TheCable

The Department of State Services (DSS) has asked journalists to consider Nigeria’s peculiarities in terms of ethnic and religious diversity in news reportage.

Presenting a paper titled: “Fake News and National Security” at a one-day seminar in Abuja on Saturday, Peter Afunanya, public relations officer of the DSS, urged journalists to be ethical in their reportage.

The seminar was organised by the DSS and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abuja.

He said that the spread of fake news cuts across all ages, professions, and statuses in this era of social media.

“We believe that in discharging its responsibility, the media must also take into account, the peculiarity of the country in terms of ethnic and religious diversities,” Afunanya said.

“The media must be responsible users of the pen and agenda setting such that the agenda we set must be one that can promote unity, cohesion, and peaceful co-existence.

“When you use your pen to twist facts to suit your emotional and selfish interest and make people of different nationalities fight each other, you are not achieving what the constitution has demanded of you.”

In his keynote address, Emmanuel Ogbeche, chairman, NUJ FCT Council, said that the theme of the seminar was apt considering the current security challenges in the country.

He encouraged his colleagues to discharge their media responsibility in the interest of the public.

Ogbeche called for mutual understanding between the media and security agencies.