A family meeting called by National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has urged broadcast stations to ensure balance and give access to all shades of opinion with due respect to professionalism, the Code and the NBC Act.

Rising from one-day meeting with the theme “Political Broadcasts: Getting it Right,” the participants also recommended the constitution of political broadcast forum at state levels to take into consideration the peculiarities of each state.

The meeting which held March 19 was chaired by Mr. Osa Sunny Adun, president, DBN Television and had in attendance Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, former Minister of State for Information and Communication;  eight state commissioners of Information and two permanent secretaries.

Similarly, there were 115 proprietors/representatives of proprietors of broadcast stations of the federal and state governments, public and private stations across the country.

In his keynote address, Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, director-general, NBC, said the “family meeting was called with a view to strategizing for the betterment of the industry.

Alhaji Garba Bello Kankarofi, registrar, APCON, presented a paper on political adverts and decency, while Mr. Mark Ojiah, secretary to the Commission, gave a welcome address in which he requested for open talks to achieve far reaching resolutions.

The meeting observed that public-owned broadcast stations operate largely as the mouth piece of government instead of representing the whole society while the private stations operate as the mouth piece of the rich and powerful. Thereby the common man is abandoned by both.

They said that instances abound when broadcasting has been used to the detriment of the nation.

Stations are increasingly coming under pressure to polarize the society along the lines of opposing political divides.

According to them, there is near-total absence of proper supervision and gate-keeping by station owners, station managers and editors and that gate-keeping is crucial and through it broadcasters are expected to use their expertise and knowledge to promote generally accepted social values and norms, especially civil and social responsibilities.

They also said that some broadcasters commit serious breaches against the provisions of the Code, which attracts severe sanctions, adding that  active Nigerian Society of Broadcasters is required.

The meeting said that broadcasters need to be wary of “super anchors” that make subjective, unprofessional and abusive remarks without consideration for fair-hearing and that government stations do not have the capacity to say no to their governors/proprietors.

“There is the challenge of disproportionate financial capacity of contending candidates and political parties. However the need for the Commission to ensure fairness cannot be over-emphasized.

Super anchors” make no effort to carry out research on issues they present on radio and television.

There is the tendency for stations to have sympathy for the political views of their owners” they said.

They therefore recommended the establishment of appropriate concept of gate-keeping in order for broadcasters to use their expertise and knowledge to promote civic and social responsibilities.

The meeting also urged the NBC to invite state governors for free discussions concerning ethical broadcasting and that broadcast stations should begin to network among themselves to red-flag unruly staff.

“There is need for effective control of the broadcast media, irrespective of their ownership so that the media is not used to the detriment of the nation.

Political advertising must comply with the APCON Code of Practice, the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and the Electoral Act. In addition, all adverts should be submitted to APCON for vetting” they said.

According to them, both public and private broadcast stations are guilty of some degree of proprietary interference therefore stakeholders should rally round the Commission to sanitize the airwaves and that nobody has the right to abuse anyone on air therefore, stations must stop it. 

“The Commission must provide rules and regulation to protect broadcasters from the excesses of their proprietors. There is the need for mentoring considering the very wide generational gap between the old and new crop of broadcasters.

National interest should be foremost in the mind of broadcasters to ensure peace and stability in the polity. This kind of forum should be organized more often as we approach 2015 elections.

In factual discussion panels, people should be allowed to express their opinion, so long as there is no abuse.

The Commission should ensure proper accreditation of broadcast training institutions and establishments.

 The crisis and disaster situation in places like Borno, whenever on panelist discussion should ensure fair representation of the views and opinions of the people with first hand information on the subject matter.” They concluded.