Editorial
Journalism is a noble and dignifying profession all over the world. As a vocation, journalism requires absolute commitment,dedication, and selflessness for the practitioner to excel.
All over the world, it is an incontestable fact that there can be no democracy without true journalism or a free press. Ideal Journalism practice drives any democratic principle. That is why the press is generally regarded as the “fourth estate of the realm.”
Because of the importance of the press to democratic governance and society vis-a-vis, the demands of social responsibility obligations of the press,it has become imperative to ensure that the profession is not polluted by those who either do not know what journalism entails or those who erroneously believe that it is an all comers affair. Quacks bereft of the ethics of the noble profession,have of late, tended to abuse the sanctity of the journalism profession.
These days, many without any formal training or orientation pose as journalists to either defraud or manipulate unsuspecting members of the public. This ugly scenario has become more alarming since the advent of social media. These days, anybody who has an android phone or who has access to data automatically metamorphoses into a self-made journalist.
This group of untrained “citizen journalists” portray the journalism profession in bad light, ridicule the trained and professional practitioners, and give the profession unpalatable image. This has to stop.
Nigerian Horn Newspaper is of the firm view that both the Nigeria Union Union of Journalists(NUJ)and the Nigeria Press Council(NPC) should wake up to their responsibilities and rid the journalism profession of quacks. Quackery in any profession is highly distasteful and reprehensible. It is like a pariah no one wants to associate or be identified with.
We believe that allowing quacks to infiltrate the journalism profession in Nigeria is a threat to our democracy. This is because the essence of the press in a democracy is to serve the public good and hold those in public offices accountable. In a democracy, the journalism practice is also self regulated. There are ethics and code of conduct, which all trained journalists abide to.
Unfortunately, citizen journalists, who are gate crashers into the profession without any requisite training or journalist background, have brought nothing but disrepute to this dignifying profession – this has to stop now.
Nigerian Horn Newspaper demands an end to the bastardization of the journalism profession in the interest of Nigeria’s fledging democracy.
The time to act is now.
