Stakeholders in the media industry in the country have called for regulation of the social media to curb its negative effects on innocent citizens.
They made the call at a one-day Workshop on Media Content and Inclusive Governance on Tuesday in Osogbo.
The workshop tagged “Open Naija. com,“ was organised by RAVE 91.7 FM, Osogbo.
Mr Russell Brooks, Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate in Lagos, said the workshop focused on the negative effects of social media and its destructive role in spreading misinformation to unsuspecting public.
Brooks said the traditional media had a role to play in curbing the negative effects of certain element of social media.
He said it was the responsibility of the traditional media to help the public to be more aware of happenings, to curb the negative effects of social media.
Brooks said this would help the public to have more confidence in the information they were receiving.
He urged media owners to always put the interest of the public above their personal interest.
Mr Femi Adefila, CEO of RAVE FM 91.7, said the workshop was also aimed at closing up the noticeable gap in the media reporting.
Adefila said it was discovered that the media focused more on reporting the elite than the ordinary people.
“We discover that our attitude to reporting ordinary people as media practitioners leaves much to be desired.
“And the only way to bridge the gap is to call the attention of the practitioners to it so as to open the media space for the ordinary people.
“It is important we pay attention to ordinary people in our reporting and not elite dominated media, “he said.
He also said there was an urgent need to curb the negative effects of the social media which he said was destroying and misinforming the people.
Mr Lanre Agunbiade, the Director of International Press Centre, urged media practitioners to make use of Freedom of Information law to put political leaders on their toes.
Agunbiade, who described FOI as a powerful tool in checking activities of government, said media practitioners should make use of it in order to make governance more transparent.
Dr Bisi Olawumi, Head, Department of Mass Communication, Adeleke University, Ede, Osun said the issue of ownership in the media organisation needed to be addressed to minimise self serving reportage. (NAN)
