A rule book for what you can or cannot do on RADIO.

Which of these two environments do you think that people will be more productive in, a controlled environment with rules and regulations, or an environment where everyone is allowed to thrive based on their own rules and regulations?

My decision to present and address this topical issue is based on a recent approach by some individuals from the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC). Over the years, not just in Nigeria alone, in most countries of the world, there are rules that guides how journalist as well as broadcasters should operate be it on radio or the television. However, in as much as most journalist and broadcasters as well have been fighting their way out for what most of them call “caging the public voice”, the wave has not moved their direction.

Well, one good thing for me is that am not a public servant but a private citizen and since we operate a democratic system of government, I have the full right to state my fundamental opinion on this issue, and so do you too. I very much agree that there should be rules and regulations guiding certain professions. Rules that controls what you can or cannot say on radio or television, but also rules that are flexible and give enough room for creativity. You can’t just be doing things the same way over and over again; there should be dynamism and style. It is okay for some journalist or radio/television broadcasters to want to remain where they are, doing repeatedly the same thing over and over again, but it’s not okay to cage those of them that wants to be creative and dynamic in their profession.

When it comes to journalists as well as broadcasters, the government set aside a special rule that constraints them so much so that they can’t say things exactly the way they see it. The government does something bad, a journalist/broadcasters makes it public and they are in trouble. Either they are fined by the regulating body or they are hunted down like animals and killed. This is not what we want. We want to see style added to the character. We want to see sparks as combination of the entire make-up with little or self applied rules to support the principles of true journalism or broadcasting as the case maybe.

Having said that, here is my theory on the issue at hand, if the journalists as well as broadcasters we have in our midst are not allowed to self apply rules that reshapes the world of news reporting, then some of them might be forced to drum off  the force and impose their own brand which might be complicating for the government but interesting for the public.

In conclusion, the rule and regulation book should be changed to accommodate our diverse and every day changing world. What is your opinion on this issue?