Onuesoke Calls for Professional, Responsible Journalism, Decries Abuse of Breaking News
Sylvester Idowu in Warri
A prominent public commentator and environmental advocate, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has expressed concern over the growing abuse and misuse of the term “Breaking News” by sections of the Nigerian media, describing it as misleading, unprofessional and harmful to public trust.
Onuesoke, reacting yesterday in a statement to recent trends where routine government activities were repeatedly branded as “breaking news,” said many media houses had sacrificed accuracy for sensationalism in their desperate bid to attract traffic and political relevance.
According to him, inauguration of projects, presentation of budgets, and official visitations by the President or Governors were not breaking news, as these events were pre-planned, scheduled, and predictable, lacking the urgency and immediacy that define true breaking news.
“It is an abuse of journalistic ethics for media houses to label every government outing as ‘breaking news’. Commissioning of a road, presentation of a budget, or a courtesy visit is not breaking news. These are routine administrative activities that have been communicated ahead of time,” Onuesoke stated.
He emphasised that breaking news should be reserved for events that are sudden, unexpected, urgent, and in the public’s immediate interest, such as national emergencies, disasters, security threats, major policy reversals, or rapidly unfolding developments.
Onuesoke warned that the continuous misuse of the term has diluted the credibility of the Nigerian media, making it harder for the public to distinguish real emergencies from routine political events.
“When everything becomes breaking news, nothing remains breaking. This misuse weakens media credibility and confuses the public. Journalism must not be reduced to political hype or entertainment,” he added.
He called on media regulators, journalism schools, editors, and professional bodies to retrain and remind broadcasters on the proper use of newsroom terminology, noting that responsible journalism was key to strengthening democracy, ensuring accountability, and building trust in public institutions.
Onuesoke further urged government spokespersons and political communication teams to stop pushing routine events as ‘breaking news’ for publicity gains, stressing that such tactics undermine transparency and the integrity of governance communication.
“Nigeria deserves a media that is factual, disciplined, and sensitive enough to differentiate between genuine national alerts and routine government ceremonies,” Onuesoke added.
He reiterated his commitment to continue speaking up on issues affecting national ethics, governance standards, and public enlightenment.
