Media Laws, Media Practice and the Challenge of Citizen Journalism in Nigeria

The advent of new media and its concomitant developments of which citizen journalism is one, has posed a serious challenge to the observance of media laws. The laws and principles guiding the media profession are constantly being questioned as Journalism practice these days are no longer the exclusive preserve of trained professional journalists. Citizens (whether trained or not) these days are no longer media consumers alone but have also become creators of their own contents. The traditional tripod media of mass communication: newspapers, television and radio alongside their media colleagues such as magazine, books and journals are no longer the media superpowers as the walls of partition between the traditional media and new media are becoming thinner, collapsing and fast fading away; thus, ushering in a new dawn in the media world. Even the traditional media practitioners themselves have also undergone tremendous changes. Television, radio, newspapers and magazines are no longer the exclusive platforms for relaying news. New media platforms such as social networks have entered the scene and as it were, getting and gaining their fair share of the media patronage thus liberalizing the communication landscape and also creating more challenges especially for the journalism professionals.