From: Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
“I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon.”
The above quote by Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter, Tom Stoppard, aptly contextualises the role of Nigerian journalists in shaping the country’s democracy.
While it has always been argued that journalists must be nonpartisan, a seasoned journalist and former Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Newspapers, Martins Oloja, holds a different view. He argues that for Nigerian journalists to effectively contribute to societal change, they must adopt the approach of many foreign journalists by embracing partisanship, and stop sermonising over the issue of “balance, fairness and objectivity,” which he believes may limit their impact.
Speaking as a book reviewer at a book launch in Abuja on Wednesday, Oloja commended the author, Ike Abonyi, for boldly identifying as a partisan journalist in his books “The Bubbles of Nigerian Democracy: The Musings of a Nigerian Journalist” and “Wadata Wonders: Memoirs of a Partisan Journalist.” Oloja questioned the long-held ideal of journalistic neutrality, asking, “Why can’t journalists be partisan too in a society where a culture of impunity is entrenched, and where men rule instead of laws?”
He further argues that the author’s open declaration appears to challenge the notion of a one-sided story often used as a weapon against some Nigerian journalists who dare to be different.
Hear him: “when you read the books, you are likely to renew your mind about some people who use some curious sophistry to impose their opinion that journalists are writing and promoting single or one-sided stories in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society.
“At a recent convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) a senior intelligence chief who delivered a keynote spoke extensively on ‘The danger of a one-sided story.’ Now a political journalist who crossed over to a partisan beat of political management who was writing from the beat for the mass media as a partisan journalist may be challenging the allegation of one-sided stories? Who is a partisan journalist? The answer may be blowing in the wind until the book is unveiled for public consumption. “
According to Oloja, the rider in the second title of the book, Memoirs of A Partisan Journalist inspires him as a journalist. He noted that “in Nigeria, all of us in the media have been dragged into a single box office by long years over-centralisation of political activities and media ecosystem. What do we do in the box? We are told about the expediency of balancing stories. We have been wired to respect ‘fairness doctrine’ in addition to respecting a rule that is cast on a marble that ‘facts are sacred.’ And here is the thing, any time we do a story about the North and the South, any time we report on the ruling and the opposition parties in any dispensation, we are bound by professionalism to be fair to all the parties, even if both parties evade the truth, we are told to be loyal to.
“In this mode, we are told to avoid use of certain terms while describing certain tribes and people even if your descriptions and epithets are factual. We are told to tell stories of troops in war zones in certain ways even if some criminal entities in command positions in the armed forces are endangering the lives of some officers. What is more, the gatekeepers, the editors have been wired to be conflict-sensitive in national interest, even if it is to protect the enlightened self-interest of the heads of state and political leaders. We are told to ensure that we don’t undermine state security by telling certain truths about state actors even if they are stealing our public funds with all their strength. That has been a dilemma we haven’t resolved,” Oloja added.
While insisting that there is no neutrality in the media ecosystem anywhere in the world, the former editor of The Guardian Newspaper, further said “my analogy above is the story of the relevance of Ike Abonyi’s one-sided stories of a partisan journalist the two books threaten to represent. In the book, Abonyi the political journalist and columnist has demonstrated to us what has been happening in most media ecosystems in the world: there is no neutrality anywhere. In the United States, people of various backgrounds including university scholars freely join political parties. The political parties are distinctively ideological in orientation. People are either of the Republican Party (conservative) or National Democratic Party (liberal). “
Drawing from his personal experiences, Oloja further said “in 2013, as Editor of The Guardian, I was invited to be on the entourage of scholars from NIPSS, Kuru, Plateau State who were then on a study tour of United States for the year’s study theme: ‘Management of Political Parties.’ The team led by the then Director General of the Institute, Professor Tijjani Muhammad Bande, hired two professors from George Washington University’s Political Management School as resource persons to one of the sessions for the study in the U.S capital.
