NPAN boss wants media to partake in regulation framework
The president of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and chairman of Media Trust Limited, publishers of Daily Trust and other titles, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, has said the media industry in Nigeria is not against regulation but wants to be allowed to take part in creating the framework.
Media houses across the country have been unanimous in pushing back brazen attempts by the government to regulate the media through controversial bills in the National Assembly. They are the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) Act amendment bills.
Yusuf, who is also a member of the Board of the International Press Institute (IPI), spoke with newsmen in Ilorin yesterday on the sideline of a lecture organised to celebrate the 60th birthday of the secretary of the IPI, Raheem Adedoyin.
He emphasised that self regulation is the best way to address the problem of fake news.
“Regulation is good, but what we want is to be able to take part in creating the framework. That is what we call self regulation. If the media is not credible, then we are the losers. We don’t want a media that is not acceptable by the public, government or politicians.
“So we are involving ourselves in
self regulation,” he added.
On the issue of fake news, Mallam Yusuf noted that technology had a great role to play.
He said, “I think the guest lecturer was also saying something that really educated me, and that is: the problem of fake news is technology. When technology is all over, when people are on Facebook and Twitter, they do things that nobody can control.
“We in the print and broadcast are under control already as we cannot just wake up and put things in the media. We have editors and managers that control what we put into our platforms. So I think this is good enough.”
Earlier, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq joined in calling for urgent actions to halt the spread of fake news, saying the earlier the menace is tackled, the better for
peace and security in the country.
Dapo Olorunyomi, the publisher of Premium Times, delivered a lecture with the title, “Free Press, Focus of Democracy and the Future of Nigeria.”
He said the media, which plays essential roles in strengthening democratic rule and accelerating national development, must not be left unguarded from saboteurs and the challenge of disinformation.