Nigerian Media And the 2015 Elections: A Critical Appraisal

In a historic electoral process in which the high political stakes precipitated a gloomy narrative about the very future of Nigeria, was the media and the institutions around it able to rise to the great task of ensuring the supremacy of the voices of the Nigerian people? For future elections, how should this critical constituency in the democratic process navigate to ensure the consolidation of the modest gains recorded in 2015?

These were the questions that engaged the attention of a high powered gathering of journalists, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), media regulators and the academia recently in Lagos. The review and lessons learnt conversation was convened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The discussion took off by noting and commending the heavy sacrifices made by the media during the elections. Although there was a drop in the number of attacks on journalists during the 2015 elections, the hostile nature of the electoral terrain was still apparent.

There were a number of attacks on journalists, signalling the huge risks media practitioners face in the push to ensure the electoral process is transparent. While there was a general pat on the back for the media, which demonstrated a lot of vibrancy in disseminating information about the electoral process to citizens during the elections, the conversation did not shy away from discussing the downsides of the role of the media during the elections.

By boldly speaking the truth about some of the deficiencies that characterized reporting and other roles played by the, participants ensured the discussion provided vital points from which practitioners could draw important lessons in the future. Specifically, the damaging hate speech, which undermined the peace, with attendant implications for national security was given a critical scrutiny. There was consensus that the cases of lax editorial judgment, which allowed outright inflammatory materials find their way to the public space, amounted to a serious setback.

A corollary to this was what came across as the disturbing lethargy on the part of the institutions responsible for checking infractions by ensuring that all players in the sector stick to the codes and ethics of the industry. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for instance had to take the pains to explain the steps it took to stop what came across as the impunity of a section of the media. Participants however had a clear view of the institutional challenges, including the political interference, which hamstrung the NBC and other regulatory agencies from being clinical in dealing with the infractions that put the polity on a tailspin during the elections.

Moving forward, the view was canvassed about the need for all stakeholders to take the process of institution building with more seriousness. Apart from the media, the place of the strengthened and more efficient Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other key institutions (security agencies, National Orientation Agency and CSOs) in the electoral architecture was stressed. Nonetheless, since the focus of a bigger part of the conversation was on the media, a lot of attention was devoted to addressing the fundamental issues of professional breaches ahead of future elections.

Practitioners further dwelt on the importance of giving fillip to internal industry mechanisms for instilling discipline, and deterring infractions. Particularly, the disciplinary structures of bodies like the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigeria Press Council, and the Nigeria Guild of Editors were identified as areas to explore in reining in errant practitioners.

It is within this context a call was made for these bodies to also focus their efforts towards sensitizing the media community about the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage. The logic being that the media community, which collaborated to develop the Code, should also consider the possibility of instituting an enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance by all media stakeholders.

Part of the problem, the gathering noted, was the ownership structure of media. State owned media organizations at the federal and state levels for instance were guilty of brazen partisanship which manifested in the shutting out of opposition voices from their media platforms during the elections. There was therefore agreement across the board on the need for all media organizations, especially the publicly funded ones to provide “equal access” to all political contenders, both parties and candidates. Being a standard imposed by the laws of the land, especially on state funded media organizations, there was puzzlement as to why the laws were being observed in breach.

As observed by one of the main speakers at the dialogue, it is now a well-established principle under a number of international instruments that publicly funded broadcasters should be established in a manner which effectively guarantees their independence from political or other partisan influences, especially in editorial matters. The 2015 elections and the lopsided media coverage that emanated from media institutions funded from the common till, calls for some far-reaching reforms.

The nature of the reforms that could help address the systemic abuse of publicly funded media institutions by those controlling the levers of State powers, it was agreed would mean transforming all state-owned broadcasting stations in the country, both at the Federal and at the State levels, into genuine public service broadcasters.

That would entail a removal of these institutions from the direct control of the Minister of Information (at the Federal level) or the Commissioners for Information (at the State level).

The proposition is to run these institutions using independent boards whose members are appointed through a transparent process and have security of tenure.

The discussion did not end without a mention of the role played by the ubiquitous space known as social media in the electoral process. For all intents and purposes, social media in the 2015 electoral process was akin to a double edged sword.

In the hands of those with malevolent inclinations, it was a space for spewing hate speech and bile. In the hands of those who sought the greater good however, it was a space used to push important information, which helped stakeholders deepen the credibility of the electoral process.

In the end, the deliberation ended by exploring ways in which the society as a whole could assist the media to deliver on its mandate.

One of such ways identified is the setting up of an Independent Media Fund, from which media organizations could draw to revamp the manpower needs of the fourth estate of the realm.
Ajanaku is Media Manager, Transition Monitoring Group, a coalition of 460 Civil Society Organizations