AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER nigeria 2011 Summary Nigeria’s media has always been vibrant, with a steadfast commitment by journalists and other media professionals. Since the last Nigeria African Media Barometer (AMB) in 2008, there are a number of indicators that suggest that sustained effort is being made towards the preservation of these core values. The institution of the Ombudsman, which was established in 2009 by the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria [NPAN], is an initiative that underscores the desire by media professionals and proprietors to bring a greater sense of professionalism. By voluntarily choosing to submit the media to public scrutiny through the complaints received by the institution, the media is bringing accountability within its own ranks. There are equally bright prospects for the media following the steady entrenchment of the newfound democratic culture in Africa’s most populous nation. Government attitude towards the media has changed positively with a marked departure from the highhandedness of the past, to the use of legal recourse, when and if necessary, to check any excesses of the media. The 2009 decision by the late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua, to take Leadership Newspaper to court for a report he considered defamatory, is greeted within media circles as a positive ‘First’, because the natural reaction would simply have been to suspend or close the media house. This democratic environment is also promoting the emergence of new legislation that is media friendly. The passage of the Freedom of Information Act in 2011 and the Access to Information Act are two pieces of legislation that will make a tremendous impact on the development of the media and freedom of expression. However, in spite of these positive changes there are a series of relatively new trends that could seriously undermine the development of the media in Nigeria, which has the reputation of being one of Africa’s most robust media power houses. Working conditions for journalists in both state and privately-owned media organisations are simply deplorable. Not only are salaries very low, but they are also paid intermittently, with a cross section of private media journalists being owed arrears of up to ten months. Corruption is eating deep into the fabric of the Nigerian media, and is unfortunately condoned by media proprietors, who sometimes encourage reporters to extort money from news sources in lieu of salaries. The situation is so bad that a panellist summed it by saying: “the integrity of the media is on trial.” Nigeria also occupies the unenviable dark spot of a country where harassment of journalists is still common and where journalists still have to pay the ultimate price – being assassinated in the exercise of their AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2011 5