EDO- A Professor of Journalism and Media Studies, Andrew Asanate, has charged media practitioners in the country to devote more time on investigative reporting to tackle corruption and hold government accountable.
Asanate, who is the Dean, Faculty of Arts and Communication, Edo State University, Uzairue, gave the charge at the 12th Inaugural Lecture of the institution on Thursday.
The lecture was entitled, “From gate keeping to gate watching: Who and what killed investigative journalism in Nigeria?”
He said that investigative journalism was “desirable and inevitable” in every democratic setting because of its power to address corruption.
He also said that investigative journalism was going into oblivion because journalists did not have exclusive rights to produce and distribute information.
According to him, news agenda is no longer under their control.
“The power of investigative journalism cannot be underestimated.
“Under the gate-keeping journalism regime, the following remarkable investigative journalism feats were recorded.
“As the media space in Nigeria is getting sophisticated, in terms of technological innovations, investigative journalism appears to be matching into oblivion in the country as it is gradually losing its spark.
“Under the gate-watching super-structure driven by technological devices, some few journalists have exposed some hidden skeletons or social ills in certain quarters,” Asanate said.
He further said that, in spite of the numerous challenges faced by journalists, many of them had succeeded in holding citizens and government accountable.
He lauded journalists, who put in hard work to investigate and amplify the voices of the marginalised in society, as well as those who strived to expose corrupt people.
The don, however, urged media practitioners to nurture the culture of investigative journalism in holding government and the citizens to account.
“Investigative journalists in the country should aggressively source for reliable and accurate information to build their stories professionally and with their constitutionally guaranteed powers without recourse to religious, ethnic or primordial attachment,” Asanate said.
Earlier, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, said the lecture became imperative to reflect on the media profession, the practice of investigative journalism, as well as decide on strategies to amplify the importance of works done by journalists in the country.
(NAN)
