Penpushing admitted into Guild of Corporate Online Publishers
Penpushing Media has been admitted as member of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), at an induction which took place at Sheraton Hotels, Lagos, which was part of the 3rd Annual Conference of the Guild.
The Nigerian Online Publishers Association, a Non-Governmental, Non-Partisan, Non Profit making organization, for the highest strata of working journalists, registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is established three years ago in a bid to sanitise the industry.
Penpushing reports that, dignitaries at the event include Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Managing Director, The News Group who was the Chairman of the day, Dr. Matthew Kukah who delivered the keynote address, Professor Akpan Ekpo, former Director General, West African Institute for Financial Management and Mr. Mike Ejiofor, former Director, Department of State Service (DSS) among others.
The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, who was the Chief Guest of Honour in his speech said democracy in Nigeria cannot grow without a vibrant media, and therefore called on those in governance to tolerate contrary views and supposedly offensive reportage of events by the media in the interest of the society and growth of democracy in the country.
“You cannot have a democracy without a vibrant media,those who are privileged to be in government would find it tough and indeed very tough because most times, the media bite real hard”, the governor added
“However, as irritating as it might appear to be, especially in the face of rumour, and misquotations, in some cases, the media is nevertheless indispensable to the sustenance, development and deepening of culture of democracy’, he said.
“For those in charge of governance, you need a thick skin; you have to tolerate the media with contrary views because you cannot have a democracy without a vibrant media.There is need for caution, professionalism, the highest value of national security, but above all of these is the need for the respect for individual freedoms, especially the freedom of expression.”
The Governor called on the Media to support fundamental constitutional reforms that would guarantee inclusiveness and create a stable country, pointing out that the Media is the only profession that is saddled with the onerous constitutional responsibility to hold government accountable to its action.
Penpushing also reports that, Dickson noted that, the Media was singled out for this sensitive role because of the consciousness of the framers of the constitution about its importance to the development and protection of democracy in the society.
