President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerian journalists to uphold the highest standards of professionalism by prioritising accuracy, credibility and responsible reporting over sensationalism and the pursuit of online popularity. The President made the appeal on Thursday at the maiden State House Media Dinner held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,……
President Bola Tinubu has called on Nigerian journalists to uphold the highest standards of professionalism by prioritising accuracy, credibility and responsible reporting over sensationalism and the pursuit of online popularity.
The President made the appeal on Thursday at the maiden State House Media Dinner held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he reaffirmed his commitment to press freedom while urging practitioners to exercise their rights responsibly.
Describing himself as a longstanding advocate of media freedom, Tinubu said a vibrant and independent press remains indispensable to democracy but cautioned that freedom of expression must not be used to spread misinformation or incite the public.
“I am an apostle of a free press. I have defended and advocated for the rights of the media throughout my public life and will continue to do so,” he said.
The President stressed that journalists have a duty to report with accuracy and restraint, especially in an era marked by widespread misinformation, artificial intelligence-generated content and digital manipulation.
“While press freedom and free speech remain the bedrock of an open and democratic society, journalists and citizens must also not forget the imperative of balancing rights with responsibility and the duty you hold to society to report and inform with care and accuracy to facts and in a manner that ensures the society is not set on fire,” he said.
He urged media practitioners to uphold ethical journalism by placing truth above online engagement.
“The media must choose fact over falsehood. The media must choose substance over sensation. The media must choose credibility over clickbait and the endless race for followers, likes, and viral outrage,” Tinubu stated.
According to him, the role of professional journalists has become even more critical as false information and deepfake content continue to proliferate across digital platforms.
“The public depends on journalists not merely to report events but to separate fact from fiction, truth from speculation, and evidence from opinion,” he said.
“In a world where everyone with a smartphone is now a journalist, the responsibility of professional journalism has never been greater.”
Tinubu also emphasised that constitutional guarantees of free speech and press freedom should not be misconstrued as licences to defame or deliberately mislead the public.
“Freedom of expression is not freedom to defame,” he said, adding that “press freedom is not freedom to deliberately mislead.”
The President described the relationship between government and the media as one built on accountability, mutual responsibility and democratic oversight rather than hostility.
“We are adversaries only in the democratic sense, as the media constantly distrust those in power. In nation-building, we are partners,” he said.
He added that while government is responsible for delivering leadership and public service, the media has the obligation to scrutinise those in authority and keep them accountable.
“Government exists to serve the people through leadership, policy, and public service. The media exists to serve society by watching those entrusted with power, asking difficult questions, and holding government accountable,”Tinubu said.
The President acknowledged that tension between government and the media is an essential feature of democratic governance.
“Government must act. The media must watch. Government must explain. The media must question. That arrangement guarantees a certain level of tension,” he said.
Tinubu also defended existing legal frameworks regulating the digital space, including the Cybercrimes Act, saying they were introduced to protect citizens from online abuses rather than restrict press freedom.
“The media space is no longer an unregulated frontier. Nigeria has enacted laws, including the Cybercrimes Act and other relevant legislation, to protect citizens from malicious falsehoods, cyberstalking, identity theft, and other abuses that increasingly accompany the digital age,” he said.
He added: “These safeguards are not intended to weaken press freedom. Rather, they exist to protect citizens and preserve the integrity of our information ecosystem.”
