No fewer than 80 media organisations in Nigeria have endorsed the Nigeria Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised edition 2018) ahead of the 2019 election.
More endorsements are still expected.
The Nigeria Media Code of Election Coverage (Revised edition 2018), is a document essentially designed to provides guidelines for the ethical conduct of journalists and their respective organisations in the coverage of elections.
The obligation, according to the Code, “entails the performance of oversight, public education, open forum and conflict management roles by the media during elections.”
The document was produced under the auspices of the International Press Centre, Lagos, headed by Mr. Lanre Arogundade.
In a statement issued by its Programme Manager, Mr. ‘Sanmi Falobi, IPC said it was optimistic that the Nigerian media was committed to the professional and ethical coverage of the 2019 elections.
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IPC also disclosed that the document would be launched in Abuja-Nigeria on Friday June 22, 2018 as part of the activities of the World Congress of the International Press Institute (IPI).
In the statement, Arogundade was quoted as saying that the media organisations that had endorsed the document included professional groups and associations, the broadcast media, newspapers, online news mediums and support groups.
Some of the groups are Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Radio Television And Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU) and Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP).
Prominent media establishments that have so far endorsed the Code include Channels Television, AIT, RAYPOWER Radio, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Vanguard, ThisDay, Daily Trust, The Guardian, The Sun, Leadership, The Nation, Premium Times, The Cable, Eagle News, Business Eye magazine and The News Magazine.
Arogundade said it was gratifying that fifty-five members of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) who publish Online had endorsed the Code as well as the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) and the Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN).
Media support groups promoting media development, independence and professionalism that have endorsed the Code include the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Institute for Media and Society (IMS), Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalists (PTCIJ), Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalists (WSCIJ), Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), Network for Media Excellence, Journalism Clinic, Media Career Development Centre (MCDC), Diamond Media Awards for Excellence (DAME) the Journalism Clinic and Media Law Centre.
“We are particularly elated at the kind of responses we are getting from many media organisations that have either endorsed or expressed interest in endorsing the Code,” Arogundade said.
