalists in the society.
This position was unanimously arrived at during a special town hall meeting against corruption, organised by Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG), with the support of MacArthur Foundation on Thursday in Abuja.
The well-attended event was used to situate the media in its place in the fight against corruption, and to address the challenges of upholding integrity by professionals in the media trade, as well as celebrate the virtues of the Winner of 2018 Integrity Icon Awards, Bukola Adewunmi, an investigative journalist working with News Agency Of Nigeria (NAN).
In his submission, the President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Christopher Isiguzo said one of the major challenges facing the media profession in the country is deliberate infiltration by politicians who are now owners of several media houses and outfits.
According to him, “these politicians have reasons why they set up their platforms, while the practitioners or journalists have their own idea, and when there is a clash of interest, oftentimes, the interest of the owner takes pre-eminence and that is a problem.”
Isiguzo also pointed out that besides political influence, journalists are poorly remunerated, poorly equipped, and lack health insurance schemes.