To commemorate the 2020 Press Freedom Day, Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (@ptcij) held a tweet chat to highlight the Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Media Industry.
The panellists were CEO of Women Radio, Toun Okewale Sonaiya (@tounokewale) and Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) Dayo Aiyetan (@dayoaiyetan),
Full text of the questions and answers compiled by Adeyanju Uwala is reproduced below:
COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on economies worldwide, how badly hit is the media industry generally?
Okewale: Media industry in the western world though affected were provided a lifeline by their various governments through intervention measures. This guaranteed a sizeable chunk of their staff salaries so can stay home and observe lockdown. Others chose to pay cash supplements like the USA.
The media industry in Nigeria, on the other hand, was left in the mud. Most private-owned media in Nigeria are vulnerable and badly hit. The huge drop in revenue put us at risk. COVID-19 impacted on advertising and inadvertently affect the media. Most Nigerian media houses are on pause. Scaling down, salaries on hold, job losses etc. A few media houses have to shut down.
An already struggling media space in Nigeria is badly affected by other sectors. Post COVID-19, most conventional media were struggling with limited advert placement. The gestation period to break even as a media outfit become longer and fluid.
Women Radio reduced our tax hours and ran skeletal service. I hope as Nigerians we can appreciate the challenges faced by broadcasters and journalists to get news to the people.
Why is the impact on the media so damaging both here at home and everywhere else?
Okewale: The impact on western media like other economies was damaging but their government gave palliatives on top of the social welfare available. Govt. also provided specific emergency measures. It’s the opposite in Nigeria. There was no support of any sort to my knowledge for private media organisations.
Nigeria’s large infrastructure deficit is more impactful on private media especially those in the category of SMEs like Women Radio where one provides own electricity, water, security, the road to an extent by contributing to neighbourhood initiatives to fill potholes, etc.
READ ALSO: WHAT MEDIA MUST DO TO SURVIVE POST COVID-19 REALITIES
When you have to spend a sizeable chunk of your savings providing own infrastructure and paying salaries, you’re left with little to rely on for a pandemic like COVID-19.
This is our reality in Nigeria compared to a London radio station. This reality is a sad one. Media is on the frontline of
COVID-19 and as important as the health workforce. Without the media, there’s no news. We must remember it’s the media that 1st reported COVID- 19 & media is part of the essentials keeping us safe.
Added responsibility on a frail sector as we have in Nigeria makes impact harder. Therefore, damage to media has such a tragic ripple effect on any nation or state. It can literally ignite anarchy. This is why we must invest & support independent private media.
Aiyetan: Well, the truth is that the media all over the world has been struggling. Even the most prosperous media houses have not had it easy, the media is still trying to find ways of making the Internet pay dividends for its operations cos only the tech companies have made revenue from the Internet.
In Nigeria, the situation is even worse than in many other places. We all know that only a few media houses can break even today. That is why many cannot pay salary is.
So, COVID-19 has kind of knocked life out of an ailing man. In other places, the government is seriously thinking of how to keep the media alive but because in Nigeria, we only heard the Minister for Information saying it on TV, nothing has been done. It is important to that government looks at bailing out the media just as it has announced palliatives for the productive sector.
But the media cannot fold its hands and wait for palliatives of government. It’s time to put on our thinking caps and find creative means of survival.
The leadership of the media is sending a proposal to the government seeking state support for our media. Dire as things are today, why is this the way to salvation?
Okewale: Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) as you referred are meeting Honourable Minister of Information and Communication, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Tuesday for a bailout. This should not be the only way to salvation. We need to start thinking inwards to sustain the media. Remember most governments in Nigeria are owners of media and they perceive its importance and necessity hence they do all they can to adequately fund it otherwise they would have been allowed to go bankrupt in challenging times.
I guess this is why independent media is towing the same way. Bailouts in the form of grants and soft loans are needed sometimes. I only hope the Nigerian government understands the need to intervene without interference. The bailout shouldn’t be the only way to heaven.
