IBADAN – A Senior Lecturer at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Mr Kolawole Olomide, on Saturday urged journalists to apply the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act with a sense of responsibility.
Olomide gave the advice at a forum organised in Ibadan by the Oyo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to mark the 2014 World Press Freedom Day.
He said journalists should, as the world marked the Press Freedom Day, be aware that freedom could not be separated from responsibility.
“While on one hand journalists demand for freedom of information, they should also be responsible with such information.
“The gathering, processing and disseminating of news items must be professionally handled in the sense that truthful accounts of events must be presented and not just criticisms,’’ Olomide, who is of the polytechnic’s Department of Mass Communication, said.
He, however, praised the Nigerian media on its development in spite of the challenging environment.
Some individuals were conferred with awards at the occasion by the Oyo State NUJ.
Mr Bamidele Samson, an architect and Chairman of Bovas and Company Limited, was inaugurated as the Patron of the Oyo State NUJ.
Both Mr Bamidele Dada, a former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Mr Akin Alabi, a publisher, received the Media-Friendly Awards.
The forum, chaired by Mr Lekan Alabi, the Oota of Ibadanland, was attended by journalists and family members of the awardees.(NAN)
