LAGOS NOVEMBER 4TH (URHOBOTODAY)-Online Publishers under the aegis of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers has decries incessant harassment of journalists in recent times by security agents, just as it urged security agents to respect the rights of journalists and also the constitutional guarantee for the unfettered discharge of their duties.
Making the declaration in a communiqué signed Mr Malachy Agbo and Mr Dotun Oladipo, President and General Secretary of the organization respectively, the publishers urged security agents to respect the rights of journalists and also the constitutional guarantee for the unfettered discharge of their duties.
Appealing to journalists to step up the quality of coverage of political activities as the 2015 elections draw nearer, the Guild reminded journalists not to forget the basic principles guiding journalism, especially during this election year, stressing that the. Principles of fairness and adequate consideration for national security should be uppermost on the minds of newsmen in this season..
The organization expressed the need to work in concert with the Nigerian Copyright Commission to properly articulate steps in protecting the intellectual property of writers, saying “This stems from the flagrant abuse of the properties of writers, especially journalists.”
The Guild called for professionalism among journalists, top of which should be giving credit to source (s) of information.
The Guild commiserates with the nation, the executive committee and members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, co-workers and family members of former presidential spokeswoman and former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Dame Remi Oyo; the Vice Chairman of Sun Publishing Limited, Pastor Dimgba Igwe; and the Editor-in-Chief of Real News magazine, Mike Akpan, all of who died recently.
“While we wished the departed souls eternal and blissful rest, we also prayed to God to grant all those affected by their departure the fortitude to bear the loss,” the communiqué stated.