{"id":998,"date":"2026-10-24T23:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T23:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/2027-elections-nigerian-journalists-should-collaborate\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T23:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T23:30:45","slug":"2027-elections-nigerian-journalists-should-collaborate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/2027-elections-nigerian-journalists-should-collaborate\/","title":{"rendered":"2027 elections: Nigerian journalists should collaborate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Nigerian journalism enjoyed a double-barrell<\/span>ed celebration of its past.\n<\/p>\n

On Monday, marking 40 years of the assassination of Dele Giwa, the founding editor-in-chief of Newswatch magazine, key industry figures gathered in Lagos as NewsWatch launched a book<\/a>, \u201cDele Giwa\u2019s Granite Journalism,\u201d in his honour.\n<\/p>\n

That was followed on Thursday by the launch, by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development<\/a>, of \u2018Ladbone: A Life in Print,\u2019 honouring Mr Lade Bonuola<\/a>, the former Managing Director of The Guardian, on his 80th birthday.\n<\/p>\n

I join in celebrating both men, whom I am proud to say I met in their prime. \u00a0Although I missed both events, I know that each event was very successful.<\/s><\/p>\n

That is exactly how it should be: an industry\u2019s icons receiving from their colleagues the recognition due to them.\n<\/p>\n

While that will always matter, it is the past. \u00a0That is, the present celebrating the past. \u00a0Now what?\n<\/p>\n

What will the future celebrate of the present, when\u2014if we would admit the truth\u2014our journalism is widely known to have taken a step back?<\/p>\n

Things have certainly changed for the worse in Nigeria, and the quality of our journalism is implicated.<\/p>\n

But there is a path back to those days when politicians respected journalists, media organisations paid good salaries, and print organisations were not ashamed of their circulation figures.<\/p>\n

It begins with journalists refusing\u2014as Messrs. Giwa and Bonuola would have done\u2014to compromise the reporting of the forthcoming elections.\n<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, I called on the mass media<\/a> to recognise this moment and do the right thing. \u00a0I now plead for collaboration in the coverage of the elections.\n<\/p>\n

It is obvious that unlike the mass media in the heyday of Giwa and Bonuola, Nigerian outfits have shrunk in many respects. \u00a0No organisation is in a position to cover Nigeria by means of its own resources alone.\n<\/p>\n

Not if it intends to be honest or thorough or effective, anyway. \u00a0Much of the country is insecure.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure is worse than at any point in the Fourth Republic. Travel is expensive and sometimes dangerous.<\/p>\n

That is a formula for professionalism to be compromised, and elections mismanaged or rigged.<\/p>\n

To overcome those odds, journalism organisations should deploy a new playbook: collaboration.<\/p>\n

There are precedents: In 2018, CrossCheck Nigeria<\/a> came together to combat electoral disinformation.<\/div>\n
In 2023, the Nigeria Fact-Checkers\u2019 Coalition<\/a> brought together 31 fact-checkers from over 12 media and civil society organisations and examined 127 claims within six days of the presidential and governorship elections.<\/div>\n

In 2025, the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase II announced<\/a> \u201cstrategic engagement\u201d with print media organisations to strengthen professionalism in the coverage of elections.\n<\/p>\n

And the basic ideas are already on paper: A recent roundtable endorsed<\/a> a BON proposal for a shared pool of election photographs and footage, and called for insurance cover for journalists, technical staff and equipment. A separate media and civil society roundtable proposed<\/a> a joint fact-checking platform.\n<\/p>\n

What would serve us best is a chartered Election Integrity Newsroom: a standing joint desk with a small secretariat, hosted by a neutral body rather than any one newsroom.<\/p>\n

Member outlets across the 36 states and the FCT would feed the hub, which would verify, standardise, and redistribute content under a shared \u201cverified by the consortium\u201d label.\n<\/p>\n

The charter would establish integrity safeguards concerning membership, verification, independent review, and languages.\n<\/p>\n

Given time constraints, this may be too challenging an arrangement to pull off. \u00a0A more feasible structure would deploy a system of Lead-outlet investigative baskets.\n<\/p>\n

This might involve three or four small task alliances, each led by one strong investigative outlet and including partner newsrooms, a university technology department and a CSO. <\/p>\n

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Related News<\/header>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The following baskets might be used:\n<\/p>\n