The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Anambra Broadcasting Service, ABS, Dr Uche Nworah has assured that broadcast stations in Anambra State will adhere to political broadcast guidelines in their reportage of the November sixth Anambra governorship election.

 

Dr Nworah stated this at a one-day sensitization workshop organized by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to educate broadcasters in Anambra State on the rules of engagement for political coverages and reportage, especially as the Anambra gubernatorial election draws closer.

 

Correspondent Daniel Ezeigwe reports that the one-day workshop which was attended by heads of broadcast media outfits in Anambra State, broadcast journalists, and On Air Personalities, also sought to refresh the minds of broadcasters on the content of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, and other important information, especially the do’s and dont’s guiding political broadcast.

 

Speaking on behalf of the media heads that attended the workshop, Dr Nworah, who promised to retrain his staff on the knowledge of the NBC codes, appealed to the commission to always engage in diplomacy instead of immediate sanctions in rare cases when a media station unconsciously go against the legal provisions protecting broadcasting.

 

Dr Nworah noted that media heads in the state have also been helping to ensure that staff follow the legal broadcast guidelines through self-monitoring, stressing that the only way to build a robust relationship with regulators is by doing the right thing.

 

He assured the NBC that broadcasters in the state would always play by the rules, and display thorough professionalism before and after the November poll.

 

Representatives of the Department of State Security, Anambra State, Nigeria Police Force, Anambra State Command, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Anambra State also gave their inputs to the discussion.