PATTERN OF VIOLENCE ATTACK AND OCCUPATION HAZARD OF JOURNALISM IN LAGOS NIGERIA

1.1 Introduction

Journalism could be defined as Newsgathering, fact finding and reporting of things the way it appears at the moment of reporting, not a definitive study of a situation. This also includes news reporting and commentaries delivered by Radio and Television. The Longman Dictionary 1984 (7th edition), sees Journalism as the collection and editing of materials of current interest for presentation through the new media (McQuail, 1999). Journalists all over the world, accept that their job is hazardous, that there is a life in the line of fire, where the worst, even when feared most can happen. Nigeria’s history is fraught with several periods of attacks on journalist. And, not on any of these periods has this undue psychological and sometimes physical assault been for the good of this our beloved country.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Journalism in Nigeria has its roots from the days of the struggle for independence from the British colonialists. The print media played an active role in the struggle for independence in Nigeria. Nationalists like Hebert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo among other set up newspapers and later on became great icons of leadership in the country, whose shoes have remained too big for the feet of modern crop of leaders in the continent to fit in. Hence, in the past, journalism in Nigeria was a profession that was credited to people of noble character. Early journalists in the country did not need to acquire journalism training to be able to write good stories. This foundation is still playing a role in defining the practice of journalism in the country, more than a century after the practice started in the country. Ownership and control play very strong roles in defining what news in the country becomes. Thus, a well written story no matter how well investigated it may be may not see the light of the day if it continuously steps on the toes of the government in power or the rich in society who constitute those that place advertisements in the newspaper or broadcast organization. Journalists are left at cross roads in the country from choosing between professionalism and survival. Amidst these confusion is the non-payment of salaries to journalists as at when due.

Isamoko (2011) says the press is a molder of the society. Although the facts have been lashed with numerous criticisms, we cannot deny the fact that the press shapes the society. Most journalists are aware of this fact; hence they are determined even to the extent of sacrificing their lives, to give the society what it desires. The reporter who is scampering to meet a politician who has just alighted from an airplane; the reporter who is on a wired boat sailing into a remote mangrove to find out the extent of damage flood has wrecked in an area is trying to keep the society abreast on what is happening around them (Ewuola, 2002).

The function of news gathering and news dissemination has not been a rosy one for the journalists, from the inception of journalism and newspaper publication in Nigeria. There has been cat and mouse relationship between the press, society, organization, politician and the governments of all ages, whether military or civilian, except when the press allows itself to be cajoled, used and manipulated by the governments or personal interest of the so called “big power” to suit its whims and caprices. In a nutshell, it is the act of looking for news event and editing the unwanted part before it is served to the public who are the final consumers. The journalists are those that practice journalism in Nigeria and other countries, the journalists are always in problem each time they disseminate the news story that are against important personality, most especially the politicians.

Although similar challenges face journalists in other developing countries to varying degrees, the literature on the Nigerian situation suggests that news professionals seem to have also lost the will or drive to stand up to the challenges as they did during the struggle for the country’s independence and the return to democracy from military rule (Adesoji, 2006; Daramola, 2006). At both periods in the country’s history, journalists were undaunted by the challenges of their profession but stood firm in the face of threats, imprisonment, killings and proscriptions. They now appear to have given up on upholding their professional ethos and adopted the mantra, ‘if you cannot beat them, join them’ (Adesoji, 2006; Omoera, 2010).

This study focuses on the current state of journalism practice in Nigeria and how journalists are responding to the challenges they face as professionals. The literature on journalists and the news media in Nigeria portrays a negative image (Abidde, 2008; Idowu, 2014). It suggests that the standard of the journalism profession in Nigeria has dropped considerably, and this, the study interrogates. The literature suggests that journalists in Nigeria face various challenges including poor or irregular wages, job insecurity, overbearing influence of media proprietors, poor working environment and threat to personal safety. Journalists seem not to be holding on to their professional calling any longer (Golwa, 2011; Daramola, 2013). They tend to have abandoned the ideals of the Fourth Estate theory of standing for truth and serving as the conscience of society (Golwa, 2011; Jibo & Okoosi-Simbine, 2003; Ochogwu, 2011; Pate, 2011). Journalists in Nigeria are also accused of taking financial or other inducements to write or suppress stories, bias, partisanship, promoting ethno-religious interests, and the fabrication of stories in their coverage, in particular, of political activities and social conflicts (Adeyemi, 2013; Daramola, 2006; Suraj, 2013; UNDP, 2010). For example, Idowu (2014), head of a non-government organization, Media Rights Agenda, which has been involved in the training of journalists and promotion of a free and responsible media in Nigeria for over 15 years, described the coverage of the abduction in 2014, of over 200 school girls in Chibok Borno State, Nigeria, by Boko Haram insurgents as a reflection of the state of the news media in the country.

