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Ethical and Legal Issues in Reporting 2015 Nigeria’s General Elections

by Ifedayo Daramola
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Communications on Applied Electronics
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Volume 7 - Number 10
Year of Publication: 2017
Authors: Ifedayo Daramola
10.5120/cae2017652528

Ifedayo Daramola . Ethical and Legal Issues in Reporting 2015 Nigeria’s General Elections. Communications on Applied Electronics. 7, 10 ( Dec 2017), 15-20. DOI=10.5120/cae2017652528

@article{ 10.5120/cae2017652528,
author = { Ifedayo Daramola },
title = { Ethical and Legal Issues in Reporting 2015 Nigeria’s General Elections },
journal = { Communications on Applied Electronics },
issue_date = { Dec 2017 },
volume = { 7 },
number = { 10 },
month = { Dec },
year = { 2017 },
issn = { 2394-4714 },
pages = { 15-20 },
numpages = {9},
url = { https://www.caeaccess.org/archives/volume7/number10/784-2017652528/ },
doi = { 10.5120/cae2017652528 },
publisher = {Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA},
address = {New York, USA}
}
%0 Journal Article
%1 2023-09-04T20:01:48.802069+05:30
%A Ifedayo Daramola
%T Ethical and Legal Issues in Reporting 2015 Nigeria’s General Elections
%J Communications on Applied Electronics
%@ 2394-4714
%V 7
%N 10
%P 15-20
%D 2017
%I Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA
Abstract

News writing and reporting are fundamentals of mass communication. The media lay surveillance on the society to gather and report events with a view to informing the general public and direct them about the step to take in case of impending danger. This role of news reporting is, however, subject to legal and ethical limitations. Ethically, media professionals are expected to adhere to principles of accuracy, fairness and objectivity in news reporting. Legally, the media should adhere to laws of privacy, defamation against the individual citizens and avoid reports that could endanger the sovereignty of a country. Election reporting is no exception. The 2010 Electoral Act in addition to National Broadcasting Code, Advertising Practitioner’s Code and NTA Code, spelt out what and how to report the 2015 general elections. In spite of the laid down rules and regulations, the Nigerian media flouted both law and ethics guiding the election by taking side with certain political party, publishing and broadcasting unethical advertisements and flagrantly published news reports that threatened the existence of Nigeria. Resting on social responsibility and objective theories as its theoretical standpoint, the paper frowns at the performance of Nigerian media during the 2015 election as poor and least expected.

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Index Terms

Computer Science
Information Sciences

Keywords

Election Reporting Ethics Law Accuracy Fairness Objectivity Social Responsibility

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