Reckless Reporting: News Blog Under Fire for Ethical Breach
By Ebi COLLINS
In what many see as a disturbing descent into agenda-driven journalism, Calabar-based online news outlet Converseer is facing heavy criticism over a controversial report that not only lacked journalistic rigour but appeared deliberately crafted to provoke outrage and discredit key figures in Cross River State’s leadership.
At the heart of the backlash is a story that alleged residents of Ekorinim, a neighbourhood near the Governor’s private residence, have suffered a six-month power outage, purportedly due to a faulty transformer. But it wasn’t just the power failure that stirred emotions—the real bombshell came in the form of an unverified quote attributed to the Governor’s wife, Her Excellency, Bishop Eyoanwan Otu, allegedly saying the residents “didn’t vote for her husband,” and therefore weren’t entitled to help.
This eyebrow-raising claim has now been torched to shreds by a respected legal practitioner, former council chairman, and Chair of the Cross River State Consultative Forum, Hon. Eyo Nsa Ekpo, Esq., who in a scathing press release condemned Converseer’s publication as “a textbook case of journalistic failure.”
“The Office of the First Lady is fully staffed with media aides, yet Converseer made no effort—none—to verify its claims,” Ekpo charged. “To ignore official sources while feasting on barroom gossip is not only lazy, it’s ethically bankrupt.”
Ekpo went further, labeling the alleged quote as “disturbing and inconsistent” with Bishop Otu’s public record, pointing to her widely celebrated humanitarian projects such as Humanity Without Borders and the Girls in STEM Initiative, which have reached citizens across political, ethnic, and geographic lines.
“This is a woman who has opened her arms to the vulnerable across the state. For a media platform to dismiss that legacy on the strength of faceless murmurs is not journalism. It’s mischief,” Ekpo stated.
But the malpractice doesn’t end there. Ekpo also slammed Converseer’s failure to contact the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED)—the actual agency responsible for power supply. “Instead of probing PHED’s role or investigating systemic issues, they chose the easier path: scapegoat the Governor, smear his wife, and stir the pot.”
He reminded critics of Governor Bassey Otu’s ongoing energy reform agenda, including plans to acquire the Odukpani Power Plant and the active distribution of transformers through the State Electrification Agency (SEA)—a development that directly challenges Converseer’s insinuation of government inaction.
In an era when public trust in the media hangs by a thread, Ekpo’s warning was unflinching: “Yes, electricity issues in our state are real. But to distort facts, ignore key sources, and malign individuals without proof does no service to journalism or public discourse.”
