Judges versus journalists in public sphere: The limit of privacy and public interest By

The judiciary and the media are two institutions which play vital roles in the society. In Nigeria and many other African countries, the judiciary and the media are considered the last hope of the common man. However, as the officers of these two institutions discharge their constitutional responsibilities, there arise conflicts resulting from different role interpretations and execution. In the course of this, misunderstanding ensues between the two watchdogs. Against this background, this study examines the relationship between judges and journalists as debated in the public sphere. It looks at the limitation of privacy and public interest. It uses a case that involved journalists and a judge of the High Court in Ogun State, South West, Nigeria as a periscope to analyse the issue with data from social media platform and Google search engine. It established that there were mutual suspicions between the two institutions when it comes to the discharge of their duties. After careful analysis of the views of both parties, the paper recommends that a forum be organized by the joint efforts of the two institutions to better understand the tenets guiding the conducts of the officials of the press and the judiciary. Key Words: Journalists, Judges, Privacy, Public Interest, Public Place. *Jamiu Folarin is a Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Crescent University, Sapon, Abeokuta, Nigeria and a PhD Student in the Department of Mass Communication, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, April 2018, 212-222