Associate Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at Kennesaw State University, Dr. Farooq Kperogi{F.K.}, yesterday, had a tweet session for journalist Ahmad Salkida{A.S} who for some years has reported various beats, the most popular being his reports on Boko Haram{BH}. Excerpts of the tweet session.
A.S: As you were once a reporter, editor and now teacher of journalism what is your advice to me and others reporting conflicts?
F.K: Remember that your reporting can make or break the nation, so be sensitive to what you report on avoid perpetrating stereotypes, reach out to be people who want to bring about peace, not just the war mongers.Be faithful to the facts, let accuracy and verifiability be your watchwords, report all sides to a conflict. It’s a cardinal ethical principle in journalism that we not report on what we’ve not verified.Don’t propagate their willful propaganda that you know to be false. Don’t join them.
A.S: I’ve tried to stick to verifiable claims, reason why I have many materials I obtained, but NEVER published.
F.K: We need peace in Nigeria, and if it would take your intervention to bring this about, why not?
A.S:What is the red line for a journalist with professional access to a terror group?
F.K.: In the interest of the reading public–and of journalism itself–it would help to ignore them. It is natural to harbor suspicions of your colleagues if you’ve been a victim of their vicious professional jealousy. Maybe professional jealousy?
A.S: Is it fair enough that I hardly collaborate with journalists in reporting Boko Haram because of this? Journalists have slandered me far more than security agents, it was a journo that wrote a petition against me
F.K: It is not in the traditional sense of a journalist’s duties, but in the norms of conflict-sensitive reporting, it may be. It is not a crime. It is commendable journalistic bravado
A.S: I’ve predicted nearly everything right, like female suicide bombers in April 2012, but why do I get scorned even by journalists?
F.K.: That is commendable.
A.S: I have also been contacted to negotiate in the past by government, is this part of a reporter’s social responsibility?
F.K: There is always a clash between the needs of government/security agencies and the public’s need to know
A.S.: I can go to Sambisa now to interview Shekau at my own risk, is this a journalistic feat or a crime? I stayed on the story I built a network of sources without betraying my sources, it is difficult for anyone to beat me on this.
F.K.: Journalists have an obligation to reflect all the sides of a story, not just two sides
A.S: Is telling two sides to a story in a war, unethical in journalism? If is ok, why the lack of interest?
F.K: I wouldn’t know. Perhaps it’s because the exclusive access to Boko Haram is limited to you
A.S: Why am I singled out for attacks and not my editors or publishers for my exclusive reports? My interest is ONLY to report as accurately as possible, nothing more.
F.K: Good, ethical journalists protect the confidentiality of their sources. They’d rather go to jail than reveal their sources. Then there is nothing even remotely unethical about your access to the group. You should be commended, not threatened.So long as your access is not a consequence of your membership of the group, it is ethical.
A.S.: I’ve come under threats to betray my sources, even when I made it clear it won’t end the war, what can you say?
F.K.: It is not only ethical, it is also praiseworthy.
A.S.: Sir, is having access to sources in Boko Haram for the use of writing reports unethical? I started with my career trajectory before the Boko Haram story broke. But as someone who was nearly summarily executed and arrested several times for my reports, I always turn them down…I’ve on several occasions declined to even interview Shekau, an opportunity any journalist will run for. Sadly, that was how I ended up being viewed with suspicion. I can get all the scoops I asked, but out of fear I introduced some reporters or forfeit my scoops to avoid being which earned me to acquire invaluable sources. I became the lone journalist in the past 10 years who has enjoyed rare access to BH. I believe it holds potential for a major news break. Despite little interest by many editors I remained persistent. I even dispatched the first ever report on Boko Haram in 2006.
