February 13, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Women’s Situation Room Nigeria (WSRN), says journalists can make or mar the country through their reportage.
As a result of this, journalists and other media practitioners need to be mindful of their headlines and reports, as the general elections draw nearer.
Speaking at a one-day Capacity Building Training for the Media in Calabar, Founder of WSRN, Prof Joy Onyesoh, said it was important for media men to know that all over the world, election could trigger conflict.
She posited that the peace and unity of Nigeria was at stake in the 2023 elections, adding that with a fragile economy and society, any little thing could push the nation off the precipices.
“I know journalists like sensational headlines because they grab attention, but we must be mindful of what is at stake before churning out sensational headlines or reports.
“This is the first time we are having the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria compete against themselves in the major political parties in an election, if we are not careful, people will start going towards ethnic lines.
“Journalists need to know that fear is real not just in Nigeria today, but in the world and can cause people to do a lot of things, she said.
Onyesoh, who is also the International President, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, said there was also a propensity of the media to stereotype women and always highlight rape and kidnap.
She said they needed to understand that voter apathy must not be created, whereby people are afraid of violence and thereby remaining indoors on election days.
“There is insecurity alright, but we need to ask ourselves if Nigeria’s cases are more than what happens in other countries, empirically.
“We need to report facts, but we also need to be mindful how we report the facts and always be intentional to verify issues before reporting.
“The media is powerful in the way it tells the stories and so, have the opportunity to either ensure that the 2023 election in Nigeria will be peaceful or violent”, she maintained.
On her part, one of the facilitator, Mrs Diana-Mary Nsan, who took the topic: “Effective Gender Reporting through Understanding the Dynamics of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) in Election”, told NAN that Nigerian politics was a difficult terrain for women.
Nsan said although they were advocating for women inclusiveness in politics, it was not just any woman but those who had capacity, character, values, who are sound thinkers and who did not see politics as a form of settlement.
Another resource person, Edem Darlington, presented a paper on the role of the media in ethical and sustainable representation of women participation in politics.
He identified violence in any form as a major setback or source of discouragement for women’s participation in the political process.
Others he listed as late night meetings, money politics, cultism, rigging, thuggery, gangsterism, vote buying and many others.
He posited that if there is no conscious movement the present narrative will not change and there is a need to form a cluster of media professionals to mainstream these issues.
He also advocated a legal framework in achieving the desired objective.
The training was supported by UN Women, as well as the Canadian Government and over 25 media practitioners drawn from public and private organisations graced the training.
About the Author
THEWILL Correspondent, Aniekan Bassey has over six years experience that spans across several fields in print journalism including development communication, sexual reproductive and health rights issues, crime, climate change, social justice, business and human interest stories.