Therefore, in Lagos Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Pattern of Violence Attack and Occupation Hazard of Journalism.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Naturally, Journalism supposed to be a perfect profession. This is because, journalists are being trained properly with polished languages, balanced and fair reporting with sophisticated technology to meet with the functional society. However, in attaining this height, there are cases of incessant arrest of journalist by security agents and cases of loss of jobs with the existence of obnoxious laws in conflict with ethics of journalism. Hence, there has been cat and mouse relationship between the press, society, and government and lots of hazards that come with the profession. To this end, the study shall examine some of the occupational hazards associated with modern day journalism and away to finding out how these could be curbed. Using the medium of Freedom Information Bill (F.I.B) and giving the journalists free hand to carry out their journalistic profession without any restriction by the government and also provide adequate security to those in the profession.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Pattern of Violence Attack and Occupation Hazard of Journalism in Lagos Nigeria between January to July 2021. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the hazards of journalism profession in Nigeria.
2. To determine if occupational hazards of journalism have effects on the performance of journalists in Nigeria.
3. To provide a series of policy recommendations aimed at securing effective professional standards of journalism practice in Nigeria.
4. To investigate how Journalist in Nigeria can avoid hazard in Journalism

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the hazards of journalism profession between January to July 2021 in Lagos Nigeria?
• What effect has occupational hazards of journalism on the performance of journalists between January to July 2021 in Lagos Nigeria?
• What series of policy recommendations are aimed at securing effective professional standards of journalism practice between January to July 2021 in Lagos Nigeria?
• How can Journalist in Nigeria avoid hazard of Journalism between January to July 2021 Lagos Nigeria?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

• H0: There are no Violence Attack and occupational hazards of journalism between January to July 2021 in Lagos State
• H1: There are Violence Attack and occupational hazards of journalism between January to July 2021 in Lagos State

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1.7 Significance of Study

The significance of this study will be helpful to the society in understanding the different hazards that comes with journalism. Through this study, journalist will be abreast as to what to do as regards the occupational hazards that come with their profession.

This study will also explain why the safety and independence of journalist in Nigeria is paramount if they must work as the watch dog of the society sincerely and with integrity.

This is important because a lot is known about how journalism is practiced in the developed parts of the world. A lot of studies also exist on journalism in Africa generally. Journalism is also facing a number of widely recognized problems globally (Donsbach, 2012; McQuail, 2013). However, there is a dearth of work on the peculiar social, cultural and economic dynamics that influence journalism practice in individual African countries like Nigeria, a deficiency addressed through this research project.

Lastly, this study will serve as a research tool for further study by researchers on similar or related study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Pattern of Violence Attack and Occupation Hazard of Journalism between January to July 2021 in Lagos Nigeria.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Occupational hazards: An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. Occupational hazards can encompass many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. A risk accepted as a consequence of a particular occupation

Hazard: This involves all the dangers, evils, risks, problems and encumbrance that militate against the Journalists as they strive to keep public informed about the happenings in the society.

Journalism: Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on current or past events. The word journalism applies to the occupation, as well as citizen journalists who gather and publish information. Journalistic media include print, television, radio, Internet, and, in the past, newsreels.

Social media: the term social media refers to the internet-based social networking website developed to specifically help people share their views and stay in touch with their friend, relatives and well wishers.

Modern Journalism: it is a term used to describe the new era in journalism where internet and computers are use in almost every journalistic activity.

Media: media in this study are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media networking tools which journalists use to disseminate information to a large heterogeneous audience.