From Tunde Rahman, Lokoja
Journalists covering the November 16, 2019 have been admonished to shun sensational writings and reports that can lead to crisis in the state, News Hub Mag! reports.
This call was made in Lokoja weekend by the Director General of Conscience for Human Rights and Conflicts Resolutions, Comrade Idris Abdul Miliki at a day stakeholders meeting.
He urged journalist to avoid the use of any language that could lead to conflicts and thereby lead to later violence.
“Some campaign signs and symbols can lead to hate speech in some areas while it has no meaning in other areas;
“For instance, the double four fingers use by APC has different meaning to some people in another area, we need to watch for party symbols that can lead to hate speech.”
On the issue of vote buying and selling he submitted that there is need for journalists to widen the enlightenment scope and let the people know the dangers in buying and selling of votes.
He said vote buying and selling are other forms of electoral corruption.
In his remarks, the Independent Electoral commissioner for Kogi state, Prof James Apam expressed gratitude to the convener of the meeting and saying the fight against fake news should be all inclusive.
“Fake news has damaged the peaceful coexistence of many stable nations of the world, the Rwanda genocide is a very bad one for Africa. Let us therefore maintain the check and balance in out reportage” he admonished.
The meeting had in attendance many media executives and bloggers.
