Unethical Practices among Journalists and the Nigerian Public Sphere

Abstract

Over the years, the question of unethical practices among journalists in Africa and Nigeria in particular is such that has continued to attract attention and generate issues of various sorts. Despite the legal framework and regulatory bodies such as Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other professional associations to checkmate the excesses of journalists, the efforts seem unyielding as these practices continue to generate multiple images about journalism and journalists alike before the Nigerian publics. Rather than enjoying public trust and confidence, skepticism and uncertainty have dominated the Nigerian public sphere regarding journalists. Hence, this paper takes a theoretical approach to examine the question of unethical practices among Nigerian journalists, giving a conceptual clarification and historical framework in order to make the paper a scholarly piece.