A don, Rev (Prof) Andrew Ijwo, has advocated professionalism in media practice.
Prof Ijwo who lectures in the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies at the Rev Father Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi (MOAUM), formerly Benue State University, gave the charge during his inaugural lecture delivered at the College of Health Sciences, MOAUM.
The head, Department of Development Communication, charged journalists and media owners to place public interest above every other pecuniary interest in the discharge of their duties for a better society.
According to him, professionalism would continue to be a mirage if practitioners do not strive to set and maintain a standard for the media profession.
He stated that quackery persists in Journalism because, “Many media workers have not passed through the same prescribed compulsory training for certification and licensing” before practicing as is obtainable in Medicine, Engineering or Law.
He tasked journalists to continue to perform their chief function as watchdog of the society so as not to relinquish its position as the fourth estate of the realm.
Prof Ijwo charged media practitioners to always promote national unity in their reportage and strive to hold leaders accountable for the development of the country.
In his speech, the vice chancellor, Prof Timothy Terseer, represented by the deputy vice chancellor (Academics), Prof Innocent Ogwuche, commended Prof Ijwo for his scholarly presentation and charged media practitioners to continue to uphold the ethics of the profession.
The inaugural lecture is the 30th in the series and the first in the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, MOAUM.
The first to deliver an inaugural lecture at the university and a former vice chancellor of the institution, Prof Paul Sorkaa and several other scholars, attended the lecture.
