- PLEDGES PARTNERSHIP WITH PRESS COUNCIL
By Rose Oranye
The Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr. Law Mefor, has assured the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) of the state government’s full partnership in its mandate to sanitise the print media and fight fake news.
Mefor, who gave the assurance when the Council’s Liaison Officer in Anambra State, Mrs Vivian Okafor, paid him a courtesy visit in Awka, said accommodating the Press Council within the ministry was a demonstration of the government’s desire for a healthy working relationship.
The commissioner said the ministry’s job is strategic communication – taking government information to the people and correcting negative perceptions driven by mistrust, and explained that Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s administration is working for Anambra 2070, building on the Anambra Vision 2070 document formulated under former Governor Willie Obiano and chaired by Soludo himself, with foundations being laid in roads, hospitals and schools, among others.
He stressed the need for the media to report fairly and tell the truth, stressing that Anambra remains the freest state in Nigeria where criticism is tolerated, but warned against criminal fabrication, citing false claims that the Ekwulobia iconic flyover has integrity issues without any technical test.
“While fair criticism is needed in democracy and helps government adjust, deliberate falsehood damages reputations and misleads the public,” he said, adding that the ministry will collaborate with the Press Council to train journalists on the difference between fair criticism and criminal fabrication.
The NPC Liaison Officer, Okafor, had earlier disclosed that the Council, whose core mandate is checking false news in the print media, will from next week begin reaching out to newspaper houses in Anambra to collect and monitor their publications for authenticity.
She also said the Council plans to collaborate with the South East Development Commission to train journalists on election monitoring and reportage, and expressed readiness to work with the ministry in any area of support.
