The need for the press to balance all political coverage is paramount. Hence, one of the enduring tenets of democracy is freedom of expression as rooted in responsible and vibrant press.
The late Nigerian seasoned journalist, Chyna Iwuanyanu stated that “Democracy can only thrive in an environment where people have unimpeded access to qualitative and quantitative information to take the right decisions and make the right choices.”
A free press is said to be the Bible of democracy. The people should have access to accurate and unbiased, information regarding home and foreign affairs. The masses get disillusioned and feel frustrated when the government adopts important policies without bringing them to the gaze of the public. A free and impartial press not only keeps the people in touch but also ventilates the grievances of the public. Thus, a healthy relationship develops between the people and the government through an ubaised press. Liuxiaoba held that “free expression is the base of human rights the root of human nature and mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth.”
The media platform sees beyond what ordinary eyes can see. It is expected that the media should be able to speak the truth at all times because the world has turned into global village where all the campaign literature are available even in the sleeping village, means of communications are ground every second and minute and send meaningful information, message and clarification on programmes of government as they affect society are channels that takes the message far and wide and also for interaction, communication, for dialogue and debate on the major issue of rural and urban development presenting realistic reportage of events and forces working for and against societal goal for the betterment of the society at large is the goal of the media.
The media serves as the agent of political technological and economic reordering of such nation, the media platform sees beyond what ordinary eyes can sees. In most societies across the world the relationship between the media and the society is a symbiotic one, it is like prophets who prognosticate about the future and warn on the possibility of breakdown of law and order or any anti-development in any environment.
In the 19th century, British statesman and orator, Edmund Burke describe the press as the Fourth Estate of the Realms” after the traditional three estates of the parliament: the executive and the judiciary.
The media sets the agenda and shapes the opinions of the electorate about the political leaders and parties on numerous issues concerning them, that was why Walter Lippmann called the newspaper “the Bible of democracy:” it is the source from which they draw their facts Nigeria got her independence without firing a short largely due to an intrepid vibrant, dogged and conscientious media. By the manner in which the newspapers splash the news, by the slant they give to it and by their discussion of the current events and policies, the newspapers seek to influence opinion. An average reader, lacking in expert knowledge and often also in leisure as well inclination, tends to accept the views and attitude thus projected.
Therefore, the news slant means bias in balance the political coverage, it is used as weapon of favouritism, ethnicity religious and Regional, political inclination.
The campaign is the political laboratory where every party laid their specimen to the electorate in order to diagnose the capability of their candidate if he qualifies to be elected or not. Nigerians should equally be aware that the media is like a two face of coin which can make and unmake in any political dispensation, therefore the news slant, like cancer is a virus that can destroy the press if not checked. Investigation is post mortem i.e medicine after death, which is only useful to prevent re-occurrence.
My advice to the Nigerian media, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) and allied unions should evolve ways or to take measure action against this News slant which tarnish their image; careers and professionalism.
Bello Shehu Shuni, wrote from Sokoto, Sokoto State (0803511465)
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