The Federal Government has been urged to review the law on licensing/ownership of the broadcast media to save the industry from collapse.
Dr. Tom Adaba, a former Director General of National Broadcasting Commission, made the call in Jos, Plateau State on Wednesday.
Adaba spoke at a two-day workshop on: Objective and Sensitive Reportage of Conflicts for Editors and Reporters.
Adaba also called for a review of licensing of broadcast media in the country by the Presidency.
He added that the law on licensing the broadcast media made by the regime of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, in 1983 had become obsolete.
He said the law did not encourage professionalism as the president awarded such licenses as political patronage.
Adaba stated that new legislation was needed to back up the law for professionalism in the industry
He said: “Licences are awarded to loyalists and not core professionals.”
He condemned the practice where such loyalists were partisan in their media contents.
“The Federal Government should take a second look at the law on licensing of the ownership of the broadcast media to save the industry from collapse,” he said.
Adaba also said the military handling of publicity pertaining to the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East was lacking in depth.
He said the Mike Omeri team had never shown a picture of what they tell the press concerning the war on the insurgents, adding: “This is all wrong.”
He attributed this to the tension that the military had in dealing with the press and could not trust it with sensitive information.
He said this called for some level of training for the military on media approaches to various issues that keep coming up in order to raise their confidence.
Adaba noted that while the military did not trust the Nigeria press “and keeps it away from scenes of such onslaughts, it flies in foreign journalists with glee only to blame the Nigeria press for inaccuracy”.
Dr. Gideon Barde in a paper: Principles of Media Reportage, said journalism, like all professions, has defined code of ethics that governs the conduct of members.
NAN.
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