Mr. Lanre Arogundade is the Executive Director, International Press Centre (IPC). He is a renowned journalist, advocate for social justice and democracy, former Chairman of the Lagos State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists and former President of the National Association of Nigerian Students. In this interview with LinesWatch, he spoke on the heels of the 2024 World Press Freedom Day, harping on the challenges journalists face in a hostile environment, characterised with attacks on media stakeholders. He called on the Government to rise to its responsibility of ensuring the protection of journalists. This is as he implored journalists to he professional in the course of discharging their duty of disseminating information. Also, he harped on the significance of why journalists must pay attention to their well being, emotional and mental health, as well as safety precautions.
What do you speak to the discourse on the terrain in which journalists work in the country?
It’s been an important discourse because we are looking at the state of our profession, the challenges that journalists face particularly when it comes to attack, and we are looking at what we can do to remediate the situation.
Through this conversation we have reiterated our call on the government to take the safety and protection of journalists seriously because it is their constitutional responsibility, a responsibility reposed on them by international and regional instruments, like the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which enjoins all the member states to take necessary measures to ensure the safety of journalists.
We are not saying that journalists are peculiar or special specie that should be exceptionally taken care of, but we are saying it is (essential) in the context of the work that we do in providing information.
Almost all governments, whether Federal or State, have Commissioners for Information, Chief Press Secretaries, Special Advisers on Media. Why do they have those functionaries? It is because they recognise the importance of the media, but we are worried that when journalists then ask for Information, they begin to suspect them or when they report certain information they are not happy with, they take extra judicial means to get back at those journalists. We are saying let us be governed by the rule of law, that even when you perceive that a journalist has erred, do not resort to self help, rather report to regulatory bodies, whether government or the ones put together by the industry itself, or in fact go to the court, but don’t begin to turn yourself to the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in your own case.
We are worried that it’s gotten to the extent that where a journalist could be manacled and chained. These are very dangerous dimensions and these are the conversations we have heard today and we are hopeful that coming period we are likely to see some changes.
What advice do you give journalists with the premise of their work setting amid an environment hostile to practice?
I will advise journalists, first and foremost, to pay attention to ethics and to be professional. One way you can easily be blackmailed is when you go out of your way to seek inducement or blackmail people. Journalists should refrain from that. When you are working on a story where someone makes an allegation, get the reaction from the other side; if you’re not sure of your fact, don’t go out there and begin to call people names or bang figures that can easily be disputed, because we are in the age of fact checking. We must recognize that for the media, people will also check us and fact check our information.
Secondly, journalists need to take their safety very seriously and their security as well. They need to take their health seriously and ensure that they seek relevant help when they are in danger. More importantly, journalists should not keep quiet when they are threatened, or when they are attacked. We need to speak out so that other colleagues can speak for you. If you keep quiet when you’re been threatened, before you know it, something much worse can happen to you. So, it is important for journalists to be abreast of various safety tips.