Veteran journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of NAN, Mr Alli Hakeem, set the tone in a paper titled: “Mitigating Electoral Violence: The Role of the Media”. “Media practitioners must, therefore, rise above the fray and adhere strictly to the journalistic principles of objectivity, balance and fairness in their coverage of the elections,” he said. The resource person enjoined journalists to refrain from reporting inflammatory comments and hate speeches, and focus on the issues. He also counselled the media against ethnic and religious colouration while reporting electoral conflict, so as not to plunge the nation into chaos. NAN reports that journalists from 45 media and civil society organisations from across the country are taking part in the two-day event.

Source: The Guardian February 09, 2019 09:33 UTC