POLICY BRIEF:How Nigerian Media Can Assist the Government in Creating a Long-Term Social Justice System

Several reports have suggested that Nigeria’s social and justice systems are insufficient to ensure a just society and an equitable allocation of available resources. This has remained the key reason preventing the country from being seen as a place where everyone’s rights are well respected. The bulk of reports and experts have indicated that building a sustainable social and justice system is everyone’s responsibility, from state players to non-state actors. Media has a key function as the fourth estate of the realm, reflecting its position as the fourth in line of social governance.

All over the world, journalism has been used to reveal secrets prominent people and institutions preferred to hide from the public. It has also been used to expose societal decays with a view to calling the relevant people and institutions to accountability. In Nigeria, very few mass media embark on these journalistic roles, although many always educate, inform and entertain the masses. Our analyst and his colleague compared two forms of journalism- investigative journalism (that takes a long time to conclude) and social justice journalism (that aims to enshrine social justice)- within the lenses of ‘Fisayo Soyombo’s style of journalism. They were interested in which of his journalism practices got more attention and reactions from his targets, and which one Nigeria needs to fight social injustice.

They have produced a policy brief based on several analyses of the data collected from Soyombo’s Foundation for Investigative Journalism news website and other sources, pointing out what the concerned stakeholders, most notably government officials, private media administrators, and journalists, need to learn from the emerging insights.

Download the full policy brief here