The concerns were raised during discussions at the residence of the British Deputy High Commissioner, as part of a three-day media training programme themed, “Advancing Media Freedom through Science and Technology Journalism,” organised at the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University (PAU), with support from the British High Commission.

The event, which brought together journalists, academics, and communication experts, focused on the growing intersection between press freedom, science reporting, technology, misinformation, and ethical journalism in Nigeria.

Opening the panel session, the moderator, Silk Ugwu Ogbu, said there was an urgent need to bridge the gap between governance realities and the information available to the public.

Dr. Ogbu is an associate professor of Communication and Relationship management at the Pan-Atlantic University. According to him, tensions often arise because government institutions and journalists operate from different realities, making collaboration increasingly necessary for accountability and responsible communication.

The discussions come at a time when concerns over press freedom and misinformation are intensifying globally.

According to the latest data from Reporters Without Borders, Nigeria continues to face significant press freedom challenges, including political pressure, attacks on journalists, poor access to information, and economic vulnerability within the media sector.

Speaking during the session on evidence-based journalism, Amarachi Ubani, Channel’s Television’s diplomatic editor, said audiences are increasingly more likely to trust reports supported by verifiable evidence such as statistics, visuals, videos, eyewitness accounts, and official confirmations.

She explained that factual reporting becomes more impactful when supported by concrete evidence.

Using flooding incidents as an example, Ubani noted that simply reporting deaths may not generate strong public reaction. However, presenting casualty figures alongside images, videos, and confirmation from emergency response agencies makes such stories more credible and compelling.

According to her, visual evidence often compels government action because it exposes realities that might otherwise be ignored.

“Evidence-based journalism helps audiences connect emotionally and intellectually with stories,” she said, adding that credibility remains one of journalism’s strongest assets in the digital age.

On the challenges confronting science and technology journalism, Dr. Margaret Agada-Mba, senior a lecturer at Pan-Atlantic University, identified structural, editorial, and digital obstacles limiting effective reporting in the sector.

She explained that despite science and technology driving much of global economic and social development, there remains a major communication gap between researchers and the public.

According to her, journalists play a critical role in translating complex scientific concepts into simple and relatable stories for everyday audiences.

However, she noted that many Nigerian media organisations still lack dedicated science and technology desks or adequately trained reporters to cover specialised sectors effectively.

Dr. Agada-Mba also raised concerns about editorial interference and ownership influence within media organisations, warning that some journalists are discouraged from pursuing certain public-interest stories.

She further highlighted the growing dangers of online harassment, intimidation, and coordinated digital attacks targeting journalists whose reports may be perceived as unfavourable by certain individuals or groups.

Such hostile digital environments, she warned, are discouraging journalists from covering sensitive but important issues.

She called for improved newsroom support systems, stronger editorial independence, continuous professional training, and deliberate efforts to make science and technology reporting more accessible to younger audiences.

The issue of digital safety also featured prominently during the discussions.

Tomi Vincent, also a senior lecturer at PAU, warned that digital technology has significantly complicated journalists’ safety and source protection despite existing legal safeguards.

According to him, while legal precedents support journalists’ rights to protect confidential sources, modern surveillance technologies now make it easier to trace communications and identify information leaks if proper digital security measures are not adopted.

He urged journalists to become more deliberate about encryption, secure communication tools, device protection, and responsible information handling.

“Legal protection alone is no longer enough if journalists fail to protect themselves technologically,” Vincent said.

He cautioned that digital footprints could easily expose both journalists and confidential sources if sensitive information is poorly managed.

Beyond newsroom challenges, participants also examined the role of public trust and media literacy in protecting journalism itself.

To this end, Dr. Agada-Mba stressed that audiences must be educated to distinguish factual reporting from misinformation, propaganda, and emotionally manipulative online content.

According to her, stronger media literacy could help reduce toxic online behaviour and encourage audiences to defend credible journalism against harassment and coordinated digital attacks.

Closing the discussion, Dr. Ogbu noted that while governments and political administrations may change over time, the media remains a permanent institution within society, making public trust essential for journalism’s long-term survival.

The training programme, with 60 journalists in attendance, forms part of broader efforts to strengthen ethical journalism, evidence-based reporting, and media professionalism in Nigeria amid growing concerns over misinformation, artificial intelligence, digital manipulation, and declining trust in public information ecosystems.

In many cases, governments struggle to align practical realities with the level of transparency expected by citizens and the media.

