Sir Paul Nwosu, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, has urged journalists to constantly improve their professional abilities since, despite its best efforts, social media cannot completely replace traditional media.
When Correspondents' Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) visited Nwosu in his office on Wednesday, he made this statement.
He contends that since social media cannot supplant conventional media, journalists should continually upgrade their expertise of the news gathering, processing, and distribution process.
According to Nwosu, simply because someone can afford technological devices and write does not qualify them as a journalist.
He claimed that although social media writers simply sit at their desks and create stories for the public, journalists are taught to analyse information before disseminating it to the public.
“Journalists are trained to disseminate information. They cross-check the facts of what they are putting to the public.
Anyone who can buy a phone and wants to write something can use social media. People write anything they want while sitting in their homes, he said.
He asserts that social media has had no impact whatsoever on national news, stressing that the only place to look for reliable news is in the traditional media.
He emphasised that real people acquire their news from the conventional media by a skilled journalist and claimed that the emergence of social media has led to the spread of fake news and hate speech.
Earlier in his speech, the Chapel's chairman, Chief Chukwujekwu Ilozue, praised the state government, led by Prof Charles Soludo, for the development initiatives it has undertaken.
He claimed that the church has always kept friendly relations with prior administrations and intended to keep those contacts going.
Additionally, he pleaded with the commissioner to support the chapel's upcoming workshop scheduled for November.
Sir Nwosu agreed to help the chapel host the workshop in his response to the address.