The Media Centre for Promotion of Safety Awareness (MCPoSA) has reiterated its commitment in promoting safer working conditions and stronger protection for media professionals across Nigeria as it joined the rest world to mark UNESCO’s Day for Safety of Journalists with a symposium.
The event in its tenth edition was held on Tuesday at the Lagos Chamber for Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Ikeja with the theme: The Place of Traditional Journalism in an era of AI and Digitization: AI facilitated violence against female journalists.
The Convener and MCPoSA Executive Director, Dr. Chinyere Amaechi stated that MCPoSA, a Lagos based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), keyed into the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists (IDEI) advocacy to raise the bar on safety consciousness among Journalists in Nigeria, to mitigate the risks associated with their job of keeping the world informed through a one-day symposium for journalists and related stakeholders since 2015, while condemning impunity in all ramifications.
She said: “Our commitment is for all journalists in our country to be safe through the application and adherence of simple personal protection protocols that begin with a genuine risk assessment which is part of what you will learn today.”
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“I therefore challenge you dear colleagues of the fourth estate of the realm to begin to think safety first before the news or the story; it is only the living and the healthy that can report or broadcast news.
“There are no professionals in this country that are as passionate as journalists, who often work with meagre salaries that are often not paid, yet they struggle to get the news to update us.”
Dr. Amaechi further appealed to employers of journalists to provide safe work environment including a proper risk assessment for certain stories especially those who cover beats like crime and politics and very importantly, plan a robust welfare package for their workforce.
Furthermore, she pleaded with the Judiciary to live up to erstwhile citizens’ expectation: HOPE FOR THE POOR and VOICELESS by treating cases of impunity with ethical dispatch not minding who is involved.
The Chairman of the occasion, Engineer Nicholas Segun Olatunji in his remarks stated that the purpose of the gathering was to discuss how journalists have been faring; how are we treating journalists, how do we see reports from journalists when they talk about things happening in the country; when they talk about bad roads, are we responding or are we reacting.
He said: “I always preach this; we say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but let me tell you, safety is in the heart of the beholder. How I see safety depends on me, the way I think about it and not what people say because safety is dependent on the level of risk you are willing to take.”
He further implored everyone to become apostles of safety at all times, adding that it is no longer safety first, but safety all the time.
The keynote speaker, Founder/CEO Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), Mrs. Oreoluwa Lesi while speaking on the place of traditional journalism in the face of AI and digitalization highlighted the importance of the discourse as an urgent one because how we respond today will determine whether journalism remains the watchdog of society or becomes a victim of technology’s rapid march.
She said: “Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks. In recent years, the advancement of AI technologies, especially deep learning has further enhanced journalistic capabilities.”
Mrs. Lesi added that in Nigeria, journalism faces its own set of challenges such as underfunding, limited infrastructure, misinformation, press freedom amongst others “but despite all these we also have one of the most vibrant and adaptive media communities in Africa. Many journalists are using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot to write, edit, summarize, translate and even generate images or videos in seconds.”
Speaking on how AI can help journalists, Lesi said it can be used for research and data analysis, fact-checking, transcription and translation, to track audience engagement amongst others.
She added that some of the challenges of AI includes Hallucination; because AI sometimes invents facts which are non-existent; also, AI is causing job displacement because many newsrooms are increasingly using AI as a cost-cuttting tool, replacing entry-level reporters or editors; also deep fakes and misinformation is another major challenge of AI because while AI facilitates efficient news generation, it simultaneously poses a threat to the integrity of news and information through the potential spread of misinformation.
Furthermore. Lesi stated that the place of traditional journalism in all this is right at the centre because AI can generate content but it cannot generate credibility, it can summarise information but it cannot ask the hard questions that hold power to account.
“Hence, the journalist of the AI era must become a tech-savvy truth teller; be able to use digital tools responsibly, be able to verify what machines produce and be able to tell human stories that machines cannot feel.
“The future of journalism in Nigeria is not about man versus machine; it is about man guiding the machine to serve truth, democracy and society.”
Also speaking at the event, Ambassador Ojetokun Oluwole, National Industry Safety Council of Nigeria (NISCN) Lagos State Branch Chairman who spoke on: Risk Assessment- An Integral Part of Effective Communication stated that risk assessment plays a vital role in ensuring that communication does not inadvertently cause harm or misinform the public.
He added that risk assessment is the systematic process of identifying, evaluating and mitigating potential risks that may arise during communication or reporting.
Ambassador Ojetokun further stated that risk assessment is important for journalists because it helps to protect the reputation of the journalist, media outlet and sources; also, it ensures accuracy by verifying information to prevent spreading misinformation and it also helps to mitigate harm to individuals, communities and organisations.
He reiterated that Journalism often involves navigating complex environments – political, social, physical and risk assessment ensures that journalists can anticipate threats, protect sources and maintain credibility.
He further implored journalists to engage best practices such as verifying information, considering multiple perspectives, transparency amongst others.
“By understanding and applying risk assessment principles, journalists can communicate responsibly, accurately and safely, ensuring that truth reaches the public without compromising lives or ethics,” he said.
The Registrar, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria Mr. Ben Modebe when asked about the role of media organisations concerning the safety of their journalists, stated that “ It is very important for media organisations to consider the safety of their workers because people are in employment to earn a living, not to earn death.
He added that in every organization where safety is priortised, it becomes the responsibility of the organization to identify the hazards that journalists may encounter when performing their duty because they face different hazards.
“This is especially when they have to cover protests, crisis and many more and their lives are at risk; If the risks have not been analysed before embarking on such reporting, it may lead to consequences that may be undesirable. This is why it is important to identify the hazards so that control measures can be put in place,” he added.
MCPoSA added some colour to the event, being the tenth symposium by honouring two states Chief Executives who have exceptionally protected journalists and their workforce. The recipients of the awards are Governor of Oyo State, Oluseyi Makinde and Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum.
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