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Otu tasks Chronicle board on fact-checking
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Ebri seeks restoration of lost archives
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Ekpu backs print revival
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The Federal Government says it is strengthening the nation’s information ecosystem to restore public trust through honest communication, credible journalism and modern infrastructure.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this in Calabar during the commissioning of the state-of-the-art Cross River Government Printing Press and the remodelled Cross River State Newspaper Corporation complex.
Idris said the investment by the Cross River State Government under Governor Bassey Otu was critical at a time when many newspapers were struggling to survive.
“Today is about much more than opening a building or providing equipment. It is about restoring an institution, preserving institutional memory and renewing confidence in the newspaper profession and indeed the media profession itself,” he said.
The minister noted that while technology had changed the tools of journalism, it could not replace the core values of the profession.
“Technology may change the tools of journalism, but it cannot replace truth, it cannot replace accuracy, it cannot replace fairness. It should be a centre for credible journalism, digital innovation, professional development and meaningful public engagement,” Idris said.
He added that government documentation remained indispensable even in the digital age.
“A government that does not preserve its records risks losing its history. A people who do not document their journey leave others to tell their story for them,” he said.
Idris said restoring public trust in government communication had been at the heart of the mandate of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
“Government must earn the trust by speaking honestly to citizens, explaining decisions with clarity, acknowledging challenges where they exist and listening to public concerns. Public trust cannot be commanded, it must be earned,” he stated.
The minister urged journalists and media professionals to uphold ethical standards amid growing pressure for speed and sensationalism.
“Journalists must interrogate claims, verify before publishing and resist the temptation to sacrifice accuracy for speed or sensationalism. Political affiliation must never be allowed to displace professional judgment,” he said.
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He also commended the Cross River State Government for its commitment to strengthening information dissemination across broadcast, print, digital and government documentation platforms.
Idris called on the management and staff of the new information hub to take responsibility for sustaining the facility through professionalism and sound management.
Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, in his remarks, challenged the Editorial Board of the Nigerian Chronicle to develop a Critical Response Initiative (CRI) in Information Management in order to keep the reading public abreast of breaking news, provide push-back against misleading information and other emergency happenings within and outside the state.
“As a conventional media outlet, you should always verify facts before publication; as falsehood and sensational information is only consigned to the social media and other new media platforms.
“Another critical assignment of your newspaper is to propagate every development milestone achieved by this administration for public information and appraisal.
“You should equally bear in mind that not all public perceptions are realities; so you need to sieve out propaganda from every happening within and outside the state,” the governor said.
A former governor of the state, Clement Ebri, who began his journalism career at the Nigerian Chronicle in 1978, said the revival must include the restoration of the newspaper’s archives destroyed during the 2020 #EndSARS crisis.
He appealed to Cross Riverians to donate old copies, photographs and cuttings of the Chronicle to help rebuild the archives, saying when people lose their records, they lose part of their collective memory.
Ray Ekpu, a former editor in the organisation, thanked the governor for reviving the facility, saying it was like a homecoming for him and that the remodelled facility would bring people back to work.
He also maintained that, though there had been advancement in technology, the print media was still supreme.
The Chronicle newspaper and printing press was established in 1974 by former military administrator of Cross River State, the late Brig. UJ Esuene.
The corporation was extensively looted and vandalised during the #EndSARS protest and left in desolation before its revival by the Gov. Otu administration.
