January 10, 2009
“Anyone can be a journalist. Not everyone is.” Said Bill Kovach.
Sonala Olumhense, a star writer on the Guardian and sharereporters.com, once said that Nigeria has more than 130 million journalist. And this is true as a matter of fact.
Some of the things that stands a journalist out as a stand-up guy are the first journalism’s obligation to the TRUTH, secondly is the total LAYALTY to the citizens above personal self-preservation: INDEPENDENCE is also high on journalism’s menu.
There is a running indictment by Saharareporters.com upon Reuben Abati of the Guardian Newspaper and other editors over the purchase of houses and lands in Abuja alongside EFCC´s linchpin Farida Waziri via corrupt ways and means.
Reuben Abati of the Guardian Newspaper stands out in these cohorts of misfits. Abati has calved for himself a niche of followership due to the trust of truth and independence that his fans believe he embodied over the years. This lustre has been tainted by the indictment hanging upon his head. If he is the tennis star Boris Becker or the football star David Beckham that are use as advertisement to sell products in consume-crazy Europe, it could have been suicidal to continue to use him to market product, not until he has cleared his name.
Abati no doubt has been hugely tainted by this scandal, the smartest thing he could have done if his hands are clean, is to clear his name before he proceeds with journalism. Nigerians these days are way too street-smart and intellectually solid to overlook suck things. It is the mindset of watchers of journalism worldwide that journalist should separate themselves from those they report.. A journalist that buys property from the extant corrupt regime in Abuja has not the gut and independence to criticise the Yar´Adua´s regime. And when journalists start to compromise their stances, they endanger society if all they provide is deception upon which masses make decisions upon their lives.. Some ancient proverb of journalism warns: “when in doubt leave it out.” This is the same president Ronald Regan’s wisecrack of: “trust, but verify.” It is wiser to avoid writing things you are not sure of, how much more feeding citizens with lies as a journalist.
In First World countries, it is sin to cover news on where one has conflict of interests. When Christiane Amanpour, core CNN journalist fell in love with James Rubin who was then spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Amanpour made it a duty not to report about the happenings in the Bill Clinton’s White House. She instead took appointment in reporting the Kosovo war. She later married Rubin. When Laura Foreman of the Times was having relationship with a corrupt politician she was reporting on, there was outrage by Americans across board. The executive editor of Times, Abe Rosenthal, made a starling comment to that effect thus: “I do not care if you sleep with elephants, as long as you do not cover the circus.” The import of Rosenthal comment is that not only that most Nigerian papers and journalists are sleeping with elephant, they are covering the circus in Abuja in a way that favours their corrupt political pals in Abuja to the injury of the man on the Nigerian street. Peter Dune, a onetime Chicago journalist has set the part that journalist should take – according to him: “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” It is out of giving voices to the powerless and voiceless in society that journalism germinated from the tooting democracy of ancient Greece.
I read Abati a lot, he needs to come clean and clear the air on the saharareporters.com indictment hanging on him before he dabbles into further informing public. Since then, he has written two articles one about scamming over his daughter health and lately, Niger Delta palaver. His extant write-up about Niger Delta is solid. The one centred on his daughter was a bit over the top. It was condescension pure: as if people were sympathising with him because he attained his superstar and sex symbol image from somewhere else, other than the trust readers and fan impose on him for his truthfulness and independence. That goodness is now dented by the Abuja-land-purchase corruption and he should do amends by speaking up. Most of us his fans and reader expect he clears the air beforehand. Transparency is core in the game of journalism. If the Guardian´s motto of: “conscience, nurtured by truth” is high on Abati´s agenda, he should tell us the wholesale truth now.
By S. Njokede
My email: [email protected]
Sonala Olumhense, a star writer on the Guardian and sharereporters.com, once said that Nigeria has more than 130 million journalist. And this is true as a matter of fact.
Some of the things that stands a journalist out as a stand-up guy are the first journalism’s obligation to the TRUTH, secondly is the total LAYALTY to the citizens above personal self-preservation: INDEPENDENCE is also high on journalism’s menu.
There is a running indictment by Saharareporters.com upon Reuben Abati of the Guardian Newspaper and other editors over the purchase of houses and lands in Abuja alongside EFCC´s linchpin Farida Waziri via corrupt ways and means.
Reuben Abati of the Guardian Newspaper stands out in these cohorts of misfits. Abati has calved for himself a niche of followership due to the trust of truth and independence that his fans believe he embodied over the years. This lustre has been tainted by the indictment hanging upon his head. If he is the tennis star Boris Becker or the football star David Beckham that are use as advertisement to sell products in consume-crazy Europe, it could have been suicidal to continue to use him to market product, not until he has cleared his name.
Abati no doubt has been hugely tainted by this scandal, the smartest thing he could have done if his hands are clean, is to clear his name before he proceeds with journalism. Nigerians these days are way too street-smart and intellectually solid to overlook suck things. It is the mindset of watchers of journalism worldwide that journalist should separate themselves from those they report.. A journalist that buys property from the extant corrupt regime in Abuja has not the gut and independence to criticise the Yar´Adua´s regime. And when journalists start to compromise their stances, they endanger society if all they provide is deception upon which masses make decisions upon their lives.. Some ancient proverb of journalism warns: “when in doubt leave it out.” This is the same president Ronald Regan’s wisecrack of: “trust, but verify.” It is wiser to avoid writing things you are not sure of, how much more feeding citizens with lies as a journalist.
In First World countries, it is sin to cover news on where one has conflict of interests. When Christiane Amanpour, core CNN journalist fell in love with James Rubin who was then spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Amanpour made it a duty not to report about the happenings in the Bill Clinton’s White House. She instead took appointment in reporting the Kosovo war. She later married Rubin. When Laura Foreman of the Times was having relationship with a corrupt politician she was reporting on, there was outrage by Americans across board. The executive editor of Times, Abe Rosenthal, made a starling comment to that effect thus: “I do not care if you sleep with elephants, as long as you do not cover the circus.” The import of Rosenthal comment is that not only that most Nigerian papers and journalists are sleeping with elephant, they are covering the circus in Abuja in a way that favours their corrupt political pals in Abuja to the injury of the man on the Nigerian street. Peter Dune, a onetime Chicago journalist has set the part that journalist should take – according to him: “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” It is out of giving voices to the powerless and voiceless in society that journalism germinated from the tooting democracy of ancient Greece.
I read Abati a lot, he needs to come clean and clear the air on the saharareporters.com indictment hanging on him before he dabbles into further informing public. Since then, he has written two articles one about scamming over his daughter health and lately, Niger Delta palaver. His extant write-up about Niger Delta is solid. The one centred on his daughter was a bit over the top. It was condescension pure: as if people were sympathising with him because he attained his superstar and sex symbol image from somewhere else, other than the trust readers and fan impose on him for his truthfulness and independence. That goodness is now dented by the Abuja-land-purchase corruption and he should do amends by speaking up. Most of us his fans and reader expect he clears the air beforehand. Transparency is core in the game of journalism. If the Guardian´s motto of: “conscience, nurtured by truth” is high on Abati´s agenda, he should tell us the wholesale truth now.
By S. Njokede
My email: [email protected]
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