Comments on NIGERIAN CURIOSITY: NIGERIA'S 'FREE PRESS': RANKINGS VS. REALITY

Very good.. thank you very much for posting this a...

2010-03-29T00:43:33.957-04:00

Very good.. thank you very much for posting this
a great article indeed

i wish there was more stuff like this in the internet
סאונד

good article

2010-01-06T00:02:11.645-05:00

good article

Very impressive posting. I enjoyed it. I think oth...

2009-12-29T09:08:39.635-05:00

Very impressive posting. I enjoyed it. I think others will like it & find it useful for them. Good luck with your work. ;-)

Bathmate

As always an excellent posting.The way you write ...

2009-12-24T04:05:19.860-05:00

As always an excellent posting.The
way you write is awesome.Thanks. Adding more information will be more useful.

Bathmate

"...What is lacking in Nigeria is the enforce...

2009-11-07T01:22:47.430-05:00

"...What is lacking in Nigeria is the enforcement of the legal protections that will limit attacks on journalists and of course, a system that ensures that those who have a hand in those attacks will be swiftly brought to justice..." This isn't just Nigeria. I think all African nations must adopt certain law enforcements such as you mentioned above if democracy is to in in play.

Well said. I agree. Nigerian press is far from as ...

2009-11-04T07:23:47.812-05:00

Well said. I agree. Nigerian press is far from as free as it should. I agree with you that what is lacking are the enforcement of laws that protect journalists. But you Solomonsydelle, is an example of an up-and-coming free speech journalist example. I love what this blog represents. Hope!

What factors did they use to assign these rankings...

2009-11-03T05:06:59.325-05:00

What factors did they use to assign these rankings? I wonder... to be ranked just above Zimbabwe is just terrible. WTH, even Congo is higher on the list!

You sound suprised to see Nigeria ranked so low, b...

2009-11-02T19:14:29.023-05:00

You sound suprised to see Nigeria ranked so low, but then why are you suprised. Is it not of late that Mr. President orders AIT to either get rid of Gbenga Aroleba the anchor man on FOCUS NIGERA or get the TV station closed. Tell me what type of freedom of press are you talking about. It seems while the rest of the world is heading in one direction NIgeria is heading towards darkness direction entirely and it pains me because we simply can't continue like this. We keep doing things the same way and we are expecting a different result. NTA is celebrating 50 yrs of existence and Awolowo the man with the vision to create it if he were to be alive today will cry to see what has become of NTA, these people just continue to rubbish everything for the rest of us.

I totally agree with NIMMO. There is no 'true&...

2009-11-02T19:00:58.989-05:00

I totally agree with NIMMO. There is no 'true' journalism anymore in Nigeria. The legacy of 'brown envelopes' has taken over the soul of most Nigerian journalists.

On the other hand, the ownership and structure of the news media also doesn't help. Most of the major media houses are owned by politicians. And whether we like it or not, there is a level of inteference. So the bottom is line, "free press" is not really that free.

Hmm wait lol, i mean i think it's wrong.. I ho...

2009-11-02T15:44:44.618-05:00

Hmm wait lol, i mean i think it's wrong.. I honestly do feel that Nigeria's press is quite independent and free.. I mean from time to time, some journalists get killed but these things happen lol. Nigeria shouldn't be rated thatlow ahn ahn..

Our journalists were just writing English compo...

2009-11-02T09:44:12.344-05:00
Our journalists were just writing English compositions Don´t you just want to laugh and cry? The craft of conveying news appeared to have lost out in the same way old words like ethics disappeared from our land. However, the problem of last from bottom in everything global is an indictment on those that should be leading from the front. -Beauty

I think that if the idea of a "free" pre...

2009-11-02T07:43:22.600-05:00
I think that if the idea of a "free" press should be defined either as being independent from government influence and interference, then we're far from it in the true reality of the matter. I read a recent case of AIT pulling a popular political tv show so as not to offend the president. That's not what one would expect in a democracy that has a "free press". However, on the surface, the Nigerian press is technically free of government interference in that they are not gagged by any known law, like one would find in a dictatorship.

That is why I will not agree with any rating that brands the Nigerian journalist with the likes of Zimbabwe. Being "firebrand" is not a sign of a free press, but of one fighting to be free - just like we had in Nigeria during the Abacha and other Military govt eras. True freedom comes from independence from any legal or government gag. What they journalists do with such freedom is their own cup of tea, and should not be confused with the idea of freedom itself. Apparently in Nigeria today, we have not the zeal has gone down from what it used to be.

Have I made any sense?

Happy Belated Birthday Solo! Interesting to thin...

2009-11-02T07:41:04.465-05:00
Happy Belated Birthday Solo!

Interesting to think we'd rank THAT low. I know things are bad but I'm really not aware of how much better those other countries are in terms of press freedom, but given that the PFI is a globally accepted/endorsed index, i'll have to take their word for it.

I think it's quite difficult to have free press in our country when most newspapers / radio stations are 80-90% financially sustained by ad revenue from the country's "big shots" so to be fair, you can't bite the hand that feeds you. But then again, if, as you've said, the government / people enforce the necessary accountability and ensure that those who try to sabotage press freedom are duly prosecuted, we might get a few steps closer to a freer (or at the very least, neutral) press.

Thanks for sharing!

@ NIMMO: Well, I couldn't encourage a balanced...

2009-11-02T07:13:21.688-05:00
@ NIMMO: Well, I couldn't encourage a balanced look at the state of Nigeria's press without trying to be balanced as well, could I my brother? lol! Hence, I had to make the historical mention.

That being said, I tried to simply focus on the need to honor Section 22. There has been more than enough bashing of the Nigerian media, right or wrong. I didn't want to go there. Besides, my original version of this post was a tad harsh even by my standards.

But it is interesting you use the word 'firebrand journalism' to describe some of what you read in Accra. I like it. Your overall comment suggests that you believe Nigeria's press is far from free. A shame, isn't it? And, yes, the freedom of information bill would truly change things if it passed.

Solomonsydelle, how can you be talking of a Nigeri...

2009-11-02T06:48:04.321-05:00
Solomonsydelle, how can you be talking of a Nigeria of 1960? That was a different country; a different clime entirely. We had derailed since ...

I was in Accra, Ghana a couple of years ago and what I read in the papers amazed me. In fact, to me as a Nigerian, it bordered on madness. And some of them actually launched into tirades of insults.

No Minister, Member of Parliament or official in government was spared. And it seemed ALL the papers were in agreement.

It was cutting edge journalism. or rather journalism that set your teeth on edge. Ironically, many of the older journalists credit the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe amongst others, for their firebrand journalism.

Compared to what I read and heard in Accra, our newspapers and radios are tame. Our journalists were just writing English compositions.

Maybe when our 'Lords' in the National Assembly finally decide to allow the Freedom of Information bill to pass. Maybe then, we will have a press.

However, I was in Nairobi, Kenya some time ago too and I wonder how anybody can call that a free press. Their newspapers were like the 'Daily Times' of the 90s; full of Obituaries and government announcements. Like the NTA we all know.

That was before the election though, maybe things have changed since then.