• Mr Raphael Edem
…reaffirms Gov Eno’s support to NUJ
By Edidiong Udobia
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Umo Eno on Brand Management and Marketing, Mr Raphael Edem has advocated for modulation of contents and ethical compliance in the use of Artificial Intelligence.
Mr Edem, who made the advocacy, Monday, December 2, while delivering a goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Press Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, said that the increasing abuse and misuse of AI tools and content creation on social media has become very worrisome, adding that there was need for modulation.
Adding his voice to the theme of the event “Artificial Intelligence: The Future of Media Ethics and Content Modulation”, he noted that the knowledge of AI was necessary for journalists and media practitioners to remain relevant but however stated that there was need to enforce ethical compliance.
“As much as we are able to leverage on the opportunities that are available with AI and see how much we can move with the time as far as technology is concerned, then we know that we’re definitely going to continue to be players in the public space and relevant in the media space.
“About the issue of media ethics and content modulation, we live in an era where everyone has become a content creator, especially nowadays that social media pages have been monetized practically everywhere. In this country, we find people who earn fantastic amount of money from content creation. In a country like Nigeria, where everyone is looking for ways of making ends meet and every opportunity that looks like it can put money in people’s pockets is a grabbed hook, line and sinker, even if it means breaking all the rules in the process.
“Therefore, this is why content modulation is very important. I want to appeal to the NUJ to take this gospel beyond the shores of this place, beyond the NUJ, into the public space. Because most of the people who have a lot of influence in the media and public space now are not necessarily journalists in the traditional sense of the world, so the issue of creating content, the issue of modulating content, the issue of ensuring that ethical standards are enforced in the practice of media profession is something that concerns everyone.
“Some of us here have seen content on social media recently that sometimes you question the sanity of the people that are involved. You will find practically everything now has become content. People do unacceptable things and then hide under content creation. In the process, we have painted a bad picture of people or places or even of the places that we come from. We have made people question our family upbringing. We have painted even our state in negative light. All in the name of creating content.
“I am not sure this is what it should be and I hope that the NUJ will be at the forefront of spreading this gospel so that people know that they can also create content in the public space while not breaking the rules as far as the media is concerned,” he said.
Mr Edem commended the Amos Etuk led NUJ for ensuring that journalists in the State were constantly improving their practice through training and capacity building opportunities, noting that the administration has brought many laudable innovative ideas to the Union, adding that he was certain that this year’s Press Week was going to be very eventful.
He further assured that Governor Umo Eno was committed to supporting and partnering the NUJ, which he said is a critical stakeholder in the governor’s administration, while soliciting the Union’s continuous support to the government.
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Chairman of NUJ, Comrade Amos Etuk disclosed that since he assumed leadership of the Union five and a half years ago, his administration has continuously improved the quality of the annual Press Week with stronger content, richer flavour of activities with the highpoint being the Dinner and Awards, noting that the Awards are a reference for professional excellence.
“We have come to accept the evolving ARTIFICIAL digital world and the reality challenge of Artificial Intelligence in today’s interconnected world especially the need to protect and safeguard the future of media ethics in the complex space of diverse backgrounds, cultures and perspectives where thoughts, opinions and emotions are shared with the ability to manipulate on content and the challenges of striking a balance.
“The future of journalism is being redefined as AI technologies help in sifting through vast amounts of data to find newsworthy stories, personalising content for individual readers and generating contents with little or no human intervention.
“With the rapid shift to AI supported environment, social media platforms have become crucial in shaping public discussions with visible content and how it is perceived by the audience,” he added.
He stressed that Artificial Intelligence was revolutionizing newsrooms by enabling rapid content using sophisticated language models with advanced logarithms that can produce articles closely mimicking human writing often indistinguishable from those penned by journalists which poses both positive and negative implications for the practice of journalism.
The opening ceremony, which is part of the activities to mark the weeklong annual event, also featured a panel discussion on theme and goodwill messages from other guests.
