SPORTS MINISTER TASKS JOURNALISTS ON FAIR REPORTING

|By Oluseyi Adedire|

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The minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare has called on journalists to always find the truth about their stories before pushing it to the public.

The minister made the remarks at the ongoing Oyo State SWAN Week competition at the Lummy's Turf Arena, Idi Odo, Challenge, Ibadan. He called on sports writers to push out the truth through their reports and conduct thorough investigations. He said he disagreed that there are two sides to a story because a journalist in the course of writing his story can get many sides to it but added the minimum is two.

"I want to urge you to continue to disseminate information to the public objectively. Try as much as possible not to mislead the public with the information you give. Information is key and it’s power. The essence of journalism is to reach the general public with useful, important and educative information. You are not a true professional when you bank on just a source to write your stories. I see this everytime and as a sports minister, I shake my head and I ask myself if the writer is a journalist. Please try to be objective as you can because objectivity will serve you well as it will make people to give you that respect anytime they meet you," he said.

"Sports writing is a noble profession and I’m glad I’m back in my constituency to celebrate with you. Journalism brought me to limelight and laid the foundation for what I am today. Each time I’m being called upon by the pen pushers, writers, the media practitioners and members of the fourth estate of the realm, I have no other choice but to yield to their call."

The minister was later presented with an award of excellence by the SWAN chairman, Niyi Alebiosu.