New Media Technologies and Ethical Challenges in Nigeria

This paper attempts a critical review of journalism ethics in Nigeria, especially with the advent of new media technologies. It starts by making a case for an ethically based practice of journalism more so because of the responsibilities of the media as agents of social realities. It also defines ethics and explains key ethical concepts such as values, duties, rights and morality. Ethical theories and principles – pragmatic ethics, humanistic ethics, deontological and teleological ethics and ‘personalist’ ethics, are examined and guiding principles are established for the journalist. A critical appraisal of ethical practice in Nigerian journalism and the challenges of new media technologies are also discussed. New media and communication technologies have brought hitherto unimaginable possibilities and capabilities to the practice of journalism and so have they brought hitherto unheard of ethical problems. The issue of the control and hegemony that are the consequences of the domination of new media by USA and Western Europe is highlighted. This domination spans technology, infrastructure, culture and values of journalistic practice. The paper further explains that it is imperative for the media to practice in a more ethical way so that the credibility gap already created can be diminished. The paper concludes that it is imperative that African journalists should be wary of the new challenges and hegemonic tendencies of new media technologies.