Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Wednesday tasked the media to focus on developmental issues that could positively impact the country rather than propagate hate speech or engage in fake news.

Okowa, represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Charles Aniagwu, gave the charge at the 5th Annual Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) in Asaba.

The conference has the theme: “Media Narratives: Hate Speech, Fake News and Political Stability in Africa”.

According to him, hate speeches and fake news would remain a challenge to the country until Nigerians imbibed the attitude of nationalism to conquer them.

He said that the media had the responsibility of ensuring development in the country and unity of its people.

“The media has the onerous responsibility of setting the agenda, but today, the media is rather propagating the agenda thereby giving room for hate speech and fake news,” he said.

The governor said all Nigerians, including media practitioners, had the collective responsibility to make the country progress.

On that note the governor said, “I want to plead with the media, members of the pen profession, and the entire Nigerians to realise that we have no other country but Nigeria.

Hence, he added, “It is our responsibility to ensure its existence and to develop it”.

However, the Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire, said it had become a daunting task to curb hate speeches and fake news.

Oyovbaire, former Minister of Information, said modern trend and advent of new technologies and the social media had made it difficult to curb hate speeches and fake news.

He said it had become difficult for the media regulating agencies in Nigeria to check hate speeches and fake news now that everyone had become a “journalist” who could use his/her phone to report news.

“It is difficult to control without licensing as you may be infringing on people’s right to freedom; today we have the market women who have become journalists reporting anything.

“Today the conveyance of hate speech, fake news is becoming an industry and that is what sustains the conveyors particularly now that the old media is going, if not completely gone.

He said though, the complexity of the challenge seemed more difficult to deal with, media practitioners must not add to make it worst.

Earlier in his welcome address, Prof. Lai Oso, President, ACSPN, noted that times were challenging as new phenomena were revealing themselves while the old ones were assuming new dimensions.

Oso affirmed that the challenges were also demanding new thinking, understanding and explanations for the media practitioners.

Thus he said, “Public trust in the media has waned overtime due to ethical and professional inadequacies.

“There is a general belief that the media are failing in serving the public interest and the requirements of democracy,” he added.