Two resource books on the reporting of corruption/budget and elections for use by the media, journalists, students and researchers have just been published by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos, Nigeria. The publications were funded by USAID through a grant from PACT, Nigeria.

The resource books are a product of a year-long collaboration between IPC and PACT spanning 2006/2007 during which a comprehensive assessment, study and survey were carried out on the coverage of the two areas of concern by the Nigerian media.

Explaining the basis of the initiative, Lanre Arogundade, Coordinator of IPC, said they were meant to fill the gaps in skills and knowledge so that the Nigerian media could be more professional and socially responsible especially in line with its constitutional obligation. Section 22 of the Nigerian constitution enjoins the media to monitor governance and hold the government accountable to the people.

The book on corruption/budget reporting contains 10 key recommendations for the media to:

• Focus on budget as an all-year issue that spans conceptualization and implementation;
• Generate relevant stories that may guide policy makers as well as civil society in making inputs into budget;
• Accord priority to stories deserving follow-up;
• Follow-up stories on a continuous basis;
• Sensitize the public on the need to monitor budget implementation and ensure transparency and accountability:
• Have an interactive sessions of public officials with the media and civil societies on a quarterly basis so that quarterly or mid-term reports on budget implementation can be shared;
• Organize seminars, workshops and other public interactive sessions in collaboration with civil society organization to create awareness and influence policies;
• Educate the public on the social, economical, political etc. implication of official corruption;
• Intensify lobbying to enable the freedom of information bill receive approval, and
• Collaborate with journalist/mass communication schools to integrate the law into school curricula.

  
The book on Election Reporting is a 128-page compendium on the various assessments of media coverage of the 2003 elections and recommendations on the challenges of reporting the 2007 elections. It documents all the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for media coverage of elections in Nigeria including the Electoral Act 2006, the Nigerian Broadcasting Code (4th edition) and the Code of Ethics for Nigerian journalists.
It also contains the Media Advisory for Coverage of the 20078 elections and the Guiding Principles of Parties and Candidates by the ‘ACE’ (Administration and Cost of Election) Electoral Knowledge Network. It is edited by Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Chair of the IPC board and Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) with contributions by other leading media experts.

Hard copies of the book can be obtained on request (and at certain costs) from IPC’s library. Enquiries could be made by mail (ipc@ipcng.org) or by phone (234-1-8112422)

A one-day conference on News, Accountability and Strengthening Nigeria’s Democracy: The Missing Link organized by the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award (WSIRA), with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), held at the Ostra Hotel and Hall, Ikeja on December 28, 2007. Participants were drawn from the media, press association, NGOs, and academia.

Four papers were presented including the following

Engaging democracy through an investigative reporting: An assessment of the Nigeria media since 1999 2.         Mechanisms for building an investigative culture in the Nigerian media: The case for a newsroom policy

Building media capacity for investigation through training in Nigeria: What kind of curriculum? 4.         Structuring a model guidebook as a resource support for investigative journalism in Nigeria: The critical factors to consider.

Earlier in the conference, participants had observed the role of investigative reporting in
democratic governance while noting that Nigeria’s young democracy can be strengthened through robust coverage of issues regarding good governance. The conference therefore agreed as follows:

hat investigative reporting can stimulate transparency and accountability as well as bring into focus the challenge of conventional wisdom That Investigative reporting widens the debate on public policy and allows for a rethink where necessary.

hat investigative reporting also affords the public the opportunity to strengthen faith in governance – its institutions and officials. That Media organizations should come up with editorial codes or newsroom policy that would serve as framework for investigative reporting

hat the National Universities Commission’s (N.U.C) directive that only Ph.D holders should teach in Nigerian Universities needs to be reexamined to allow to allow the classroom benefit from newsroom experience That Media stakeholders should examine the possibility of developing a mechanism through which journalists and media organizations can access funds for investigative reporting.

hat training and retraining of journalists should be emphasized in order to build their capacity for the challenge of investigative reporting. That media training curriculum should be multi-disciplinary with capacity to develop journalists’ ability for independent research and thinking

hat media training should include a deep understanding of Nigeria – its people, history, cultures, tradition and national objectives. That Nigerian Press Council (NPC), editors and other professionals should discourage beat association

hat all members of media professional bodies should abide by existing code of ethics That there should be collaboration between media professionals and teachers of Mass Communication.

hat there is the need for Nigerian journalists to come up with an operational definition of investigative reporting that captures the country’s normative realities.

The Centre provides resources for journalists in term of books, internet facilities, training in Computer Assisted Reporting and offers them link to self improvement programmes in and out of the country.

The Centre's Conference Hall is also available for Press Conferences, workshops, seminars and roundtable. Several NGOs and other civil society groups and individuals have made use of this facility

The Internet Centre (Cyber café) is open to all members of public but is specifically designed to attend to the needs of journalists, other media workers, NGO workers, students and researchers.