Yemisi Izuora
Online media and bloggers can make meaningful contributions to peacebuilding and conflict prevention, the Journalists for Democratic Rights, (JODER), has said.
JODER issued a statement after an extensive training and interactive sessions with Nigeria’s leading bloggers and online publishers in Lagos.
“Nigeria has the potential to be a great country where the people will be free from poverty and needless violence. The social media and online publishers have a critical role to play in this historic task”, JODER said in the report of the programme supported by the Ford Foundation.
The Executive Director of JODER, Mr Adewale Adeoye said the social media has become a major tool in driving the Nigerian political economy, pointing that with an average of over 60 million users in Nigeria, the future of mass communication is partly dependent on the social media.
He said “Risks to personal lives and consequent public disdain against the operators of the medium. Nigeria is increasingly becoming a violent country. Credible media are being singled out as targets. The difference is that a discredited medium is most likely to face the challenge of public empathy.
According to him bloggers and drivers of the social media should try as much as possible to promote the public good. The social media has the responsibility to compete on a higher moral plane with the mainstream media, set agenda for human development and promote the greatest good for the greatest number.
JODER stated “The social media should be an instrument to set the agenda of national discourse. At present Nigeria is passing through difficult moments regarding the unity and prosperity of the country. The social media intervention is crucial to the wellbeing of the people and the country at large.
He urged practitioners to avoid sensationalism and unprofessional conducts. “Social media should not cast itself in the image of the maestros of unfounded stories. It should not be the culture of the citizenship media to write just anything that comes its way. It means we must ensure professional gatekeepers are employed to do the job using the best possible international standards. Democratic ills should be fought using the social media” adding that the social media “can turn around the fortunes and misfortunes of Nigerians using the social media.”
The participants agreed on basic elements that could drive a meaningful social media that fuels democratic culture, provide voices for the poor vulnerable communities and create the necessary environment for the finest democratic culture.