CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
There are legal and social problems to have continued to restraint the Nigerian Journalist from adequate and effective news reporting. These laws are meant to dictate to journalists what they should and should not publish. Whether in a military or civilian government, these laws are always there to serve the objectives of the powers that be, and to brow beat the press. In the past military dictatorship, many journalists and reporters suffered all sorts of deprivation and depredations. When the military relinquished power to a democratically elected civilian government in May 1999, there was general relief owing to belief that members of the “fourth estate” of the realm would have relative freedom. However, this is not the case. This article examines this and other issues pertaining to press freedom in the present democracy.
In concluding this article, it will be pertinent to reiterate the idea that the level of democracy in any nation is determined by the government media relationship of that nation.
In spite of the turbulent circumstances in which Nigerian press finds itself, it will continue to be the mouthpiece of the people because it seems that government has mastered the art of hide and seek and the press has got the will and tenacity to find the administrative gimmicks of the government and inform the press is usually the mirror through which the public sees how the state is run. This was put in a more succinct way when an American justice, George Sutherland, had this to say about press freedom in 1935: “a free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it be fettered is to be fettered ourselves”. This goes to say that, the freer the press of any nation, the freer the people. Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to a free society (Umechukwu, 2003:12).
Only a free press can endure the exposure and sustain democracy and development. A lot of changes could come if the press was allowed to operate unrestricted. In many developing countries, journalist continue to be harassed and killed for their constituent; and citizens often are unable to assert their rights to access information needed to make good decisions.
Through the incidence of harassment and detention of journalist in Nigeria has subsided since 1998, the importance of press freedom as a cornerstone of human rights and a guarantee of other freedom has been the hallmark of media is referred to as fourth estate of the realm, is assumed to be their arbiter, the umpire and its executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The press stands between the government and the masses and it is through the press that the voices of the masses are heard.