The Role of a Free Press in Good Governance a Papper Presented
It gives me joy and I am humbled to be given this rare privilege to be chosen amongst other most suitable and very much qualified persons and/or personalities to give this prestigious lecture by one of the most respected and valued professional/prestigious trade unions in the world (NUJ) Bayelsa Chapter. This is more so, when you consider the critical place the media or put differently the press plays in the society. It is in this context that, the topic of our discourse or paper is apt, particularly when considered from the perspective of the broad theme of this years’ World Press Freedom Day (Media Freedom for Better Future: Shaping the Post 2015 Development Agenda). To what extent does free and independent media contribute to good governance and what are the consequences for human development? What is the role of the free press in strengthening good governance, democracy and human development?
