By Jonathan Ugbal; Government House Correspondent
The fourth estate of the realm like many other disciplines and professions has had its share of ethical challenges with calls from several fora urging journalists to always live above board.
The Chairman, of the Association of Cross River Online Journalists, ACROJ, Mr. Iwara Iwara, recently stressed the need for the challenge to be tackled describing the commitment of the media on discharging its duty effectively as a panacea for positive and sustainable development of society.
Mr. Iwara made this call at an enlarged editorial board meeting of CrossRiverWatch.com which had in attendance personnel from the news, editorial and marketing departments of the organization, with the Personal Assistant to Governor Ben Ayade on New Media, Mr. Eval Asikong, also present.
Mr. Iwara who is also the Publisher of calitown.com, further stressed the need for professionalism urging all to live above board. “I once told myself we need to take news from the hands of the government, because it was sort of monopolized which was not healthy. We must not just show commitment in what we do, we must show greater commitment to achieve set goals conscious that progression is arithmetic not geometric.” he said.
On content he said “we may befriend the government but let us not sleep with them. We must uphold the truth and above all stay away from what some call ‘kumta’, we must live above board”.
Also speaking, Publisher of CrossRiverWatch, Agba Jalingo appreciated the effort of Team CrossRiverWatch, charging them to always be professional in discharging their duties and expressed optimism regarding the future of cyber-journalism not only in the state but all over the country.
“When I thought of the idea of CrossRiverWatch.com, I wondered and asked myself who I was going to run this with. But we found each other one by one and now we are been recognized and appreciated for our work which is as a result of the work you all have been doing here in the State.
“The reality of the impact we have made is that we have gained the attention of a large chunk of our people and we also now carry a huge responsibility of making sure that the information we give to the public is the truth, factual, verifiable and also presented in a professional manner. We must always adhere to and uphold our integrity in the course of our work and always bear in mind that our pen and our key pads can either build or tear our society apart. Therefore we must leave beyond fear and have the courage to tell the Cross River narrative only with a view to moving our state out of the quagmire.” He said.
The P.A to Governor Ayade on New Media, Eval Asikong in his remarks appreciated the governor for recognizing the importance of the New Media and said the new department created by the governor was poised to add measurable value to the work of the administration. “Any government that needs the inspiration to endure uses the instrument of the media and the present administration has displayed that.” he said.
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