Between Joe Biden, Samoa Loan and Tinubu
By Tunde Asaju
So, we were trained to keep reportage to facts and make our opinions separate. That, I believe is elementary journalism.
In practical terms, that would mean that except there are parameters for judging the success or otherwise of a presidential debate for instance, you cannot editorialize on its outcomes.
But ever since the #Biden/#Trump debate, powerful media houses have qualified Biden’s performance as “disastrous”. And I mean all of them. It’s now an adjective to qualify Biden.
I personally think Mr. Biden should go home and enjoy the chances life has offered him. He has spent most of his adult life as an elected official and stands to lose nothing retiring. But the journalist in me says his attempt at sticking it out should not be described as “disastrous”.
Methinks only members of his party and Americans have the right to adjectify that performance, NOT the media.
We are at that level where you should subject all that you read, watch or hear from the media to the crucible of objectivity. There is unbridled lies, propaganda and objectification in all that the media reports these days. And this is not how we were taught to report.
So, my company #dailytrust has slipped into the realm of reporting on the so-called Samoa loan. Personally, I think Nigeria should not be accepting loans. We have never justified what we do with these loans.
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Now, if loans come with fine prints, i.e. conditionalities that challenge our norms and ethos, they should be rebuffed. I don’t give a rat’s behind what people do in the comfort or discomfort of their bedrooms and I don’t think that anyone should legislate whatever happens in the other room.
That Media Trust chose the sexual permissiveness tie to the Samoa loan is, in my opinion in line with the overriding interest of majority of its readers – Nigerian, northern, perhaps Islamic. In the rat race to keep dwindling readership, media organizations keep pandering to things that appeal to their audience. Is that a good thing? Well, the jury is out on that.
As long as it reported in good conscience, it should not be apologizing for taking that stance any more than Tinubu’s paper, The Nation keeps harping on its ‘apology.’
However, if Media Trust management believes it has kept its head off the swivel on this issue and has made its stance known, it should be forgiven. The adage is that no human can walk without shaking their head.
Let’s move on to things that matter – the economy that drives lives and living conditions. The hike in the price of petroleum products and essential commodities and how to navigate a changing world. People should not kill a media house for one ‘mistake’ it has acknowledged.
We should keep looking for answers to Bob Marley’s epic question – are you satisfied, with the lives you’re living? If we, as a people have lost track of where we came from, do we know where we’re going? Those are the questions that matter, not really whether Adam is married to Adam and Eve is cavorting with her kind. Are those important – in the realm of spirituality, yes, but it doesn’t affect the price of tomato in Wuse, Bodija, Sabon Gari or Rumuola market.
Bottom line – head on a swivel guys.
*Asaju is a columnist with Daily Trust.*
