SECTOR 4 The media practise high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. Nigerian media are generally considered to be biased, although there may be a few exceptions. The industry is clearly split along political lines, and it is known with which political movements the different media organisations are friendly, or not. This is the result of a complex interaction of factors such as the economic, political, ethnic and/or religious interests of owners, editors and journalists. In this context, praise-singing and mudslinging are rife; reports can vary from half-truths to wild imaginations. Editors and reporters admit that they often receive stories over the phone from newsmakers. “The sector functions on the principle of ‘who pays the piper calls the tune’.” Bias tends to be more apparent during political campaigns. Other problems include poor language and apparently frequently poor editing processes, even in the biggest newsrooms. In some media outlets, it is common for reporters’ scripts to move straight from the email inbox onto tomorrow’s issue without any copy editing. The result is often devastating, including grammatical and factual errors in headlines. Some in the sector believe the quality of reporting has fallen, compared to the past. Editors complain that finding good journalists is increasingly difficult. The good ones are few and scattered, or have moved to jobs in other sectors. Hands-on training and mentorship is also absent in many newsrooms. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 48 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NIGERIA 2015 2.9 (2008: 2.8; 2011: 2.4)