CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
Philip
Klapt (2002). Observes that during the 1990s, human rights issues became more
prominent, both in public policy and public opinion. Many governments
officially incorporated human rights principles in their policy frameworks,
with legal implications. Many international institutions (notably the United
Nations agencies) ‘mainstreamed’ human rights.
The media
reflected this upsurge of interest in its coverage of human rights stories.
Today the mass media make reference to human rights in their coverage more
often and more systematically.
As
in all areas of reporting, influence of this process is disproportionately
concentrated in Northern countries, where the most powerful governments and the
most influential media organisations tend to be located. (http:://www.journalism.org)
This has
significant implications on perceptions of human rights reporting, on what
stories editors and journalists prioritise and how those stories are written.
In general, human rights are perceived in Northern countries, and by
international media, to be a ‘foreign’ matter that concerns principally less
powerful countries.
By contrast, for
journalists in the latter type of countries, for whom human rights issues are
less distant, international reporting of human rights is perceived often to be
inadequate, superficial and subject to bias precisely because Northern
countries tend not to apply human rights principles to their own societies.
Goldiom
P. L (2000). Maintains that though journalists have expanded coverage of human
rights into new areas, many human rights issues are underreported by the media.
Much reporting focuses on violations of rights during conflicts.
Human
rights issues that are less visible, or slow processes, are rarely covered.
Human rights are still taken largely to mean political and civil rights, and
the importance of economic, social and cultural rights is largely ignored by
the media in their coverage of economic issues, including the international
economy, poverty, inequity and social and economic discrimination. Goldiom P. L
added.
Philip
Klapt (2002). The media do not explain and contextualise human rights
information as well as they might. In general, data on human rights violations
and on human rights standards are not lacking. However, the impact of this
information on the public is not as great as might be expected. The media miss
human rights stories because they do not pay attention to the specific legal
and policy implications they have.
Often, they do
not have adequate knowledge of human rights and its relevance to the material
they are covering. The media frequently also miss the context of human rights
stories. These shortcomings diminish the professional quality of reporting, and
hamper the communication of information that is sometimes essential for understanding.
They indicate that the profession should identify or improve reporting and
editorial standards in order to enhance the accuracy and consistency of human
rights coverage.
Meanwhile,
Human Rights Organisations have become increasingly active players in relation
to the media. They have always been a key source of information. In recent
years, the larger agencies have responded to the new media environment by
developing their media operations. Most have press offices, staffed by
professionals.
To this end, the
research will examine the level of Nigeria newspapers coverage of
human right issues using the Punch newspaper and \Nigerian tribune as a case
study.
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