Nigeria: Making self-regulation work (II)

Concerns about this possibility resulted in a declaration in 1989 by the editors of all national newspapers, in a country with a highly competitive media industry, that: “We, having given due consideration to criticism of the Press by Parliament and the public, accept the need to improve methods of self-regulation. Accordingly, we declare today our unanimous commitment to a common Code of Practice to safeguard the independence of the Press from threats of official control”.

Shortly afterwards, the Press Complaints Commission was set up in Britain and all publishers and editors made a public commitment to observe the Code of Practice.

While there is clearly a desire on the part of most governments to exercise and retain control over the media, governments often seek to justify their efforts at establishing press councils to regulate the media by arguing that the media is irresponsible and that there are no effective checks on its excesses.  

If the media is able to operate a self-regulatory mechanism that is credible and effective, such arguments will no longer be tenable and I do not believe that under such circumstances, the Government will insist on imposing its own regulatory framework.  In any event, a united media industry will be able to resist such a move.

The need for a self-regulatory system is dictated by the imperative of freedom of expression and a free press in a democratic society.  Despite the absence in Britain of any constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression and press freedom, the British Government finally accepted the idea of a media free from government regulation because of its recognition that freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of any democratic society.  

In Nigeria where we have a constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression as well as a constitutional provision which imposes duties on the press in a democracy, the idea of promoting the freedom and independence of the media in the exercise of that right and performance of the duties should be easier to sell.

The challenge here for us is to mobilize the entire industry to agree on and make a commitment to a common code of conduct and a self-regulatory mechanism which will eliminate the necessity of official regulation.  It is a challenge which the leadership of the various professional bodies and associations within the media, particularly the NPAN, the NGE and the NUJ, assisted by individual journalists and media groups, must take up if we want to make this a reality.

A third principle is that the funding of the mechanism should be done independently of the Government or at least that the Government should not provide such a substantial portion of its funding that will enable it to control the system indirectly by manipulating the funding.  The rationale for this principle is encapsulated in the saying that: He who pays the piper dictates the tune.

This principle is perhaps the most difficult to satisfy in Nigeria.  The funding issue has sometimes been the reason why the media industry, both in Nigeria and elsewhere, have acquiesced to government-supported or controlled regulation of the media because many people feel that it is easier for the government to fund a regulatory agency or institution while it is not so easy for the media industry itself.

For any regulatory system to be independent and effective, it must be adequately funded.  There can be no debate about this.  Without adequate funding, the system cannot function. The solution in Britain was to raise a levy on the newspaper and periodical industries to finance the Press Complaints Commission to enable the industry to support a fully self-regulatory system.  All publishers and editors made a public commitment to maintain secure funding for the Commission.

However, the media industry in Britain is a buoyant one.  The same cannot be said of the industry in Nigeria.  Many media establishments in Nigeria are barely able to survive.  Only some of them are able to pay staff salaries regularly, while the facilities and infrastructure of many media organizations remain underdeveloped for lack of resources.  

It might therefore not be completely realistic to expect that media establishments in Nigeria will willingly undertake to wholly fund a regulatory mechanism and even if they gave such an undertaking, that they will be able to abide by it in the face of their own financial difficulties.

Here again, we need to be resourceful and examine a combination of different funding options.  

Without doubt, media house should be expected to make periodic, preferably annual, contributions to support the office and work of the Ombudsman.  The amount of contributions from different media houses can be determined based on their circulation or the size of their businesses or other considerations as may be agreed.  

In addition to levying newspapers and magazines to support the work of the Ombudsman, another option is that a portion of the check-off dues which journalists are supposed to pay should also go to supporting the work of the Ombudsman.  

Given the number of journalists in Nigeria, the amount which can be raised from this option may be quite significant.  But this might even necessitate some slight increase in the percentage of their salaries which journalists pay as check-off dues.  I think it will be a price worth paying to secure one’s independence and to enhance credibility with the public.  

A third option would be to actively raise funds to support the office and work of the Ombudsman from private donors and foundations.  Non-governmental organizations may also be called upon to support this endeavour.  

The possibility that corporate bodies might themselves be lodging complaints before the Ombudsman against journalists and media establishments does not make them attractive options to approach for the funding.  But we may wish to discuss this further and explore ways in which any possible conflict of interest can be mitigated.

To be concluded.

Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, made this presentation at an Awareness Seminar by the Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), in association with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and other stakeholders, on Tuesday week at Imperial Hall, Ikeja.

 

-November 24, 2009 by Edetaen Ojo

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Source:www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php (accessed on 27.11.2009)