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Delta Online Publishers Forum (DOPF) on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 inducted seven new members into the forum, with a call on them to be ethically responsible in their online journalism practice.

At the induction ceremony which held at the Ministry of Information Conference, in the ultra-modern Obi (Prof( Chike Edozien Secretariat, Maryam Babangida, DOPF Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Enebeli in his opening remarks, noted that the forum has a rich history of excellence and that it was therefore the collective duty of all members to uphold the ethics of the journalism profession.

While advising the new inductees to always carry themselves as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of their different organisations, Mr. Enebeli pleaded that members should continue to pursue one aim.

The Vice chairman, Deacon Chukwudi Abiandu, who spoke on “Understanding what DOPF stands for” urged the inductees to understand that DOPF is not NUJ, neither is it a chapel of the NUJ, but that DOPF is a forum of entrepreneurs in the business of online newspaper publishing.

“DOPF members are employers of labour. What Proprietors of hard copy newspapers are to the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) is what online newspapers are to DOPF. Specifically, our operation is backed up by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, which states in Section 39 (2): “Without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions,” Abiandu said.

He urged his audience to understand, therefore, that members of DOPF are independent online newspapers who run their websites on their own; they are autonomous, self-regulating, self-reliant and unfettered. “You run your editorial policy without restraint and without influence by DOPF”, he said.

While reiterating what Mr. Enebeli, DOPF chairman said about the need to be ethically responsible in the practice of online journalism, Deacon Abiandu said: “For the avoidance of doubt and for the purpose of reiterating and underscoring the point that in DOPF we cherish that our members subscribe in a big and uncompromising way to giving ethical journalism a pride of place in our respective mediums, we like to bring to your attention the fact that journalism as a profession stands on the tripod of Truth, Accuracy and objectivity, which our teachers have told us remain the cornerstones of journalism ethics. If Media ethics in journalism talks about a set of principles, or a code, that a journalist uses when reporting news, we encourage DOPF members to take the issue of ethical practice very seriously in our various online newspapers.”

The inductees are, Mr Oweh Julius, publisher of The Pond News, Mr Jikeme Smart, publisher of Fidelity Reporters, Ogwuda Austin, publisher of The Town Hall and Dr. Paul Bebenimibo, publisher of Pebnews.

Others are Mr. Daniel Oji, publisher of Actual News, Mr. Celestine Ukah, publisher of Area News, and Mrs. Christy Aboghe, publisher of The Hill Nigeria.

The event also had officials of the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Premium Trust Bank, Asaba branches speaking to DOPF members about their respective operations and how members can benefit from their facilities.

Below is the full text of Chukwudi Abiandu’s speech.

Understanding what DOPF stands for

Myles Munro, renowned Bahamian Christian Evangelist, ordained minister and inspirational speaker of blessed memory once said that “when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.” Theoniste Ted while explaining this said “Everything has a purpose but not all purpose is known and when purpose is not known the abuse is inevitable.”

He spoke further: “But because something has a purpose does not mean that its purpose is known. The major reason for this is that purpose does not reside in a thing, it can only be found in the manufacturer or the designer of the thing. So if you want to know the purpose of a thing never ask the thing, ask the manufacturer.

In other words it is the person who made the machine that knows why he made the machine. The machine does not know. Ted then went ahead to define purpose as the original intent for the creation of anything and the desired result that made the creation necessary, then it suffices to say that this original intent is not in the product but in the mind of the producer.”

This background therefore underscores the importance of this aspect of the induction and the imperative of letting our new members understand what the organization stands for. This is especially so, when viewed against recent developments that brought the Delta State Chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and DOPF at loggerheads.

Therefore, you must understand that DOPF is not NUJ, neither is it a chapel of the NUJ. DOPF is a forum of entrepreneurs in the business of online newspaper publishing. DOPF members are employers of labour. What Proprietors of hard copy newspapers are to the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) is what online newspapers are to DOPF. Specifically, our operation is backed up by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, which states in Section 39 (2): “Without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions.” So, you can see that what you are doing is the exercise of your right as guaranteed by the Constitution.

The understanding must, therefore, be clear that members of DOPF are independent online newspapers who run their websites on their own; they are autonomous, self-regulating, self-reliant and unfettered. You run your editorial policy without restraint and without influence by DOPF.

Our Fondness for Ethical Journalism Practice in DOPF

It is also important to call the attention of this audience to the issue of ethical responsibility of the Journalist in the practice of the trade. Of course, it is not necessary at this level to begin to define what ethics is for us publishers as most if not all of us have passed through various classes in the universities of mass communication and journalism schools. This thus grounds us about what we ought to know about what is expected of the journalist in our practice as whatever we do exposes us to be judged by our sense of right and wrong.

However, for the avoidance of doubt and for the purpose of reiterating and underscoring the point that in DOPF we cherish that our members subscribe in a big and uncompromising way to giving ethical journalism a pride of place in our respective mediums, we like to bring to your attention the fact that journalism as a profession stands on the tripod of Truth, Accuracy and objectivity, which our teachers have told us remain the cornerstones of journalism ethics. If Media ethics in journalism talk about a set of principles, or a code, that a journalist uses when reporting news, we encourage DOPF members to take the issue of ethical practice very seriously in our various online newspapers. Reason is this, whatever you do, and the way you do it, although in your newspaper, that you are a member of DOPF makes your judgments to affect others who are members of the Forum, positively or negatively.

Therefore, we encourage DOPF members to strive in their work to be accountable to the public who read them by keeping their news organizations honest and accountable to the public. Here, for this purpose DOPF will once in a while serve as Ombudsman for our members to foster self-criticism, and to encourage adherence to both codified and uncodified ethics and standards.

 

By Chukwudi Abiandu,

Vice Chairman,

Delta Online Publishers Forum

November 21, 2023.