At the eleventh edition of the Lecture/Awards at ceremony of Community Newspaper Publishers under the aegis of Association of Community Newspaper Publishers of Nigeria (ACNPN), Delta State Council held at the Secretariat of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Asaba. with the theme “The Role of the Media” “Government And Grassroots For Effective Service Delivery”.
The Senior Policy Adviser to the Governor, Rt(Hon) Solomon Funkekeme in his Lecture presentation the Community Newspapers should Imbibe the virtues of Investigative Journalism.
Funkekeme further noted that the role of the investigative Journalist is to question and probe the actions of those in authority and expose them whenever there is abuse of power
He also stressed that practioners close to the Communities where projects are located, it is the responsibility of the Community Newspaper to carry out Investigation into the Level of diligence and adherence to specifications and standard observed by local contractors in executing projects contracted to them by the government.
Rt(Hon) Funkekeme stated ” Journalism is one of the time honoured profession in the world as watch dogs of the Society. Journalists have moral burden on a personal level as well as societal obligation to the eyes, ear and voice to the people”.
He emphasized that one of the founding fathers of the Country, Former President of Nigeria, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe was a Journalist who set up chains of Newspapers across the country which he used as a weapon to Fight Colonialism, Adding that the campaign against the military for the return of democratic governance that later became a fight, cost some lives, jobs, closure of Newspapers houses and disruption of home would not have seen the light of the day if not for the pivotal role of the Media.
The Senior Policy Adviser explained that in 1887, an American President, Thomas Jefferson, boldly declared that if he had to choose between a government without Newspapers or Newspapers without a government, he should not hesitate a moment to prefer the later.
The genre of journalism which the Journalists are engaged in Community Newspapers, has become the new and effective frontier because the so-called national papers have lost their dominance of the media space.
According to Solomon Funkekeme, a United Nations MacBride commission report in 1980 under the rights and responsibilities of Journalists, recommended the adoption of Investigative Journalism by practictioners
