A Masters Candidate, Reverend Father Victor Makinwa Ogunyemi from the Centre for the Study of African Culture and Communication (CESACC), Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt, Nigeria has urged everyone to celebrate journalists who lose their lives on the fire-line.
The priest who made this disclosure in a statement released on to the Directors’ of Communication in Nigeria maintained that “as the fourth estate of realm, the press is the mirror through which the society looks at itself” which is why the “narrator of the events that unfold in the society” should be treated with respect.
In part, the statement further read: “Today is the World Press Freedom Day which is May 3 every year. It is a day set aside as a special day to celebrate the spirit of journalism and recognises the dedication of journalists.
“It is a day considered an opportune time by the United Nations to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom across the globe, defend the attack on media independence and pay tribute to the journalists who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.”
The cleric stressed that this year’s theme “Journalism under digital siege” implies that, “A free press can be achieved when it is practiced in a free atmosphere; a free press will hold elected leaders to account.
“A free press will x-ray the society without any fear; a free press will be an objective press and a free press will make journalism what it should be, not a shadow of itself.”
The Communication researcher highlighted the fact that “As the day is celebrated, our hearts go to all the journalists who are under siege everywhere, who are being persecuted, the ones that are not finding fulfilment in journalism because they can’t practice the way they should due to heavy hammer on them and who have been killed in the line of duty.”
Fr. Ogunyemi is a priest of Oshogbo Diocese but a Fide Donum (given in good faith) to the Archdiocese of Abuja who is currently pursuing a Master Degree in Pastoral/Communication studies in CIWA.
