By Abubakar Yunusa Ojima-ojo
Premium Times Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, has urged journalists to frame their reports in ways that promote peace, warning that careless reporting can inflame conflicts with consequences that may be difficult to control.
Mojeed gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at a two-day conflict- and peace-sensitive reporting workshop organised by the Premium Times Academy for journalists from various media organisations across the country.
“Peace is important. If you stoke a crisis, you might not know how it will end,” he said.
The training, which began on Wednesday, brought together academic and media experts to examine the role of the press in reporting conflicts, hate speech, disinformation and other issues capable of threatening social cohesion.
Nigeria has battled conflicts across its geopolitical zones for more than a decade, ranging from Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East to banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, communal crises in the North-Central and militancy in the South-South.
The country has also witnessed farmer-herder clashes and kidnapping in parts of the South-West, as well as separatist agitations in the South-East.
Against the backdrop, Mojeed, who led a session on news gathering in the era of hate speech, urged newsrooms to be more deliberate about the language and context used in their reports.
He warned journalists against amplifying hate propagandists, saying their claims should instead be properly contextualised and subjected to scrutiny.
Mojeed said hate speech undermined social cohesion, fuelled division and could legitimise extremism.
He therefore urged journalists to distinguish between legitimate criticism and hate-filled rhetoric when reporting contentious issues.
Also , the Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Dapo Olorunyomi, warned journalists about the power of narratives in shaping public perception.
“Narratives have now become a weapon; the same pen that records testimony can distort it,” Olorunyomi said.
He urged journalists to approach conflict reporting with utmost sensitivity, stressing that the choice of words could influence the direction of a crisis.
“Language can shape a situation; misnaming and appropriate naming are important,” he said.
Olorunyomi also emphasised the importance of context, saying journalists must provide sufficient background when reporting conflicts.
“Suffuse your work with a lot of contexts; it weakens the harm and danger events could lead to,” he said.
He warned that poor narratives could have devastating consequences, including deaths, displacement and the separation of families.
The Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Dayo Aiyetan, said the media had an important role to play in either worsening or helping to resolve conflicts.
“By doing our job, we can contribute to the resolution of conflict and not worsen it,” Aiyetan said.
He particularly cautioned journalists against ethnic profiling, describing it as irresponsible journalism when used to link individual criminal acts to an entire ethnic group.
“If an individual commits a crime, is the factor of ethnicity relevant to the report?” he asked.
Aiyetan urged journalists to avoid using identity as an explanation for criminal behaviour unless there was evidence establishing its relevance to the story.
He, however, noted that ethnicity could be referenced where it was supported by evidence and genuinely relevant to the report.
He strongly condemned the use of ethnic identity to promote collective blame or portray entire communities as criminal.
“A careless description can travel much farther than the original story,” Aiyetan warned.
The workshop also examined the growing challenge posed by artificial intelligence and social media in conflict reporting.
The Research and Digital Investigations Manager, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Silas Jonathan, trained participants on how to identify and verify AI-generated content and social media posts.
Jonathan challenged journalists to interrogate the motive behind suspicious digital content before publishing it.
“What narrative is the content trying to push?” he asked.
He explained that the question was crucial because artificial intelligence had made it easier and cheaper to create fabricated content capable of spreading disinformation and escalating conflicts.
Jonathan urged journalists to verify claims, sources and individuals behind AI-generated material before giving such content publicity.
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