The attention of the Management of the Port Harcourt Telegraph has been drawn to a publication by the Ministry of Education. In it the Ministry accused the Port Harcourt Telegraph of publishing fake news and dabbling into junk journalism practice.
As a responsible media organ, we have been guided right from our inception in 1999 by universal ethics which are required for the purpose of ensuring objectivity and balance in the presentation of news and information. We have given, and would continue to give opportunity to all who are connected to events to express their own side.
In respect of the news report that the Ministry of Education has raised eyebrows over, we took necessary steps to confirm the official position of the Rivers State Government. We approached the Rivers State Commissioner of Information for the numbers of the Commissioner of Education. He graciously, as a responsible media manager, availed us of the information that we sought. We commend him for so doing.
We state without equivocation that we did not intimate him of our intent. We can only conclude that as a journalist of many years standing, he may not have been unaware of the fact that the Telegraph could have been on the trail of information, particularly after it asked for those phone numbers.
We called the Commissioner of Education, Prof. Ebeku on +234 807 070 9458 twice. That number was not available. We called the second number, +2349015343658, three times. It went unanswered. We did not receive the benefit of a response.
We stated this fact in our report which has become the subject of controversy. We also went ahead to inform our readers online that we would be on the trail of Government officials to obtain a correct perspective of the report.
On Thursday, we called the Commissioner of Education to obtain Government’s side of the story. He requested that we send a text. We did. We have received no reaction. The question to ask is, where did the Telegraph engage in junk or yellow journalism in its effort to get to the truth of the information that it had obtained from some sources?
If the Ministry of Education was aware that there were network challenges on the part WAEC, why did it not inform parents, teachers and the Rivers people, some of who were becoming worried? Why did WAEC which was also aware of technical challenges posed by network not inform the people of Rivers State about difficulties that it was facing at the time; difficulties which may have led to speculations?
Our belief in fairness and objectivity which remain major canons in the practice of credible journalism led us to embark on efforts that we made. We are distressed by the imputation made by the Commissioner of Education whom we tried to reach to tie our report to politics. The Publisher of the Port Harcourt Telegraph is a journalist and a politician. The Telegraph is not. The Telegraph is a public trust and a watchdog devoted to the finest ideals of journalism practice. The Telegraph does not play politics and will not play politics, especially with the news. Besides, we maintained in our report that the government allegedly did not pay. We did not say it did not pay. Journalists are trained as part of their exposure to press law not to engage in defamation. In this instance, we did not defame the Rivers State Government as a publishing institution.
Now that the Ministry of Education has explained its side, the public, particularly parents who have been worried about the development at least can breath signs of relief. We are pained by the comments made by the Commissioner. That’s not who we are.
Signed:
Management.