“The two professors, one female and the other male, introduced themselves as members of the Republican Party and National Democratic Party respectively. Here we don’t have respectable political parties that can attract members from various backgrounds. Political Parties here (in Nigeria) that appear to be acting as just special purpose vehicles (SPVs), don’t shop for members from even the business communities, let alone the universities. They attract members only from what Franz Fanon calls ‘the wretched of the earth’ from professional bodies such as National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). So, they are there expecting at all times the balancing acts from the media. They don’t remember what they see in the West, specifically in the United States where there is a great deal of diversity in the media ecosystem: The CNN audience is different from the FOX NEWS’, for instance. The New York Times editorial orientation is different from the Los Angeles Times’ and Washington Post’s, etc.
“In the United Kingdom, the BBC isn’t re-echoing or competing with the SKY NEWS in covering the old Great Britain. They have their BBC World, covering the world for Britain, while SKY NEWS covers Britain for the world.
“Years ago, on a very clever and funny British sitcom about government (yes, I know, but it really was clever, funny and very popular), called Yes, Prime Minister there was a lovely bit of dialogue on the subject of who reads which newspapers: PM Jim Hacker: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country, The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country, The Times is read by people who actually do run the country, the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country, the Financial Times is read by people who own the country, the Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country and The Telegraph is read by people who think it is the PM.
“Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun? Bernard Woolley: The Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits. This joke wasn’t new, it actually predated Yes, Prime Minister by several years, but it referred to the Sun’s tradition of Page 3 girls (wearing very little) in particular. It was close enough overall to the perceived truth to be funny! Personally, as someone in no position of importance, and without much money, I actually read The Times for preference. It’s mildly conservative in style (nowhere near as consistently right-wing as The Telegraph and The Daily Mail) but actually provides space for a very wide spectrum of political views, the writing is mostly of a high standard, and the online discussions between readers are very lively and entertaining. Worth the subscription to get past the paywall, in my opinion.
“Abonyi’s courage in declaring himself as a partisan journalist is a remarkable statement to the media and managers of the political parties that we can’t continue to follow the same line of action or policy thrust. The imperative of alternative views in a democracy cannot be overstated. Alternative views provide a necessary check on power, promote critical thinking, and ensure that citizens have access to a wide range of perspectives and ideas. The media plays a crucial role in promoting alternative views, and dissent is a vital component of a healthy democracy. By promoting alternative views and embracing dissent, we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and just society. That is what Abonyi has shown and Editors who are blaming the social media for poor sales and advertising patronage should ask market surveyors and scholars to do a survey and research on What Nigerian newspapers do you read and why? The responses to questionnaire here will help us to be more focused and customer-centric in our content production, just like the British and others.
“Abonyi’s bold statement in his books demonstrates that a time to be balanced is gone. It’s a digital journalism story time. It’s a time to have news journal that will tell the story of enterprise in the South- East. It is a time for the story of very educated elite and in the South -West. It is a time to ask the media and the elite what happened to the South -West. It is a time to tell the story of intentional agriculture in the North. It is yet another time to ask the northern elite and their media what happened to the Groundnut pyramid in Kano?
“The author shows in so many articles in both books that in a functioning democracy, the presence of alternative views is crucial for ensuring that citizens have access to a wide range of perspectives and ideas. This diversity of thought allows for informed decision-making, promotes critical thinking, and fosters a more inclusive and equitable society,” Oloja declared.
By and large, Oloja’s remarks and Abonyi’s bold declaration as a partisan journalist open up a critical conversation about the role of journalism in a flawed democracy, especially in a media environment that is often constrained by calls for journalists to be neutral and nonpartisan. No doubt, their perspectives challenge the profession to reflect on whether strict adherence to traditional ideals of neutrality still serves the public interest in a society plagued by impunity, injustice, and political dysfunction. As Nigeria continues to grapple with democratic deficits, perhaps it is time for more Nigerian journalists to reconsider their role, not just as neutral observers, but as active participants in the struggle for accountability and systemic change.
The post Journalism and the politics of reporting appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.