One practical way forward is to grant journalists greater operational freedom while ensuring responsibility and collaboration.

These were the unanimous views expressed by speakers at a three-day media training programme, themed, “Advancing Media Freedom through Science and Technology Journalism,” organised at the Pan-Atlantic University with support from the British High Commission Nigeria.

The event brought together 60 journalists from multiple media organisations, academics, and communication experts to examine the growing intersection between press freedom, science reporting, digital technology, misinformation, and ethical journalism in Nigeria.

Opening the programme, Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, said the United Kingdom remained committed to supporting press freedom and independent journalism in Nigeria, especially at a time when technological disruption is rapidly reshaping information ecosystems globally.

“In an era defined by rapid technological advancement and the speed at which information spreads, accurate, ethical, and evidence-based reporting has never been more important,” Baxter told participants.

He warned that misinformation and unverified narratives now travel rapidly through digital platforms, increasing pressure on journalists and media institutions to provide credible, factual, and balanced reporting.

Baxter noted that over the past two years, the UK had supported multiple journalism training programmes and media engagements across Lagos, Abuja, and the United Kingdom as part of broader efforts to strengthen media professionalism and democratic accountability.

According to him, journalism remains essential not only for informing society but also for encouraging critical thinking and holding institutions accountable.

The British envoy also referenced recent high-level engagements between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, stressing that collaboration with credible media organisations played a key role in ensuring accurate public communication around bilateral issues involving economic cooperation, migration, security, and investment partnerships.

The concerns raised at the training reflect wider global anxieties around media freedom and journalistic independence.

In his remarks, Dr. Ikechukwu Obiaya, dean of the School of Media and Communication, argued that journalism today faces a deeper crisis beyond technology itself.

According to him, traditional journalism standards such as accuracy, fairness, objectivity, accountability, and investigative rigor are increasingly being undermined by sensationalism, ideological bias, and unverified digital content.

“Journalism is a public service,” Obiaya said. “Society depends on journalists to provide truth, context, direction, and accountability.”

He observed that technological innovation has fundamentally altered how information flows in society. Unlike the traditional media era where information passed through professional gatekeepers, today almost anyone with internet access can publish content instantly.

That shift, he warned, has intensified competition between professional journalism and content driven primarily by opinions, emotions, sensationalism, or political interests.

Obiaya stressed that media literacy and critical thinking are becoming increasingly important in the digital age, noting that audiences must now learn not only how to consume information, but also how to evaluate credibility and identify misinformation.

For science and technology journalists specifically, the challenge has become even more complex.

Experts at the training noted that science reporting requires journalists to simplify highly technical subjects without sacrificing accuracy, a difficult balance in an online environment increasingly driven by clicks, speed, and viral content.

During his presentation, Silk Ugwu Ogbu, associate professor at the School of Media and Communications, PAU, argued that media freedom cannot be separated from broader issues of freedom of expression and access to public information.

While acknowledging that freedom of expression is a fundamental democratic right, he noted that legal and political pressures continue to shape how journalism operates in many countries, including Nigeria.

He cited the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, which ranks Nigeria 122nd out of 180 countries in 2025 before slightly improving to 112th position in the 2026 index.

RSF, however, still describes Nigeria as one of West Africa’s most difficult and dangerous environments for journalists, citing surveillance, attacks, arbitrary arrests, political pressure, and economic fragility affecting media independence.

Ogbu also identified poor access to public information, commercial pressure, political interference, and self-censorship as major obstacles confronting Nigerian journalists today.

“We are supposed to be watchdogs, but who is watching the watchdog?” he asked.

The discussions also explored how digital technology has created new vulnerabilities for journalists, including online harassment, coordinated intimidation campaigns, digital surveillance, and growing economic pressure on independent media organisations.

Globally, concerns about shrinking media freedom continue to intensify.

The 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index described the global state of press freedom as ‘difficult’ for the first time in the index’s history, with more than half of the world’s countries now classified under ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ press freedom conditions.

For participants at the Lagos training, however, the conversation extended beyond rankings and policy concerns.

At its core, the event repeatedly returned to one central message: in an age flooded with misinformation, emotionally charged narratives, artificial intelligence, and algorithm-driven content distribution, journalism’s survival may increasingly depend on its ability to remain factual, evidence-based, ethical, and trusted.

And for many of the journalists gathered inside the Pan-Atlantic University auditorium, that responsibility now feels heavier than ever.

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