The Independent Media Commission (IMC) has condemned the Independent Observer Newspaper for a scathing article published in its yesterday’s edition about the former President of Nigeria, Olusengun Obasanjo, of having sex with his son’s wife.
The IMC as a media institution responsible to regulate the activities of media houses, especially in the area of maintaining ethical principles, said that such a practice of “gutter” journalism has the propensity of putting the country’s diplomatic relations into abysmal jeopardy.
The Chairman of the IMC, Rod-Mac Johnson said that in the interest of maintaining sanity in the media landscape, the institution (IMC) condemns such practice, and urged media practitioners to write on issues that are of paramount importance to the country’s development, for example, the pending elections.
IMC’s Consultant, Monitoring, Research and Project Unit, Batilloi Warritay, in making an in-depth analysis of the article, said that the report was culled from articles that had since been written by media houses in Nigeria, and it is circulated right through the internet.
He went on to say that the news is of no significant value to Sierra Leone’s development processes, which is of utmost importance to the people.
He admonished that it is important at this crucial moment to characterize individual (s) with acute appropriateness, and maintain ethical decorum with a deep focus on issues that are relevant to the country.
By Poindexter Sama
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