Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Emomotimi Dennis Guwor has challenged journalists in the State on the need to continue to uphold the ethics of the profession in their routine reportage.
Rt. Hon Guwor who gave the charge when he played host to a team of Assembly Correspondents who were in his Office on a thank-you visit at the resumed plenary, urged media professionals to shun pecuniary interest in their reportage.
While saying that the profession had in the recent time been invaded by quacks who for ulterior motives engaged in malicious reports, Guwor who is the National Treasurer, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria, urged the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to seek ways of weeding the profession of quackery.
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The Speaker decried the rates at which some journalists were readily available for use to blackmail and pull down people, and stated that integrity remains the key to success and happy life.
He lauded the Assembly Correspondents for their due diligence and balanced reportage in covering activities of the House just as he enjoined them to sustain the tempo.
“The reason why we are here is to better ourselves. That is the truth. All you need as reporters is to do the best and be the best.
“You should be ready to give the best to our people. So, I want to encourage you to continue to do what you are doing. You should do it without any form of bitterness or for pecuniary gains.
“For Nkem my Chief Press Secretary. I knew him as Assembly Correspondent since 2007 and I had watched him closely and today is CPS to Mr Speaker. People are watching you too and you can be picked for higher assignment by anybody.
“Experience has shown that within the journalism profession, there are some people whose interest is based on immediate reward, so, they resort to unnecessary blackmail. These are majorly quacks within the profession. They blackmail people in order to make it quick.
“But for you who are professionals, you may not get immediate reward as it were, but you should continue to uphold the ethics of the profession, because, there is always a pay time for every good work” Guwor Said.
The Speaker said the 8th Assembly under his watch would not in any way gag the press, just as he urged the media to always approach his office or that of any lawmaker in the State to seek clarification on any issue before going to press.
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Earlier, Mr Andrew Ikehi, Leader of the Assembly Correspondents, told the Speaker that they were in his office on a thank-you visit for the robust and symbiotic relationship that existed between him, other lawmakers and the media in the outgone year, 2024.
Saying that they never had it so good, Mr Ikehi expressed gratitude to Rt Hon Guwor for all the efforts in making their Christmas and New Year celebrations memorable, including “the first of its kind elaborate hosting by his Chief Press Secretary, tagged “Breakfast With CPS to Mr Speaker”.
While suing for a sustained collaboration, Ikehi pledged the Correspondents’ unalloyed support and determination towards ensuring a hitch-free reportage in subsequent years.
