Should journalists divulge source of information?

Recently, the Chief Judge of Niger State, Mariam Zukogi docked two journalists in the state-owned newspaper ‘Newsline’ for declining to divulge the source of their information over a story bordering on NJC and judges in the state. KEHINDE OSASONA sounds out some legal practitioners on the issue
The CJ should be reported to NJC – Chuks Kalu It is a breach of the fundamental rights of journalists, as long as an off ence was not committed neither were they accused of contempt of court. The new Freedom of Information Act even empowers journalists to go to Chief Justice and ask questions.
For the CJ to arrest journalists doing their job is ultra-vires to the powers of that judge. Even if she thinks an offence was committed, she should report to the police; who will arrest and try them before a different judge, because she can’t be a judge in her own case.
The NUJ should come together and fight by taking the same CJ to NJC, let them determine whether her conduct was proper and let the public know that these things have consequences.
Journalists‘ve rights not to divulge information – Alfred Agu There are very sensitive issues and journalist have the right to protect the source of their information. It is the duty of a journalist to source for information, no matter how he wants to go about it. If he sources for information and there are risks concerning the laws, he still has the right to protect the information. The most important factor is that any information he is churning out to the public should be a proper one.
He is not to mislead the public. As a lawyer, I owe my client the duty to protect his confidential information to me. Compelling a journalist to reveal his information source is an infringement on his right. The judge has gone beyond the powers she’s supposed to wield as a member of the bench.
Freedom of press must be guaranteed – Isaac Anumudu The CJ’s action is an indirect affront on our nascent democracy. Anybody familiar with the history of Nigeria knows that we can only have a successful democracy in Nigeria when linked with an unfettered freedom of the press. To demand and insist that a journalist should divulge the source of his information is to destroy the credibility of the journalism profession, and to interfere with the freedom of the press, which will invariably affect the foundation of our nascent democracy.
Many members of the Nigerian Bar Association have condemned the action of the Niger State Chief Judge, and to have been done by a Chief Judge makes it more condemnable. We are just coming back from a long term military dictatorship and it was the media that was at the forefront of that fight and brought us the democracy we have today. So many journalists lost their lives and some were detained, led by lawyers like Gani Fawehimi for a team of journalists to bring out the evils of military dictatorship that make even a new born person in Nigeria to know that the worst democracy is better than the best military dictatorship. To gag the media is to take us back to those dark days.
The CJ should be called to order – Ugoh Agugam As long as the news is correct, all you have to do is to say this is the right or wrong version of it. That does not give you the right to ask for the detention of journalists. Otherwise, if you continue in that line of action, journalists will be scared of doing their jobs. It is also not right to ask for the disclosure of the source of information. It is the prevention of the freedom of information act which is in practice and that applies to the whole federation and no longer restricted to just the state or matter relating to federal government agencies. If you study it closely, it gives journalists the freedom to do their work without any form of restriction, as long as the information is correct. If the information is not correct, we have measures to apply and you can go to court to fi le charges for the journalist misleading the public. Therefore, you cannot prevent journalists from making statements. It is a very wrong move by the CJ of Niger State and he she should be called to order and corrected.
It is gross intimidation, condemnable – Maxwell Opara In every profession, there must be ethics. If my client makes a confessional statement to me as a lawyer, it is a privileged information and I don’t have any right whatsoever to use it against him. If a journalist publishes his information, it is gross intimidation to ask him to divulge his source. We should condemn it in its entirety because it will go a long way in affecting the freedom of the press and will be a clog on the wheel of our democracy and rule of law. I think what the person should be concerned is whether the information is true or not. There is what we call investigative journalism. If you have your information and you carry out your investigation and confirm that it is real, then you can publish it, no matter whose ox is gored, because you are practising your profession. Why don’t they ask the EFCC or the whistle- blowers to reveal the source of their information? What the judge should be concerned about is pressing for damages if she had been defamed.
Contempt of court against journalist is welcomed if … – Chekwube Ebubealor My opinion on that is this; the constitution is the grand norm and it is the law that governs us; the rule of law per se. The judge in a law court may take decision based on his or her own discretion, and while exercising this kind of power, it should be within the bound of the court and not an abuse of such power. In this particular instance, if the journalists abused the court rules or constituted anything that could warrant contempt of court, why not? But it would not be wise for a judge to do that if they had not done anything that could warrant that. In fact, the affect

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