Aiyetan: As I said, the media cannot wait for handouts from the government. For one thing, that might make the media beholden to the government. Even in the midst of this pandemic, opportunities have been thrown up that smart media houses can exploit. We just must be creative. First, there are grants for both journalists and media organisations. Google, Facebook, Pulitzer Centre, Internews are all pumping millions of dollars into the media to save news organisations.
The International Women for Media Foundation has a package for female journalists. There is the AFRICA China Reporting Project. Google them and explore. Media houses can also explore other means of earning revenue. Donations from their readers are one. There is a membership model.
Media houses can also get costs and priorities expenses. Salaries are important but luxuries for the big organisations can wait for now. Media houses should also pour at partnerships and collaborations to reduce the cost of operation. Two or three media houses can work on one project and share expenses and credits. Media houses should also see opportunity in services such as training, data analysis and providing services to industries that require our kind of services.
Why is innovation slow in the area of media sustainability in Nigeria? What needs to change for media managers to come to the awareness that with COVID-19, the old era is gone and never to come again?
Okewale: Could this be because we are too comfortable and not hungry? COVID-19 has woken a lot from slumber and if care is not taken, will lead to the grave. The first step the media industry can take to ensure its survival and relevant functionality would be to embrace initiatives that help reduce cost without compromise of its overarching responsibility of being the voice of the people. Research & embracing various forms of technology discovered in d challenging times of COVID-19 & found to be equally adequate at delivering results of the same quality as when everywhere was open for business combine with some sort of re-engineering where processes to deliver outputs are reviewed for efficiency and effectiveness. An example could be the creation of hubs where resources are polled and various media outlets utilise such bringing down the cost as compared to when each media organisation funds its own. The watchword is more collaboration to ensure survival and no compromise of integrity. Premium Times is already doing this and we thank you.
Aiyetan: Many journalists and even editors still do not understand that technology drives today’s journalism. So, there is a knowledge gap. That has to be fixed. But there are lots of young, dynamic, innovative self-taught people who have come into the industry. The managers need to let them express themselves. It is in times of crisis that geniuses are made. Any media house that does not innovate and welcome technology will fizzle out because what COVID-19 has shown is that things will never be the same again. Whether is it sourcing news, gathering news, even the way we tell our stories and disseminate them, things have got to change. The information overload also means that media houses have to innovate and do things differently to grab, sustain or expand audiences. We need to think of technology.
The conversation on new business models for the media has been ongoing for a while, had the Nigerian Media evolved enough to have built any internal mechanism to absorb the shock of the effect of the pandemic?
Okewale: COVID-19 affected lots of economic activity and advertising budget of various sponsor organisations is among the first to be cut, so in my opinion, the new business module is inevitable. Our current business model in Nigeria for independent traditional media is reliant greatly on advertising revenue. This requires a consistent certainty to survival which is not guaranteed. COVID-19 disrupted this as no one had control. The new business models are at best still in the experimental stage owing to the Nigerian context. Not all models will work everywhere in the world. The successes in the global north might not work in the global south. People and infrastructure are different. The one area that has greater certainty is the income from donor agencies and memberships who support causes they are passionate about or think will make the world a better place.
A situation where we can create a model to augment the current where listeners pay a stipend subscription every month to their preferred media and in return are given priority when contributing to various discourse within NBC guidelines. However, in my opinion, I don’t think we have evolved enough. Nigerian media is still emerging on the new business models with little or no shock absorbers to effect the pandemic but we must embrace it.
Aiyetan: At the traditional media. Many media houses have toyed with the idea of putting paywalls on their critical sections, others subscriptions, membership and the likes, but it is still early days. There is only one newspaper I know that has a paywall on its site in Nigeria. I don’t know if it is working for the organisation. The least hit by the pandemic is, possibly, nonprofit newsrooms that have some good funding, but even that cannot last in perpetuity.
