At the inauguration of a former governor friend in Nigeria about 11 years ago, I had this encounter. After the historical event and as guests were filing out of the venue, a young man approached me with a rickety mini tape recorder, requesting that I be interviewed. Why he singled me out for a chat surprised me. He said:
“Sir, what is your opinion about today’s event?”; sticking the object obnoxiously close to my mouth. There was neither any mention of who he was, nor the media house he represented. Professional decorum was lacking.
“Who are you and where do you come from?” I asked as I continued to walk away.
One of the advisers of the governor walking with me later, said he was a reporter. The adviser persuaded me to give him some attentiveness, and I would be on the TV in the night news.
“Will appearing on TV land me an oil block in Nigeria or a gold mine in South Africa?” I jokingly asked the adviser.
That was the first time in a long time I had any direct encounter with a journalist since I left Nigeria 20 years prior. And the governor’s adviser further counselled: “But pastor, give him something so he can show you on TV tonight.”
Out of a mix of pity and courtesy for the hustling young man, I stopped momentarily and answered his questions as he rambled on. The interview ended, and then came the final straw: “Whatever you can give me, sir, for transport. God will bless you, sir,” the young man said. I looked at him befuddlingly and strolled off.
Friends, I enlisted and got initiated into the media business 41 years ago. I was among the privileged few to learn from some of the best in the journalism business in Nigeria. Governor Lateef Jakande of blessed memory taught me a course called Ethics of Journalism. It was a panoply of tenets etched not just in a physical manual all students had to read and remember, but a good guide engrained in the human heart as we work and deal with people in the field. Governor Segun Osoba, Chief Dayo Duyile and others sat on the board of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism. Dr Tony Nnaemeka was one of the best in communication research, and Dr Ralph Akinfeleye was a master of masters in mass communication. Who was better than African-American Harriet Otis Lawrence, our broadcast journalism teacher in that season of life? In my time at the NIJ, Dayo Ojo was a master linguist who dished it out in towering tutoring from his arsenal of mastery of the English language. I heard that Late Dele Giwa swung by to teach a couple of times on News reporting, so did Ray Ekpu. These are just a few of the best of Nigerian journalism from whom we were privileged to learn. And from those of us who are qualified to be branded ‘veterans’ of the journalism business, the infestation of the journalism space by quacks and charlatans poke us often to ask: who is a real journalist in Nigeria?
Not too long ago, a journalist colleague and a good friend had a birthday bash for his wife. During a recent interesting debate on a Nigerian journalists’ forum, he told the story of a female MC or anchor of the event, introducing herself as a professional colleague in journalism. My friend said he was devastated. How dare an untrained person brand himself a professional colleague when she verifiably was not? This was just a businessperson who now believes she is a journalist because she runs a YouTube channel and an Instagram live page. Anyone who owns a rickety or high-end iPhone or Android in Nigeria today has become a ‘journalist’ and a ‘reporter’. They do not subscribe to the doctrine of training or impartation of decorum and ethics of the profession but declare themselves as media CEOs with the liberty to launch out, laundering lies and larceny. They also loosely believe that they are free to publish and promulgate treachery and lechery, and free to spin gossip and fables. They detest fact-finding and are not accountable to anyone. They just write and broadcast what they saw in their dreams the night before after eating pounded yam and ogbono soup; and it becomes ‘breaking news’. Even if their names are not registered as journalists with the Nigerian Union of Journalists, they think they are big men and women just because they own a high-end technological device. That is the state of the journalism profession in Nigeria today. And we will continue to ask the all-important question: who is a journalist?
In medicine, no one is qualified to be called a doctor without the requisite training. In nursing, you need the requisite training to nurse a baby in her mother’s womb to life, and care for the aged in their twilights. In the army, you aren’t a soldier without the gruesome and gruelling requisite training to fight wars and keep terrorists at bay. Same with an engineer, a pilot, an accountant, and myriads of other professionals in our world. They all need training. But why is it different in journalism?
It is true that the definition of who truly is a journalist is very complex, and the complexity festers through the fabric of all societies. But over these many years, we have stumbled on many faces on Facebook, many scribblers on Twitter, beaucoup bloviating bloggers, random rights activists, and prominent personalities on TV and radio who aren’t trained but all loudly and audaciously say often: “I am a journalist”. But who is a journalist?
I agree with a friend who opined that one can be a journalist having acquired the requisite training, both in learning and character. Someone with access to the media can be transformed into a journalist if he/she is so inclined and is ready to imbibe the tenets of practice.
Many of us believe that, however, the time-honoured and dictionary definition of journalism is stale and has been rendered redundant by the prevalent social and technological realities. The lack of standards and maintenance of the same in society has rubbed off on journalism. As such, what we see in the media and practitioners today cannot be journalism.
Who is a journalist? My definition is simple. A journalist is a person who is trained to, without bias or prejudice, gather, collate, and disseminate information through available media channels for the purpose of public consumption and the public good. For this reason, a man or woman who desires to be called a journalist must surrender to training engendered either within the four walls of a classroom, on-the-job training under the supervision of trained professionals, or a combination of both.
Is a journalism degree the only requirement needed to qualify as a journalist? My first degree is in Psychology, and I’m also trained in journalism. Holders of any university degree can work as journalists if they submit to training. A willing and passionate heart soaked with love for the profession of journalism is good enough for me. But training is key. The field of journalism remains a dumping ground for characters in different shades and forms until regulatory bodies responsible for the practice of the profession take the issue of charlatans seriously. Our society will, for a long time, run into men and women who will introduce themselves as journalists but are quacks and charlatans. This is the extant reality in any society that’s loose in enforcing guidelines and rules.
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Fola Ojo ThePUNCH
