Nigerian military threatens journalist for not revealing sources

Abuja, Nigeria, August 18, 2016 -- The Nigerian military should cease threatening freelance journalist Ahmad Salkida with prosecution for not acting as an informer, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The military has said the journalist could face terrorism charges if he does not provide it with information he gained in the course of his reporting on the militant group Boko Haram. In a statement carried by Nigerian news websites on August 14, military spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman declared Salkida and two civil-society workers - Aisha Wakil and Ahmed Bolori - "wanted for interrogation" regarding the location of over two hundred school girls Boko Haram abducted in April 2014. In the statement, Col. Usman invoked the 2011 Terrorism Prevention Act, under which "Nigerians could be punished for failure to disclose information about terrorists or terrorists' activities." He said, "We are also liaising with other security agencies for their arrest if they [fail] to turn up." Salkida has lived in the United Arab Emirates since August 2013. "Journalists must sometimes rely on the trust of dangerous people. Coercing them to become informants risks putting all journalists under suspicion and in danger," CPJ West Africa Representative Peter Nkanga said. "Nigeria's military should not threaten Ahmad Salkida and instead ensure that he is free to work." On August 16, Nigerian Director of Defence Information Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar said that the military was only inviting Salkida and the two civil-society workers for questioning. "We are only inviting them to shed light on pending issues that will support current military efforts, and not to arrest them," Abubakar said in remarks quoted by the broadcaster Channels Television.  Salkida wrote on his personal blog on August 15 that he would accept the military's invitation. The journalist told CPJ that he believed the military was trying to punish him for his persistent reporting on Boko Haram since 2006. He said that he had returned to Nigeria three times since May 2015 at the invitation of various federal government agencies. Salkida told CPJ that he feared for his life, and that anonymous callers had threatened him about his articles and posts to social media websites and his contacts with Boko Haram. Salkida has received similar threats in the past, CPJ reported at the time. Salkida has been covering  Boko Haram since mid-2006. Police detained him in 2009 over his reports on the activities  of the militant group when he was a reporter for the independent Daily Trust newspaper. He fled his home in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri in July 2011 after callers identifying themselves as Boko Haram members threatened him with death, following the publication of his profile of Boko Haram's first suicide bomber. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed thousands of people, including Nigerian television journalist Zakariya Isa, who the organization claimed was a spy for the government.

CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Contact: Angela Quintal Africa Program Coordinator +1 212-300-9004 Email: aquintal@cpj.org Kerry Paterson Africa Senior Research Associate +1 212-300-9031 Email: kpaterson@cpj.org Peter Nkanga West Africa Representative Email: pnkanga@cpj.org

What journalists should know before covering the Rio de Janeiro Olympics

Sam Berkhead | August 03, 2016

On Friday, the world’s attention will turn to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games — along with some 30,000 journalists set to descend on the city.

The lead-up to the Games hasn’t been without its controversies. The Zika virus, Brazil’s preparedness, water safety for athletes,archaeological disputes and human rights concerns have all cast a pall over the event. That means there’s no shortage of stories for journalists to pursue outside the athletic events — but at the same time, this year’s Games offer up a series of unique journalistic challenges.

So what should journalists know and understand before heading to this year’s Games? Check out these tips and takeaways:

Safety

Journalists heading to Rio face two main health and safety threats: Zika and crime. Because it’s currently the dry season in Brazil, the risks of contracting Zika are much lower. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a guide to Olympic travel that contains useful tips.

And fortunately, while the crime rate in Rio de Janeiro state increased compared to last year, visitors are “statistically very likely to be safe,” according to local security specialists.

To make sure you’re prepared for any potential safety threats, IJNet’s Journalism Safety Toolkit can be a helpful starting point. This video from the International News Safety Institute (INSI) goes more in-depth with the risks that journalists in Rio may face:

Finding underreported topics

As stated before, there are plenty of topics for journalists to examine in Rio outside of the actual Olympics themselves. Outside of reporting on sporting events, journalists will also have the opportunity to report on issues that affect the average Rio resident rather than tourists or athletes. Narratives surrounding the city’s water quality, for example, tend to focus on health risks to Olympic athletes rather than the impact it has had on locals’ livelihood.

“There are incredibly important considerations around finance and sporting events,” said journalism professor Laura-Jane Filotrani in an interview about how reporters could cover the Olympics with London South Bank University. “Where is the funding for the Games coming from? What are the implications? What are the benefits or losses post-Games, for the host city and its residents?”

Nor should journalists feel compelled to paint the Games as a resounding success for Brazil, following conventional narratives. The Olympic Games are notorious for placing immense economic and social strain on their host cities, and recession-hit Rio de Janeiro is arguably especially vulnerable. This creates a wealth of stories that will need to be told long after the closing ceremony on August 21.