What it means is that more than ever before the media in Nigeria has to, in a hurry, think seriously about ways of making audiences pay more for the news they read. That is what increasingly happening in other places, but to get to that point, the media also had to produce better content and work at strengthening the trust and confidence of the people in the media.
How can the Nigerian Media Industry mitigate the adverse economic effects of this pandemic?
Okewale: A silver bullet will not work across all media platforms. The pandemic affects the whole world so not many places to turn to for help. We must think our way out of this like everybody else. What I think can work will be for each media to go back to the drawing board with their resilience and do a SWOT analysis. Hard decisions with a new zeal are the only survival strategy I see here.
Mitigation could also take the form of boost income in very challenging circumstances like subscription-based service but will be charging amounts that one’s audience can afford.
One can explore Nigerians in the Diaspora who already listen to the radio, read newspaper & watch TV for free but may not mind making a contribution of £1, $1.50 monthly. Premium Times does a similar & I’m hoping you can guide us on this too.
Aiyetan: Get creative. Cut costs to the nearest minimum. Seek new partnerships and collaborations. Innovate. Pursue grants and other funding opportunities out there aggressively. Content is still king.
Use this period to stand out. Create content others are not creating. This would grow your audience and you can make capital out of big audiences. Media houses must see new opportunities in the new reporting that the pandemic has thrown up. Misinformation is huge.
Data is a big thing now. There are creative things media houses can do to produce unique content that would stand them out. I think collaboration is key to survival for many media houses at this time. We can pull resources together to do things. We can lean on each other. We can learn from each other. We can even provide assistance to each other if we are able.
Assuming the government allocates funding to save the media, ignoring the case around how sustainable that is, what will the media give back in that trade-off?
Okewale: If the Nigerian government decides to save private independent media, it won’t be free. There’s an N50billion credit facility for SMEs badly hit by COVID-19 with 5% interest rate till February 2021. Some media I understand have applied. There’s payback time.
Anyone getting this should do so with eyes wide open. For Women Radio, striking a balance to be commercially focused and maintain integrity is very key. We will consider intervention without compromising on our integrity on our vision on our focus. Press freedom & media independence are key and crucial in the democratic process. I hope any funding and grant from the government will not interfere or muzzle an “existing independent media”
Aiyetan: There should be no trade-off. We all just need to understand how important the media is to the sustainable of democracy and society. A country without a media suffers. Give and the people ought to realise that the problem is that the environment is already repressive, with all manner of legislation that threatens press freedom and freedom of speech.
So, government, I suspect, would not want to strengthen the media, It would be like giving the weapon to the media to get more critical and hold government accountable. But I dare say, if the Nigerian media goes under, democracy in Nigeria would be endangered and we also know the attitude of the government in Nigeria is to control the media. If this government bails out the media, the cost would be worse than the problem we want to run away from on now, because it would want to absolutely dictate what the media does.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, suggests the government is willing to help the media industry but he talks of media in the context of a “creative industry.” Does the government appreciate this help is not narrowly entertainment, but one based on holding government accountable?
Aiyetan: Exactly my point. I doubt if the government understands the important role the media plays. If it does, then, in the first place, it wouldn’t want to muzzle it. And because of that government would think it’s done the media a favour if it bails it out. With that mentality, the government would want to control the media like the state-run Radio and TV stations we have now. That would not augur well for critical reporting in Nigeria.
However, I do know many media houses that would not survive this pandemic without help from somewhere. Many are already either cutting salaries or laying off staff. We just have to make the government understand that we do not need any Greek gift. There would be no trade-off.
Okewale: BON for both government & privately owned media meets with Honourable Minister of Information and Communication, Lai Mohammed, on Tuesday to discuss stimulus package for broadcast industry through tax rebates & intervention funds. I hope to be at this meeting and will certainly loud my voice on accountability despite help.
