The Acting Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria, Chief Jide Adebayo, on Thursday urged the agency’s journalists to uphold professionalism and ethical standards in the discharge of their duties.
Addressing staff members in Lagos, Adebayo noted that the agency’s six-point editorial policy and mandate were instructive enough for journalists’ operational guide.
He said NAN as a national and international purveyor of news and opinions, should discharge its duties without acting as an institutional opposition to government at all levels and public interests.
He said: “The times call for effective management of information in our role of espousing public good.
“We must help the government to succeed in its efforts to deliver services and dividends of democracy.
“The political and security situation in the country calls for caution, discretion and professionalism on the part of media professionals in disseminating news.
“The reporter is the first gatekeeper in the news production chain, before the editor and second gatekeeper, and then the controllers – the final gatekeeper – tinker with the news copy.”
He called for renewed dedication and commitment to duties by staff members to justify their pay.
Adebayo also said the Federal Government was investing a large chunk of the nation’s resources on security, in a bid to curtail insurgency and other security challenges.
“Provision of security equipment such as scanners and CCTV cost a lot of money and this calls for understanding on the part of workers,” he said.
The NAN acting managing director lauded the government’s anti-graft measures, such as the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System and the transference of accounts of ministries, departments and agencies to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He added: “These measures will help to reduce graft in the civil service and promote accountability.
“The government’s wage bill is so high and, therefore, indolence, absenteeism and dereliction of duty will not be tolerated.”
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