News
Review of the
Code of Ethics of Nigerian Journalists, better management of media firms and
stricter barriers to entry are ways by which the twin professions of journalism
and public relations can tackle the Brown Envelope problem, experts have
submitted.
Mr Nn’emeka
Maduegbuna, chairman of public relations firm C&F Porter Novelli and Dr
Marcel Mbamalu, News Editor of The Guardian, led an expert discussion at a
webinar of The Jackson Alumni Global Network on Sunday 2 August 2020. Alumni of
the department of mass communication, University of Nigeria organised the
session.
The Brown
Envelope Syndrome is the payment of money to journalists who attend or cover
events. Over the years, it has taken the garb of a traditional rite and created
room for non-journalists to pose as one at events solely to collect the brown
envelope.
Maduegbuna
identified six factors that gave rise to the Brown Envelope Syndrome. They
include the general moral haze in the country, poorly managed media
establishments, and pressure from companies who want to see their executives in
glowing light in the media. Others are over-emphasis by corporates -mainly
banks – to see their executives on front pages, the consequences of the
introduction of “commercial news” in broadcasting following the
commercialisation of NTA and the media bowing to the interest of advertisers.
The consequence
has been the weakening of the pillars of the media and its inability to stand
independent.
Maduegbuna
submitted that “there is no justification for brown envelope”. He averred that
while brown envelopes in the media cannot be divorced from the general
corruption in the larger society, change is possible through better management
of media organisations.
Dr Marcel Mbamalu
defined the brown envelope as “any temptation wrapped in monetary or other
forms of inducement” to the journalist. The consequence has been a loss of
credibility of the media, loss of audience confidence and ultimately, loss of
jobs.
Mbamalu called
for a review of the Code of Ethics of Nigerian Journalists, enacted in 1998,
saying it does not reflect the realities of today as some of its provisions
“contain booby traps for the journalist today.” He called for “clear ideology
and identity for public relations and journalism”, improvement in training and
retraining, the definition of the boundaries of gifts and better rewards for
journalists. He stated, “Important gifts are no longer in brown envelopes, but
now in white vessels”.
Participants
included Prof Pat Utomi, founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership, Mr Ugo
Onuoha, a former managing director of Champion Newspapers Limited, HRM Akor
Obiechina and Prof Chinedu Mba of the University of Alberta, Canada. There were
Ikem Okuhu, author of Pitch, a hard-hitting critic of the marketing communications
sector, and players in public relations and journalism.
Prof Utomi
recommended stricter rules for ownership of media houses: only persons
committed to running stable enterprises should be allowed to own media
houses. He said journalists should boldly
stand up to media owners who do not show commitment to the sustainability of
their enterprises manifested in unpaid salaries.
A former MD of
Champion Newspapers Limited, Ugo Onuoha, said the situation with journalism in
Nigeria had deteriorated so much. He doubted if there is such a thing as a
“profession” of journalism. One of the features of a profession is the
existence of barriers to entry, and he noted that there was none in journalism.
The Jackssonites
Global Network holds fortnightly webinars on issues in media and communication.
The webinars fit into the objectives of the association that include to support
the study, teach and practice of communication in Nigeria and to engage in
media advocacy and development.
Previous sessions
had looked at Understanding and Tackling Fake News as well as Agenda Setting
asking the question, Do the Media Set the Agenda or Mirror The Agenda?
The Department of
Mass Communication, University of Nigeria offers a full suite of courses in all
disciplines of mass communication. Students specialise in print, broadcast or
the integrated marketing communication fields of advertising and public
relations.
Hitherto known as
the Department of Journalism, Jackson Building, the Department of Mass
Communication at the University of Nigeria, is the first full-fledged
university department to offer academic and practical training in journalism
and related fields. It commenced in 1961 as one of the pioneering courses of
the new University of Nigeria. The departmental building is called the Jackson
Building, and from the name students and alumni derived the cognomen,
Jacksonites.
UNN founder and
Nigerian journalism great Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe called the department after the
father and son team of John Payne and Thomas Horatio Jackson, publishers of the
Lagos Weekly Record, one of the most successful papers in the early Nigerian
press. The Lagos Weekly Record (1891-1930) ran for 37 years, packed a sharp pen
and was an active voice against colonial practices against Nigerians.
Leave your
comment.
3 comments:
You actually make it look so easy with your performance but I find this matter to be actually something which I think I would never comprehend. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I'm looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
360DigiTMG PMP CERTIFICATION
Awesome blog. I enjoyed reading your articles. This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles. Keep up the good work!
data analytics course
big data analytics malaysia
big data course
I finally found great post here.I will get back here. I just added your blog to my bookmark sites. thanks.Quality posts is the crucial to invite the visitors to visit the web page, that's what this web page is providing.data science course
Post a comment