CISLAC Urge Journalists In Nigeria For Proper Conflict Mapping Before Reporting

 

By

Awajis George 

Journalists in Rivers State have been called upon to properly map conflict to enable them report it accurately.

The call was made by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with Open Society Foundation during a one day capacity building organized on Thursday, September 7,2023 for Journalists on early warning and early response reporting in Port Harcourt.

Dr. Dinebari Vareba speaking on the role of media in early warning and early response signals in conflict situations said the very first thing Journalists needs to do is to map the conflict properly to know what is the context and the stakeholders within the conflict.

He stated that, once journalists properly map the conflict, they can generate certain trends, patterns and codes which will enable them report well. These codes could also help journalists to report in conflict sensitive style.

Dr.Vareba opined that reporting in conflict sensitive style help in mitigating the conflict. It could either reduce or  bring  the conflict to an end.

On her part,Senior Programme Officer CISLAC, Bertha Ogbimi said there is need for journalists to adopt proactive measures to improve the security system in Nigeria. 

She noted that Nigeria has been facing insecurity challenges over the years and time to time it evolves from one level to another level.

“Now we are begining to see conflict entrepreneurs diversifying,so there is a need to tackle insecurity issues in Nigeria and all hands has to be on deck.

The senior program officer advised Journalists  to report sensitively, objectively, carry out detailed investigation before reporting, and that they should ensure they report conflict in a way that douses violence.

Our correspondent reports that the Journalists made commitment to report in  a way that will de-escalate conflict. One of the high point of the occasion was the issuance of a communique at the end of the meeting.

It should be noted that CISLAC had on 5th and 6th September 2023, trained Civil Society actors and community observers on early warning signals and security agencies including local vigilante group were trained on early response mechanisms respectively.