The Chairman of Media Trust Group, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, has urged journalists to uphold fairness, accountability and independence in their reporting despite the pressures and complexities of the profession.

Yusuf spoke on Thursday at the official unveiling of the company’s converged newsroom, describing journalism as “history in a hurry” and emphasising the need for accuracy and fairness.

“If you choose journalism, you will be misunderstood and you will misunderstand others,” he said, acknowledging that mistakes were inevitable and must be addressed responsibly.

He said Media Trust provides individuals and organisations with opportunities to respond to reports through its right-of-reply column and issues apologies when errors are established.

“We have a column where we give people a right to reply because we know that in this business, there is nobody who is always right or who is always wrong. So, when we make these mistakes, we apologise,” Yusuf said.

He urged journalists to ask questions, consider diverse perspectives and correct inaccuracies where necessary, stressing that fairness requires hearing from all sides, including those they consider opponents.

“Fairness demands that we should listen to even people we consider enemies, or they consider us enemies. That’s what fairness demands,” he said.

The chairman acknowledged the challenges of maintaining professional standards in an environment where attempts to influence media coverage were widespread but reaffirmed Media Trust’s commitment to neutrality and accountability.

Admitting that the organisation was not perfect, Yusuf said it continued to strive towards the standards expected of a responsible media institution.

“At Media Trust here, I would say that we aspire, we are not perfect, to live up to this standard, at the risk of being misunderstood,” he said.

He added that journalists must remain conscious of their responsibility to the public and resist external pressure that could compromise their independence.