Providing an “enabling environment” by the Nigerian government for the media industry should come with no strings attached. Nigeria has signed up to various world conventions that align with giving freedom to the press. This is very important. Whatever is given will not be free anyway and the legislation that brings it to being (if any) should ensure it’s not open to situations where the interventions are used as a carrot to “muzzle the press” The more I write on this the more I get weary!
As everyone is forced to readjust to the reality of economic imbalance, what does the future hold for the sustainability of the Nigerian Media Industry?
Okewale: The economic cycle would always be with us. COVID-19 impact is suggested to have a similar impact on the 2008 world financial crash. The key for the media industry is to come to a realisation that it needs to develop that new business model sooner. A model that addresses the big impact uncertainty has on the industry. A model that can lower the base operating cost of a media outlet in all of its segments should be the focus. This would give it the flexibility to manoeuvre in challenging times and ensure survival.
Post COVID-19 media business will not be as usual. You either adapt or die. I believe these trying times call for global solidarity for the media.
We must begin to leverage international networks and partnerships. The media is more than just a business. Sadly the challenge of guaranteed stable income will be a challenge for a while with no quick solution due to the nature of the products/service output from the media industry.
Aiyetan: Inspite of the present challenges, I have absolutely no doubt about the future of the Nigerian media. Yes, there would be a few casualties. But the Nigerian media is resilient. It would come out of this stronger, we would learn quickly to innovate and adapt to new ways of plying our trade. I also think that we would learn to collaborate more cos the pandemic is showing us that there is strength in numbers, I also know that a number of smart news organisations would emerge from this situation, young, dynamic men and women who understand the value of innovation and technology and have found new ways to tell compelling stories. I am also confident that many media house would have learnt a few tricks about survival that would help them in the days ahead as the world still tried to find a way of opening up society.
That is not to say things would be rosy. Many media house might not survive this. Many journalists probably would have lost their jobs. And newsrooms would never be the same again. But I am confident that the media would come out of this stronger.
Have we finally come to the end of a media era in Nigeria without knowing it or are we continuing in endless denial? What is the new media ecosystem going to be? What new form and new ethics will guide it?
Okewale: “The future of sustainability of media houses is looking very bleak. Covid19 may spell the end for many newspapers” in the words of a colleague, Amina Alhassan Amina, a Northern based journalist.
Finally, if industry and services are collapsing and laying off staff, obviously advertising won’t be spared. That is significant revenue atrophy for media. With copy sales and events also down, how good can we finance good journalism?
Okewale: “Financing good journalism” will have to rely on memberships, subscriptions & donations. Post Covid-19 media business will not be business as usual again. You either adapt or die. I believe this time calls for global solidarity for media Collaboration. I’m an eternal optimist, the future has to be bright for “good journalism & broadcasting”. We must survive because media is critical and an essential part of any economy and democratic process.
Demanding for good governance and accountability are key hence WE MUST STAY ALIVE. We can scale down, we can change working operations, collaborate and source for more donors.
Aiyetan: It’s not going to be easy. But for a few years, it has become obvious that critical journalism needs independent sources of doing quality work. We would still have to look at donor funding for a while. I did also say earlier that apart from foundation donor funding, the tech giants – Google and Facebook – are spending a lot of money to help the media around the world continue to do the incredible work they do, but the media also have to find creative ways of making money. Readers would also at some point have to pay for the news they consume, However, if that is to happen, the media also has to find more creative ways to produce better exclusive content.
They say data is the new oil. Media houses also have to find new realities in that assertion by exploring limitless opportunities that data provides. Data analytics in specialised areas is a thing the media should look seriously at.
Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (@ptcij): We will like to appreciate our panellists, Toun Okewale Sonaiya (@tounokewale), Dayo Aiyetan (@dayoaiyetan), thank you for your time and for being a voice for Press Freedom in Nigeria.
We will also like to appreciate our contributors, Ejiro Umukoro (@LadyEumukoro), Olubusola Ajibola (@busola_ajibola) and Dapo Olorunyomi (@DapsyOly).
