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LAGOS, MONDAY, JULY 14, 2003:
MRA Condemns National Assembly’s
“Code of Conduct” for Journalists
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) condemns the new
code of conduct for journalists, titled “General Conduct for NASS
Correspondents”, recently issued by the National Assembly and hereby
advises journalists to reject it. It is apparent that the objective of the
document is to curtail the ability of journalists to cover the National
Assembly in an independent manner.
The Code stipulates,
among other things, that: correspondents must confirm all “sensitive
information” from the management of the National Assembly before
publication; that leakage of official secret documents will attract
disciplinary measures; that the accreditation of correspondents would be
renewed yearly based on satisfactory compliance with the Code; and that
“speculative journalism” will attract appropriate punitive action.
MRA insists that it is
not within the competence of the National Assembly to stipulate a code of
conduct for journalists, particularly when such a Code is intended to
regulate how journalists relate with this arm of government and cover its
activities. We find the provisions of the Code and the spirit behind it
undemocratic and high-handed.
Journalists, as the
watchdogs of the society, are constitutionally obliged to hold the
government accountable to the people. The Code is obviously a leash with
which the Federal Legislature seeks to restrict investigate journalism and
censor the reports of journalists on it activities.
We would like to draw the
attention of the lawmakers to the fact that various codes already regulate
the practice of the journalism profession in Nigeria. These are the Code
of Ethics issued by the Nigerian Press Council and the Nigerian Press
Organisation (NPO), made up of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of
Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the Nigerian
Guild of Editors (NGE), as well as the IFJ Principles on the Conduct of
Journalists issued by the International Federation of Journalists as a
Standard of professional conduct for journalists engaged in gathering,
training, transmitting, disseminating and commenting on news and
information.
Media Rights Agenda
hereby calls on the National Assembly to focus its energies on its
legislative functions, which it has so far almost virtually ignored,
rather than chasing after its own shadow.
For further information, please
contact:
Ayode Longe, Programme Officer
Media Rights Agenda
Tel: 234-1-4936033, 234-1-4936034
Fax: 234-1-4930831
E-mail: pubs@mediarightsagenda.org |
