NCC does not encourage unruly media practitioners - Essoka

The Vice President of the National Communication Council, NCC, Peter Essoka, has stated that the Council is resolute on cracking down on some “rifraffs” who have taken journalism practice in Cameroon hostage.

“We are progressively cracking down on some rifraffs who have taken journalism practice in this country hostage. We can’t sit and watch the image of this noble profession dragged in the mud or the gutters.”

The ace journalist was addressing the staff of The Post Newspaper in Buea, on Friday, October 24, during an impromptu courtesy visit to the Editorial Office.

According to the NCC acting boss, it is not wrong to criticise, but criticism, he said, must be done in a responsible manner. According to him, journalists must be positively daring and not the type, at whom, the population will point accusing fingers.

“Journalism professionals should adopt the policy of bite and blow. Journalists shouldn’t flareup the anger of the population in the course of performing their duty,” Essoka cautioned.

He said, while working with the State radio, CRTV, some of his radio slots like ‘Reflection’ addressed very critical, but salient societal issues without insulting anyone nor breaching any ethical conduct for that matter. The veteran recapitulated how, in one of his Reflection slots titled Rocking the Boat; he painted a gory picture of the country, but refrained from insulting people and calling names.

Essoka regretted that some journalists in Cameroon have lost that concept and aspect of responsible journalism.

“The journalist should know that elements of responsibility come from conscientiousness. Today, we are talking of Cameroon becoming an emergent nation by 2035. How can we achieve this emergence, if we are the same people running down the image of the country,” he wondered.

He further admonished some vocal media organs, which, he said, are insulting other countries and preaching Pan Africanism, forgetting to know that even the most industrialised nations in the world are interdependent.

Speaking on his recent visit to Lome, Togo, where he attended a seminar on the protection of minors in the media, Esoka lamented the nasty images which are sometimes broadcast on television, without taking minors’ interests into consideration.

“Today, we pick all sorts of images and slam on TV, women and women with exposed breasts, kissing. What are we teaching our children?” Essoka questioned.

The protection of minors in the media, according to the veteran journalist, is a responsibility that has been handed down to professional journalists. He promised that given the means, the NCC would seize the occasion of the Youth Week, in February next year, to organise a seminar on the topic, ‘The protection of minors in the media’.

The Editor-in Chief of The Post Newspaper, Charles Ndi Chia, for his part, thanked his NCC colleague for talking to his staff. According to Ndi Chia, “Sometime it is good to humbly approach the relevant living fountain for professional nourishment.”

He, however, noted, with dismay, that in recent times, some colleagues have tended to abuse the proverbial breast that has suckled them into professional growth.