The minister of information and supervising minister of defence Mr Labaran Maku has said that the peculiarity of the role of the mass media as the watchdog of the society is a major reason for the exclusion of the industry from those that have benefited from government’s financial lifeline in the last two years.

 Maku stated this during an interview with journalists at remembrance ceremony held in honour of the late founder of the Punch Newspapers Ltd, Mr James Olubunmi Aboderin, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos at the weekend.

 The information minister said the federal government, at the time of considering industries to provide some form of financial support, had also considered the media, but decided against including them to avoid possible ethical compromise by the media players.(Leadership)