“If there’s one mistake that international media should avoid, it is letting the big sporting event overshadow critical narratives, and then abandoning them completely once the circus leaves town,” Cerianne Robertson, research coordinator and writer at Catalytic Communities (CatComm), wrote in Politico.

Avoiding cliché

While Rio de Janeiro is a distinctive city, it’s important for journalists to avoid falling into traps of cliché, inaccuracy and sensationalism, Robertson explained. For example: Rio is not, as some articles have suggested, the capital of Brazil; Brasilia is.

Calling Rio’s favelas — or low-income and working-class communities — slums, shanty towns or ghettos, is a damaging habit foreign journalists have adopted. Sensationalist language referring to favelas as Rio’s “infamous,” “notorious” “underbelly” that contrasts with the city’s beaches and caipirinhas should also be avoided.

“The stigma favela residents face affects their confidence, self-esteem and life opportunities,”CatComm wrote. “This stigma is reinforced every time a reporter revisits the media stereotype of favelas as slums and dark places of precariousness and crime and has serious consequences. Rio’s communities should be recognized for what they are, and named accordingly. As such, we should call them favelas.”

RioOnWatch’s Olympics Resources for Journalists offers helpful tip sheets, guidelines and other resources for reporting on Rio de Janeiro’s favelas.

What every journalist should know about anonymous sources

TOPIC: 

• SPECIALIZED REPORTING

Sherry Ricchiardi | August 02, 2016

During a workshop in South Sudan last year, reporters voiced concern that some media organizations were using anonymous sources to further personal agendas and attack political enemies.

There was a consensus that accurate, fair and reliable reporting was being undermined and that reader trust was at stake in the fledgling democracy steeped in political conflict.

Their ethical instincts rated a gold star.

Media professionals everywhere in the world grapple with the thorny issue of anonymity. It can be a double-edged sword.

According to the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), “Anonymous sources are sometimes the only key to unlocking a big story, throwing back the curtain on corruption, fulfilling the journalistic missions of watchdog on the government and informant to citizens. But sometimes, anonymous sources are the road to the ethical swamp.”

The SPJ code of ethics makes two important points on anonymity:

• Identity sources whenever possible. The public is entitled to as much information as can be provided on sources’ reliability.
• Always question sources’ motives before promising anonymity. Clarify conditions attached to any promise made in exchange for information. Keep promises.

The problem surfaced recently in The New York Times’ newsroom. In March, the newspaper’s top management cracked down on anonymity, sparked by readers’ complaints about “persistent” use of unnamed sources. The new guidelines require editors to approve the use of anonymity in stories.

“Direct quotes from anonymous sources should be used rarely, and only when such quotes are pivotal to the story,” according to the July 15 article explaining the crackdown. “At least one editor must know the specific identity of any anonymous source before publication.”

The tighter standards appear to be working. In July, Phil Corbett, the Times’ associate managing editor for standards, reported a “measurable drop,” around 30 percent, in anonymous sourcing.

Here are some resources that can help. The Online News Association (ONA) offers a Build Your Own Ethics Code tool that contains specific guidance for using anonymous sources. The process focuses on a series of questions:

• What is the source’s reason for wanting not to be identified?
• Is the information available elsewhere?
• Do you trust the source?
• Will the information come out soon anyhow?
• Is the source eager or reluctant?
• Is the source powerful or vulnerable?
• Are the source and information worth going to jail for?

The module reminds us: “Before a journalist grants confidentiality, you should have a detailed discussion of the source’s reasons for wanting to avoid accountability, which is what happens when you don’t name sources. Tell the source that your stories are more credible and your sources more accountable when you use their names and gain a thorough understanding of the source’s motivation.”

When I meet with media managers, I suggest appointing a newsroom committee to develop or refresh guidelines for anonymous sources. I provide a packet of materials — case studies, exercises and handouts — that can help lead the way.

During workshops, I assign participants to provide a story from a newspaper, magazine or online posting that contains unnamed sources. We then work in small groups to decide whether the anonymity was justified using these guidelines:

• Information from source must be important and absolutely vital to the story
• It cannot be based on personal opinion
• Information could not be obtained any other way
• Source is highly reliable and in a position to know

When I use this exercise, I provide a handout created from NPR’s code on anonymous sourcing. This document is comprehensive, easy to digest and can be a model for newsrooms anywhere in the world where journalists are concerned with building trust and credibility.

Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via Thomas Leth-Olsen.

IPC's work in Community journalism (A short documentary on IPC's work in the community)